I recently started looking at Microsoft's Live Mesh technology. I easily created an account on live mesh [Provide link] and uploaded a couple work files to test. I logged off and went about my daily business putting Mesh on the back burner for the week, that is until my meeting on Friday.

I get to my ever so important weekly web team meeting on Friday and fire up my poor old Weyerhaeuser supplied laptop in preparation for my website presentation. The laptop boots up and then the screen goes blank. I try everything to get it up and running because I had to present a pretty important internal site for the company... no luck. Someone offered me their laptop which was great, but my files were on my broken laptop. Great!

Then I remembered I had some of the work files on my Window's Live Mesh account I created a few days before. I logged on to the Mesh site and easily found my files and continued with my presentation. My peers were really impressed. I saved our group some embarassment thanks to Live Mesh.

Here is a quick and easy guide to post files on a Windows Live mesh account. [provide video]

Os limites em questão são os seguintes:

• Tamanho máximo de um Live Folder individual: 10 GB
• Tamanho máximo de um arquivo individual: 2 GB
• Máximo de elementos (arquivos ou subpastas) dentro de um Live Folder: 100.000
• Máximo de membros de um Live Folder: 200
• Máximo de dispositivos sincronizados por usuário: 100
• Máximo de Live Folders por usuário: 200

Alguns dos limite são bastante folgados, e é muito pouco provável que algum usuário irá ultrapassá-los (não creio que muitas pessoas vão compartilhar uma pasta com 200 usuários, ou vão conectar 100 dispositivos no Live Mesh). Mas outros sim podem representar uma verdadeira limitação para os "usuários comuns" como o limite de 2 GB por arquivo individual, que fará com que, no momento, esqueçamos a idéia de manter sincronizada uma coleção de filmes em HD.

Multiplicando o tamanho máximo de cada Live Folder pela quantidade total de Live Folders que nos será permitido ter, teremos o limite de dados total a sincronizar a partir do Live Mesh, que é uma quantidade nada despresível de 2 Terabytes.

Além disso os limites são só recomendados, o que quer dizer que eventualmente poderíamos chegar a sincronizar dados em quantidades superiores. Mas o correto funcionamento do Live Mesh nestes cenários não estão garantidos. Em outras palavras, podemos subir todos os arquivos que queiramos, mas se ultrapassarmos é possível que tenhamos problemas.

Assim mesmo, não é possível compartilhar certos tipos de arquivos e pastas:

• Arquivos cujo nome começa com um til
• desktop.ini
• thumbs.db
• Arquivos ocultos
• Pastas de sistema
• A pasta do desktop
• Arquivos armazenados em dispositivos extraíveis (CDs, unidades USB, DVDs, etc.)

Por último, existem certas extensões de arquivos que estão bloqueadas e que não poderemos agregar ao Mesh, específicamente nos referimos aos arquivos .bak, .gfs, .lnk, .pst, .sav, .tmp e .wlx

A Microsoft sinaliza que está trabalhando para reduzir ao máximo estas restrições, e assim fazer com que Live Mesh funcione como uma seda sem importar a quantidade de arquivos que tenhamos sincronizados, ou de onde provenham estes.

Via Genbeta

Microsoft Live Mesh is a pretty impressive synchronization web application which is pretty much a virtual desktop inside the web browser. The image below shows a screenshot of Live Mesh. Microsoft gives you 5gb of online storage right now. This can also be used to sync and share folders over multiple computers. Say for example I wanted to make a picture folder and sync it to all my computers or with family member's computers to create a sort of shared photo album that automatically syncs with the other users. The program is still in beta but you can get a good feel of what it can do for you. Eventually it will sync with mobile devices and macs. Initially it told me I had to be in the United States to use mesh, but creating a new live account seemed to fix that. You can access Live Mesh form any computer without having to install special software. You only need to install a small program if you want to do the automatic syncing to files on that computer. Definitly worth checking out for yourself. Also, a few features require IE7 >:( for activex support, but firefox works for most of it.

Veremos as distintas facetas do Live Mesh, seu funcionamento como serviço web, como software em Windows, Mac e outros dispositivos, e também seu potencial como plataforma.

