Windows Live Mesh

whoknew — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 08:55:21 +0000

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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Windows Live Mesh