JC - Technology and Stuff

I didn’t know what to make of Microsoft Mesh when it first came out. It seemed like an answer to all my dreams. But it seemed an answer that was too good to be true. Well I am pleased to report that I have been using it for about a month now and it is really good. So good in fact that I take it for granted. That’s when you know it’s good software!

So, what’s Microsoft Mesh supposed to do? From the Mesh website we learn the following:

• Add your devices to Live Mesh - Synchronize folders across any or all of the devices in your mesh. Connect to your home PC from work. Manage all your devices from the web—you’re in control.
• Explore your Live desktop - Your Live Desktop has free online storage to make it easy to sync and access folders from the web. You can also connect to remote PCs from your Live Desktop.
• Add and share folders - Folders in your mesh are available from your Live Desktop and can be synchronized with all of your devices. Share folders with family and friends, or keep them private.
• Stay informed with news - Get quick access to the latest updates across your mesh. For shared folders, see who’s changed what when. Post messages or chat instantly with others in a folder.

I have about 10 or so folders that I need to keep backed up and syncronized (a mix of personal, some utilities, some pictures and website folders) and so I set up Mesh to syncronize my Desktop and the Mesh server. Syncronizing also meant backing-up - so two problems solved in one! Then I have a laptop that I use when I’m sat in my ‘comfy chair’ watching TV in the evenings and I wanted that syncronized too. It’s a real pain having to get up and jump on another PC when you want something that you know isn’t on your PC and it’s a real pain having to save everything to my network drive all the time. Then there’s the website updating. I’m always uploading a few bits and pieces to one of my websites and so I wanted to keep them syncronized too. When I use FTP from either PC I don’t want to have to remember which one of the site sources is most up to date. Anyway, Mesh cured my problem. And, my desktop is Vista and my laptop is XP! Both syncronize to each other AND to the Mesh server. That means that if I’m ever out of town, or somewhere else and there’s an emergency, I can jump onto Mesh.com and access my files from there too. Amazing!

If I log off one PC that’s not a problem. As soon as I log back on, Mesh syncronizes me right back up to date behind the scenes and I just carry on working. I can literally forget about it. And that is what I like most about the software. I’m not really using it for online storage as I keep local copies. But I could and that’s good. Also I’ve not tried to connect to my home PC from work yet as my work has strict policies about that sort of thing. But I have connected from my laptop to my desktop for the odd thing (really just to test if it works - and it does). All in all a winner from Microsoft! (How did I end up praising some Microsoft software? )

This entry was posted on Monday, September 1st, 2008 at 8:35 am and is filed under Home, PC Tool, Technology, Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.