Basicamente podemos definí-lo como um serviço de sincronização que nos permite compartilhar arquivos e configurações entre dispositivos (PCs, Macs, celulares, e outros) e com outros usuários de forma instantânea, fazendo com que tenhamos a última versão de nossos arquivos "em todo momento e em todos os lugares". Ao adicionar um arquivo em nosso computador, este sincronizará automáticamente com um escritório virtual na web e com todos os dispositivos que estejam acessando o nosso "Mesh".

Trata-se de um produto que responde pela necessidade de usuários "sempre conectados", que não se conformam em ter somente o computador da sua casa, mas também possui dispositivos móveis, ultraportáteis, smartphones, reprodutores de mp3 e mp4, etc... Esta proliferação de gadgets produz uma necessidade de serviços de sincronização, que nos permita acessar nossa informação na internet mas também quando estamos offline.

Live Mesh também incorpora outros elementos, como por exemplo um Escritório Vitual (Live Desktop) que nos permite armazenar informação na internet (no momento até 5 GB) e acessá-la a partir de qualquer computador. Tem um tremendo potencial como plataforma, já que quando for liberada a API e o SDK (final de outubro) os desenvolvedores poderão criar aplicações web como as de desktop que integram-se ao nosso Mesh e podem sincronizar dados e configurações entre nossos diferentes dispositivos.

Mesh também é software mais serviços, já que combina clientes para diferentes sistemas operacionais com uma interface web e dados armazenados em servidores. Incorpora diversos padrões e protocolos populares (HTTP, RSS, REST, ATOM, JSON, entre outros), o que facilita seu funcionamento em múltiplos navegadores e plataformas.

Além disso Live Mesh faz uso da tecnologia FeedSync para criar um NewsFeed bidirecional (similar ao do Facebook) integrado com Windows Live Messenger que serve para nos manter sempre informados com o que ocorre com as nossas pastas compartilhadas. E é claro, para podermos acessar a todas estas funções utiliza-se  o Windows Live ID como sistema de identificação.

Como se já fosse pouco, inclui-se funcionalidade de escritório remoto, possibilitando pegar o controle de outros dispositivos de nossa rede a partir de qualquer computador do mundo (evidentemente, sempre e quando ambos estiverem acessando e conectados ao Mesh).

São estas e outras coisas que fazem com que Live Mesh seja superior a outros serviços similares como o DropBox ou FolderShare. Combina coisas que já existem (escritórios virtuais, sincronização instantênea, armazenamento em linha, APIs para terceiros, NewsFeeds, etc...) e as une provocando uma sinergia na qual o maior beneficiado é o usuário. A decisão de dar a Mesh o caráter de plataforma faz com que suas possibilidades sejam quase infinitas.

Atualmente Mesh só está disponível para PCs com Windows Vista e XP, mas em muito pouco tempo começará a oferecer o cliente para Mac e para Windows Mobile. No futuro espera-se também que Live Mesh possa ser utilizado no Xbox 360, reprodutores Zune (e de outros fabricantes), dispositivos móveis com Symbian, e outros dispositivos (rádios para autos, porta fotografias, Media Center Extenders, set-top-boxes, etc.). Não foi mencionado nada sobre um cliente para iPhone, e a possibilidade de ver Live Mesh em Linux, uma vez liberada a API, passaria para a responsabilidade de terceiros criar uma aplicação para usar este serviço no sistema operacional do pinguim (Microsoft não mostrou interesse em fazer um cliente para Linux).

E o uso do Mesh na vida cotidiana? Para dar alguns exemplos, poderíamos ter toda nossa coleção multimídia sincronizada via Live Mesh. Assim não importaria a capacidade dos reprodutores mp4 (sempre e quando tivermos conectividade WiFi) já que nossas músicas poderiam ser armazenadas na internet e reproduzida sem necessidade de download. Poderíamos dispor das fotos que tiramos com o celular diretamente em um PC, em um Media Center, ou em um porta fotografias, sem cabos e de forma rápida. Também poderíamos trabalhar em um projetos com nossos colegas, assegurando-nos que sempre teríamos a última versão de cada arquivo. Haja imaginação quando falamos de novas plataformas e quando visualizamos o potencial desta tecnologia.

Não sei o que a Microsoft fará para integrar de forma coerente a enorme quantidade de serviços de sincronização e armazenamento que ela oferece atualmente, como as pastas compartilhadas do Windows Live Messenger, FolderShare, SkyDrive, Office Live Workspace, etc. Já que esta abundância de produtos que realizam funções parecidas só atrapalha e provoca confusão no usuário, mas se conseguir integrar com sucesso no Mesh, podem transformar-se em um interessante valor agregado para este potente serviço.

