When you hear the word “Microsoft”, most likely you think of Windows or MS Office. These are their signature products. Microsoft, though, is active in a lot of different areas. Some of their projects are quite groundbreaking, but often don’t get the attention they deserve because Microsoft’s marketing is, at best, schizophrenic and confusing.
Live Mesh is one such service worthy of of note.
Live Mesh is essentially a system for synchronizing data between multiple machines. It consists of a software component that allows one to set up sync between devices. Once a folder is set to be synchronized, anything placed in that folder will be accessible from all devices. Likewise, any change to that file will be reflected on all the devices.
As with anything connected to the “Live” initiative, Mesh can be a little confusing when you first get started. It starts you off with a screen which lists your existing devices. Hit the “+” sign to add a new one. There is no hand-holding here. You’ll download the Mesh software, install it and set up the device and it will be added to your Mesh.
As you can see from this image, there is no Mac support yet. Since I do use Mac, I had to give this a try in my Windows virtual machine. It downloads the client software, which I then run immediately. Once it is installed, it prompts me for my Windows Live log-in information (yes, you must have a Live profile with Microsoft to use this, with your country specified in your profile). It then asks for the name for my machine. It then logs into Live Mesh and I’m good to go.
Once installed, then you can go through Windows Explorer and add folders to your Mesh. Just right-click on the folder and choose “Add To Your Live Mesh”. A copy of that folder will then be uploaded to your Mesh and echoed on any other device you have added to your Mesh. Actually, you can sync to any device on the Mesh, but you actually have control over which devices it is synced to.
Mesh is currently in the “Tech Preview” stage and is still a work in progress. Right now, Mesh is a little bit haphazard in the way it is used and I think it could stand little more hand-holding. It is easy to add a device to the Mesh, but it is a little more confusing actually working with the system. Other file sync services like BeInSync do a lot better job at holding your hand through the entire process.
Mesh does have a remote desktop capability built right in which is cool, but this can also be accomplished in other ways without the help of Mesh. In fact, Windows has it built right in anyway.
The idea behind Mesh, when you get past the technical stuff, is this: a world where you can work with your files and applications from anywhere using any of your devices. It turns your collection of devices each into separate gateways into a single computing experience.
How well Mesh actually accomplishes this aim has yet to be seen. Where Microsoft continually stumbles is in marketing and explaining their products to end users.
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