Live Mesh Tech Preview

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For those of you that attended the Canadian Strategic Architect forum a couple of weeks ago, Live Mesh is what I would have loved to be able to speak with you about during my talk on Windows Live Platform. Unfortunately the timing was two weeks off for me to be able to share this info with you.

On Tuesday evening we released Live Mesh Tech Preview (important to note that this isn’t the product launch. just a tech preview) and there’s quite a bit of good coverage to help you dive into understanding what Live Mesh is all about. The key thing I’ll say is that it is critically important to understand the “big picture” here. That being the fact that this is a platform. Some people get focused in specifically on the folder sharing and syncing capability of Live Mesh. This is an awesome part of the tech preview experience,  but misses the platform element which is HUGE news. Folder sharing and synchronization across devices is an example of a great experience built on top of the Live Mesh platform.

So what is Live Mesh? (remember the platform piece I mentioned earlier though! :-) )

Well, here’s a description from the website:

Imagine all your devices—PCs, and soon Macs and mobile phones—working together to give you anywhere access to the information you care about.
With Live Mesh, you can spend less time managing devices and data and more time connecting with family and friends or collaborating with colleagues.

What I’d get you to focus in on first is understanding the importance of “your devices” in Live Mesh. When you sign up for Live Mesh you are able to go and add your “devices” to your Mesh. This is important because what we all deal with day to day right now is all sorts of devices that aren’t aware of each other or connected in a way that makes it easy for me to access my information across all of these devices. For example, your work laptop, home PC(s), and eventually your Mac(s) and Mobile phone. By adding these devices into your Mesh, Live Mesh enables all sorts of interesting scenarios across your devices like synchronizing content, being able to access your various devices remotely, and another key point, having one of your “devices” be a Live Desktop in “the cloud”. So you are accessing what looks like a desktop through your browser, but all the files on it are stored in the cloud. Also pay attention to the “stay informed” aspect of this. It’s not just syncing and accessing the information, but Live Mesh also surfaces “news” related to the activies (someone added a file, posted a comment etc) across your mesh. Again, don’t think just in terms of file/folder sync and news.

Here’s a great (and quick) video tour if you want to quickly grasp this:

https://www.mesh.com/Welcome/Tour.aspx 

 

Here’s some more info (again from the www.mesh.com website)

All your devices working together

No more e-mailing attachments to yourself. Instead, synchronize the information you need across all your devices. The most up-to-date versions will be at hand when you need them—at home, at the office, and on the go.
Just install the Live Mesh software on each device. Then add folders to your mesh. Folders are automatically synchronized, always available.

 

 

Access from anywhere

Anything you add to Live Mesh is available from anywhere, including the web from your Live Desktop. Your Live Desktop comes with 5 GB of free storage, and can be used from most web browsers.
Need a program that's only on your home PC? With Live Mesh, access to all your devices—and any programs on those devices—is at your fingertips, no matter where you are.

 

 

Simple to share

Easily share files and photos with friends, family, and colleagues—invite them to a folder. Everyone is kept up to date because files can be synchronized automatically with all your devices and all their devices.
Update documents, post comments, or send instant messages, all right from the folder. The Live Mesh bar helps you connect instantly with other folder members.

 

 

Stay informed

Keep track of all the activities in your mesh. See the online status of friends and colleagues, find out who has updated which files or folders, post and read comments, and check the status of your devices.
News about your mesh is easy to access. You can view news items in the notifier, from the mesh bar, and on the Live Mesh website—available whenever, wherever you are.

 

 

Protection you know

Your mesh is password-protected with your Windows Live ID, so only you have access to it. When you share a folder with family and friends, they sign in with their own Windows Live ID to access it.
All file transfers are protected using Secure Socket Layers (SSL), the same technology your online bank uses.

 

If you want to dig deeper, here’s some more great coverage 

 

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