Em resumo, Live Mesh é uma tecnologia extremamente interessante porque possui características nunca antes vistas, de juntar a web e o desktop em uma mesma coisa. E também é um dos maiores esforços de Redmond por manter-se vigente em uma época em que o centro da gravidade da informática muda cada vez mais para a web, um terreno que todos sabemos por quem é governado - Google.

Link | Live Mesh

Via Genbeta

FAQ's

Q1: How or where to know about the folders on Live Desktop from my Computer ?

A:

In Windows XP  --> Go to My Computer --> There is a Live Mesh Folder ( a blue colored folder) in Other (group) if you are viewing by type group

In Windows Vista --> Go to My computer --> Go to User Folder -->  There you can find "Live Mesh Folder" (same blue colored folder)

A user folder is the folder with your USER LOGON NAME.

Q2: Where to get Information about Shared Folders and Not Shared Folders ?

A: Go to Live Mesh Tray Icon and Go to Folder Activity , Folders that are in Light Blue color (Ghosted Image) are not in Sync with this system and Images that are in Dark blue are in sync with system.

or Go to Live Mesh Folder for Click Manage folders as seen in above image.

Q3: How to change the Sync Settings for the Folder ?

A: Go to Live Mesh Folder (see above), and Right click  and Click on Sync With This Device

When clicked on Sync with this Device, The Dialog box as shown below opens up. By Default the Synchronization option is not shown, if you wish to change which devices to sync, click on show synchronization options. By Default the sync folder is pointed to the users desktop. To change that Click on Browse to change.

Once this is finished the Folder Selected Becomes Blue in Color and moves to Synchronized with this device.

Q4: What happened when Synchronized folder is Deleted ? and Non Synchronized Folder is Deleted ? and How to Remove the Synchronization ?

A:

When you Delete Non Synchronized Folder

Go to Live desktop and then Delete the Folder.

When you Delete a Synchronized Folder

I accidentally deleted a folder with huge files, which did not go to recycle bin as well. So be careful.

(WARNING : PLEASE DO NOT DELETE, BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT DELETING THE SYNCHRONIZATION, BUT DELETING THE FOLDER ITSELF)

To remove Synchronization with this device

Once

Q5: What Happens When a Shared folder on My computer is Deleted ? Will it be Deleted on Live Desktop ? What happens When files/folders inside the Shared folder are deleted without Deleting the Main Shared Folder ?

A: When a Shared Folder is Deleted, It is Deleted from your Computer. It will not be deleted from Live Desktop. However when you Delete any files or folders inside a shared folder which is in sync with the live desktop, the files and folders in live desktop will also be deleted.

Q6: How to Share a folder with a friends or Relatives ? Do they need a live mesh account ?

A: To share a folder, You may do in several methods. Go to the folder you want to share. If it is already in live desktop of yours then a pane appears on the right. There you see Members. You can add/Edit members. or Right click on the folder that is shared, Click on Add members in Live Mesh Folder or Go to Live Mesh Folder (in my computer) then right click and Add members in live mesh folder.

or or

Q7: Does Live Desktop Space Consume Live Desktop Space, when a friend /relative shared a folder with contents in it.. or Does we loose our space ?

A: This is a wonderful thing. You will not loose any space when a friend or relative shares a folder with you. How ever when you add some files to it, the file added by you will consume your space.

Q8: Can we do a Inter mesh File Transfer ? Can we sync file from our computer to a friend / relative computer who has a different mesh ? HOW TO DO A INTER MESH TRANSFER ?

A: Yes we can do a intermesh file transfer. Here is How to..

The Concept is that of a simple sharing..

Step 1: Add the Folder you wanted to share to your live desktop mesh

Right click on the Folder and Select Add to Live Mesh

When you share the Folder is Added to Live Desktop and it begins Synchronization. Folder becomes like this..

Step 2: You can Share this folder now to your Friend or Relative. How to Share ? See Q6 and Answer

Step 3: After you share the folder appears on your friend / relative Live desktop. He can see all the files and folders. In computer desktop a shortcut is created.

Step 4: Now the guest user (ie friend / relative) can choose to sync with his system. How to do that ? See Q3 and Answer

Now it begins to sync. From Live desktop the sync is quiet instantaneous.

