Today I got an interesting opportunity to try a cool new service from Microsoft. Thanks to Jeff in the chat room for mentioning Windows Live Mesh. At first I really had no idea what it was and considering Jeff and I were talking about Windows 7 I honestly thought it had something to do with wireless mesh networking. However come to find out it is a free service from Microsoft similar to Drop Box. 

Here are some of the key features of Windows Live Mesh:

Device Page -

• The place to manage and edit all your devices in your mesh. This includes PC’s, Mac’s and Mobile devices.
• Links to download software for new devices. Currently the software supports Mac OS X Leopard, Windows XP SP2 and Vista. However I was able to run it without issue on the Windows 7 Beta

Live Desktop – This is my mind is really cool! Live Desktop is an online desktop environment that shows you all the files that you are syncing and “watching” in real time.

• 5GB of free online data storage.
• See all synced folders and files without having to be at one of the devices in your mesh.
• Access all your files and folders of any computer or device with a web browser.

Mesh Bar – Live Mesh is not just an online sync utility but also a collaboration tool. Here are a few things you can do with the mesh bar.

• Manage members and invite new people to see your files and folders.
• Post messages and see news on a folder.
• Built in support with windows live messenger to allow you to chat with members.
• Allows you to change permissions and settings to a synced folder on your mesh.

Remote Desktop -

• Access and manage a system across the globe. Really cool if you remember something that happens to not be in your synced folders or you just want to pull up a program on your remote computer.

Remote Desktop has potential but I am unsure if it will support all version of windows vista and windows 7. I also expect the support for remote desktop to not be included in the Mac version of the software.

I love that Microsoft is developing new ideas and really pushing to that cloud computing goal. I am excited to see what they have planed for the final version of the software and I will be keeping a close eye on it from now till then. If you are curious and what to check it out head over to http://mesh.com

Used Windows Live Mesh before? Leave us a comment!

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