Full descriptive Diagram

(Now Mac Client is is not available yet. Mac users can now use live mesh too.you may Check here for releases.. )

Q8: Can we do a peer to peer file sharing, without going into Live Desktop of mesh ? How to do it ?

A: Yes. Now the service is ready for that. How ever from the client tool you may not able to do it.

Step 1 : Add Folder to Live Mesh

Step 2: Go to Live Desktop (Click on Live Desktop on Live Mesh Tray Icon , in Devices Tab or Go to Mesh.com and Go to Desktop)

The Icon Becomes Something Like this..

To Sync with Another Computer which is inside the mesh, Go to the another Computer and select to Sync with that computer. (See Q2 Answers)

The sync occurs but it takes time depending upon the size of the folder. The service is improving and hence we can see much more improvement in future.

Q9: How to view or know what items inside the folder in Live Desktop, which does not sync to Live Desktop ? [GHOSTED FOLDER]

A: By default when you double click on all the folders that are synchronized with live desktop, it just opens in a window.. like this..

But you cannot open a ghosted folder (a folder that is not synchronized with live mesh desktop). If you double click only synchronization option opens up.

So how to view contents inside. follow me..

You see a on the Bottom right of Live Mesh Desktop there is a Mesh ICON.

Click On it..Opens up window, go to Folders Tab

and it shows.. you may see that is what is live desktop is just a broker..

Q10: Can we share this ghosted folder and sync intermesh ?

A : Technically Yes. I tried to share by adding members (How to share with members ? See Q6). The ghosted folder appears on the guest ring. But I have not tried sync. It should work. How to do intermesh sync ? See Q8 Answer.

Q11 : Can we view remote machines desktop using Live Mesh ? Does it required to have RDP server (Remote Desktop Protocol server) to be present ?

A: Yes we can view remote machines desktop using live mesh and it does not require RDP server. The remote desktop protocol is included in Windows XP professional, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Ultimate and Enterprise. It is not present in Vista Basic and Vista Home Premium and XP Home. The remote desktop protocol is more powerful compared to what offered in Live Mesh. But it required PORT FORWARDING or FIREWALL PORT OPENING.

Live mesh however does not require to have RDP server. It works on any machine. It looks like a RDP but it is much much slower than RDP. It may improve in future. It uses technology something like VNC's does. It is definitely useful. The biggest advantage is, it does not require you to open a firewall port or port forwarding.

However intermesh live desktop is not possible. This is not greatly required but in some scenarios of support personal it will be very helpful. We can use alternate tools such as Microsoft SharedView or TeamViewer or if you are vista user, use windows meeting space.

Q12 : Can we view media's like photos and movies in live desktop ?

A : Yes can be viewed. but photos only for now. Even to view photos, you require Microsoft Silverlight (Flash like component from Microsoft) to view them. In future you can view even videos using Silverlight.

Q13 : If there are two users using same desktop, but they use different mesh login, or lets say you have two mesh accounts, To sync do you have to keep it logged in with that ID ?

A : This is a very very interesting case and I do not see anybody discussing about it. It actually syncs even without need to Login. You may ask when this situation happens ? This happens when you share the computer with-in your family.

Lets say a Husband (User A) uses the computer who is logged inside live mesh. Wife (User B) is also a live mesh user, also uses this same computer, but shares a different folder.

User A when changes the contents of the folder which is in sync with Live Desktop and eventually the user has logged in, it synchronizes.

In Mean time User B uses the PC and updates contents of the folder which she (/he) uses . Since User A is logged in live mesh from this desktop, we expect that it will not sync with the Live Desktop. But it actually does sync. Even when you are not logged in the mesh still synchronizes.

So just make changes, rest the mesh deals..

Q14 : From Previous Questions Answer , there is a doubt, Whether other user can see which are the folders that I am in Sync with the Live Mesh and Can he/she change the permissions or sharing to the folders that I share ?

A : No. You may be able to control sharing or view what are folders that are shared and everything only when you login to that system with your own ID. So the other user of the computer may not see what you are sharing. However I have not tested when two users share the same folder to different Mesh. That I should check.

Q15 : Last Question., Is the help on Live Mesh site (mesh.com) helpful ? Where to get more help ? or how to solve problems or troubles ?

A : The help in Live Mesh site is too preliminary. To get further help you may use community forum.. huh very difficult to find the link for Microsoft forums.. here it is http://forums.community.microsoft.com/en-us/Forums/ and for Live Mesh http://forums.community.microsoft.com/en-US/LiveMesh/threads/.

If you got live mesh preview through MICROSOFT CONNECT then you may submit bugs through connect site. You may also ask me. I will try to help if I can.

So Got any other Questions.. write in comments..

hV a Gud Meshing....

==============

Barath

My first thoughts are these:

• Easily understood concept of folders with Vista's Aero interface (sorry, no Aero Glass)
• I can add a folder quite easily.  My first go at this was to drag my training program work folders over the new live mesh folder in Vista.  For some reason the .docx word document created a folder rather than uploading the .docx file itself.
• Can't currently drag-n-drop.  You really need to make sure things go up as you want them as if you want to drag something from one folder to another the whole upload needs to happen again.  Even on a broadband connection that can take time if you're uploading anything other than small files.
• For some reason I couldn't view my laptop via a remote desktop, I am wondering if that's coz I was accessing via the laptop, or whether there's just a problem there?  Beta?

I played the other day with another sort of online storage, this was far easier to use.  With the other one I uploaded a file, but I had not visual feedback as to the progress of that upload.  With Windows Live Mesh there is a sidebar that tells you that you have uploaded 20.1MB of 23MB, no progress bar mind you.

So my first impressions are that this shows some promise, but I think some work still needs to occur to make this a truly usable experience.  Drag-n-drop needs to be more intelligent, you shouldn't need to upload another copy of something just because it moves folders, it should have some mechanism for saying that this file has moved folders, do so at the other end.  But it is beta, so anything is possible yet.  Wonder if it will be a perpetual beta as seems to be flavour of the decade?

Windows Live Mesh is a very good Service from Microsoft. It's Service of Cloud Computing, which means you can get your data virtually everywhere, on any device. Visit www.mesh.com to find out more and view take a tour. (Requires Silverlight). 

What is Live mesh ?

To put it simple, it is a file storage on the Internet (cloud) and to move it across Devices., I.e. Computers, Cell Phones etc.

What we need is a Live Mesh Service and Internet Enabled Device. Now its still under Tech Preview., thus it works only on Windows PC.

To sign up go to www.mesh.com. (Service now available to U.S Registered IDs or else through invitations)

This basically useful for multiple PC owners or the people who want their data anywhere., Online or Offline.

The Dashboard of Mesh is as shown below

I have my Office PC, My Home PC , Media Center PC all the in the Ring, I am yet to set up my Laptop. It all works across Windows XP and Vista.

The Live Desktop is where you can view folders that are added to the Mesh or Cloud.

Features:

1. Add Devices, Different Computers to the Cloud.

2. Stay Connected, Share Across the Cloud.

3. Remote Desktop Feature.

4. Peer to Peer Sharing without Going to Cloud (Yet not in Client but the service is built in)

5. Share Across friends .

6. Get the updates on the live mesh taskbar. Can also add own comments.

and still improving....

You may just add Folders online or you can share any folders on the computer..

Once Installed you may find the Mesh Icon on the System Tray and Live Mesh Folder as Special Folder in My Computer.

Sign into the Live Mesh using your Live ID.

on Mouse Hover it shows the Devices.

Once the Other PC's are online, you may use the remote desktop directly. There need not be any router configuration separately to enable remote desktop. However the remote desktop experience in local clients in same LAN is very poor and this can be understood because it is still in very early stages. But the whole point of service is very good.

Lets see how to add a desktop folder to a cloud.. 

Simply Go to any folder on your drive.. Just Right click and Click on "Add Folder to your Live Mesh"

and after OK it becomes like this..

It begins to sync with your live desktop in few seconds. and Notification is shown of how much is uploaded or Downloaded.

You may also choose to Sync with Other Devices from Mesh Desktop

The coolest thing in live mesh desktop is, it just works like your normal windows panels with in the web interface (web browser). You can move the window inside the browser area etc.

The Live Folder gets always attached with all shared folders, which gives information on what is going on. All the news, about modification, addition, deletion is all displayed here. This info is shown even in Local Desktop, when you click on the folder that is shared on Live Mesh.

Live folder on Live Mesh Online Desktop

Live Folder on Personal Desktop .

From the Live Mesh Panel You may View News, Members with whom this folder is shared and the Devices with which this folder is shared.

If they are part of buddy List it shows whether the Member is online or Offline.

You may share a folder across anyone, Just click on add members to send them a email invitation to view the shared folder. It also now includes live mesh invitation.

Lite Version of Live Mesh is already there for Windows Mobile Devices. The Mac version

Work is being done behind the scenes of Live Mesh, today they are rolling out an infrastructure update:

From LiveSide.Net

Live Mesh infrastructure update

We will be rolling out an update to Live Desktop today, July 21. There will be no update to the Live Mesh software. You may notice a slowdown in service or some display issues while the servers update.  If you are still seeing these problems after the 21st, please report them on the forums or through Microsoft Connect.

So don’t think it’s you, your browser or computer if you experience these! Besides that they are reminding us that we can now synchronize between devices without synchronizing them with the Live Desktop (also known as "Ghosting"). We already gave you some tutorials, I’ll list them at the bottom, to show you how to use that and give some ideas on what to use it for.

Did you know?

Now you can choose to synchronize folders between devices without synchronizing them with your Live Desktop. Sign in to your Live Desktop, right-click the folder, and click Change sync settings.

You can install Live Mesh on multiple devices—then Live Mesh can keep all the folders in your mesh synchronized for you. To add a computer to your mesh, visit http://www.mesh.com/ from the computer you wish to add, sign in, and click Add Device on the Devices page.

If you didn’t get all your friends and family in yet, you can get them in by using an invite if you still have one left:

To get even more from Live Mesh, share folders with friends and family. Simply open a folder you’ve added to Live Mesh, click Members in the mesh bar, and then click Add.^* Your friends will be able to access your folder as well as install Live Mesh on their devices.

* You can enter any e-mail address to invite others to a folder; it doesn’t have to be a Windows Live ID. However, they will need to use a Windows Live ID to sign in to and use Live Mesh.

Feedback can be left as usual:

Feedback

Thanks for being one of the first to use Live Mesh. We’re working hard to create the best experience and appreciate any feedback you have. Please send us feedback using our online form. You can also submit (and view others’) feedback and bugs here on the Microsoft Connect website.

Thank you
The Live Mesh team

Also the Mac Version Desktop., Early Pictures (not out yet released as of today).

 

From the Channel9 Video on Peer 2 Peer sync, the feature is already in the system where it can sync from PC to PC without need to be stored in the Cloud or Mesh. However now the it is being disabled in the client side. But this is enabled automatically when your storage limit is full in the cloud.

Further there are lot of developments planned ahead, to make it sync without going into cloud even when you have space in the cloud, By having only Schema's or feed or Meta Data about the folder.

What I wish to have is ?

If there are two different Mesh, I should be able to connect to Other mesh's Device, provided the user gives permission, Mainly to enable remote desktop. The folder Sync can be done even today. But remote desktop is not possible. In channel9 Video they have however hinted on this. the mesh has long way to go...

The New windows Services are really promising, and as I said Microsoft is trying to keep up its name in not just Desktop oriented Technologies but also in Web Based Technologies.

There are still few problems with Microsoft, they just concentrate things to make things work on windows, or else up to mac, and I find the LINUX community is doing wonderful job, and after earned this much of money, Microsoft should support its technologies for everyone.

I wish that Windows Live Hotmail to enable POP and/or IMAP services, so that everybody can use it. I prefer GMail because they support everything.

I wish that  Microsoft to unify their services. There are three services Windows Live SkyDrive, Windows Live FolderShare, Windows Live Mesh which more or less are doing analogous job. If everything is united, it will be wonderful.

I wish that Microsoft Keeps EVERYTHING FREE.  Don't make just share holders happy, bring happiness to consumers too.

A Comparison of Windows Live FolderShare ,Windows Live SkyDrive & Windows Live Mesh

Of all the three, Windows Live mesh gives the more controlled environment.

In future it should get add more features and if More space can be added, that would be great.

--------------------------------------------

Barath

instead of using windows folders, you drop files into your 'mesh' folders, which are then synced to your internet based 'mesh' account, as well as to your phone or friend or family computers.

Microsoft this week broadened its tech preview of Live Mesh, allowing more users to get an early glimpse of the much discussed device and data synchronization service. The Live Mesh service lets people share data among multiple Windows computers, Macs, PCs and various devices, as well as opening up the possibility for desktop applications to add online components and web apps to add offline components.

It runs symmetrically on all your computing devices, in the part of the cloud that’s associated with devices, and in other parts of the cloud where services you transact with are running. The platform connectivity layer is based on FeedSync mechanism, a synchronization system based on the same simple technology that powers the blogosphere: XML feeds of items, in RSS or Atom formats. All LiveMesh objects (big media files or small calendar events) are synchronized across the mesh by feeds.

Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect in his first Channel 9 interview  discusses the Live Mesh technology and platform that enables synchronization and storage “to the cloud”.

Learn more about  Live Mesh here

Live Mesh is now open to everyone in the US according to LiveSide

http://www.liveside.net/blogs/main/archive/2008/07/16/live-mesh-is-indeed-now-open.aspx

O serviço agora foi aberto para todos os usuários dos Estados Unidos, então abra o Windows Live Account, clique em informações registradas, e em Local de Residência, mude seu País/Região para Estados Unidos, clique em Salvar, no final da página.

Agora abra o site do Live Mesh, clique em Sign In, entre com seu Live ID, aceite os termos em I agree, e faça um bom proveito. Aconselho que use o Internet Explorer, pois no Firefox eu fui levado para uma página com um link para o Microsoft Connect.

ATUALIZAÇÃO: Para instalar o Live Mesh, antes de tudo abra o Painel de Controle, Opções regionais e de idioma, e altere "Formato atual" na aba Formatos para Inglês (Estados Unidos).

Via LiveSide

Here I was, going about bashing the recently announced 'Live Mesh' every time a discussion around Microsoft's online story came up, without actually having used the service! (Yes, I know I work at Microsoft but then, being "Self-Critical" is a company value around here ;) ). Now that I have actually used it, I stand corrected! I actually like it (though the UI could be better), and am finding it pretty useful (especially the folder synchronization part).

For the uninitiated, Live Mesh is being positioned as Microsoft's platform for enabling 'Anywhere Access' to users' data and applications. The philosophy is that the user owns the data (and the software applications). He should be able to access it seamlessly, irrespective of the device and / or place. A user can add the devices and /or applications he owns to his "Mesh". The "Mesh" abstracts the fragmentation of user's data stored in isolated devices (or even the cloud) so that, for the user, his/her data is now accessible from any device connected to the mesh. For example, you start preparing a presentation for a meeting on your office desktop, go home, start your PC, continue from where you left off in the office and complete the presentation, go straight to the meeting the next day and project the slides from your smart phone!

But this is already possible, right? You could as well have emailed the slide deck to yourself and accessed it, isn't it? Well, yes, it is doable that way. In fact this was exactly the argument I used to make in support of my stand above. But you really have to try out the folder sync feature to be able to appreciate the experience it provides. (Which means, you have to wait :) Live Mesh is currently in limited tech-preview).
Using email for doing this once in a while is probably Ok, but what if you had to do this day-in and day-out? It's at least an order of magnitude simpler to have all your devices automatically synced, based on the rules you specify, but without being bothered every time and without you having to consciously attach and send mails.

In it's first avatar, Live Mesh will offer two services: Folder Synchronization (which enables scenarios like the one illustrated above) and Remote Desktop. If things go well, we may see a number of existing applications becoming "mesh-enabled" and perhaps a sizeable number of new applications built on the platform.

Un peu futuriste (tous les terminaux que l'on voit connectés dans le clip ne sont pas encore supportés) mais qui montre bien l'objectif et l'ambition de Live Mesh

Fixes

1. Live Mesh is now available in all English-speaking countries (not just the U.S.)

2. Removed the User Account Control (UAC) requirement when installing and using Live Mesh with Windows Vista SP1

3. Index for Desktop Search now works with Live Mesh folders

4. Fixed bug where an underscore in a Hotmail account name returned an "Invalid Hotmail Address" error

5. Fixed bug with Silverlight 2 Beta 2 failing to load in Silverlight Media View

6. Fixed bug where the notifier tooltip incorrectly indicated that Live Mesh Remote Desktop was unavailable for a computer running in non-admin mode

7. Fixed bug where the Live Mesh folder icon was not displayed in the e-mail inviting someone to share a folder

8. Fixed one of the bugs that caused Live Mesh to fail to start

9. Fixed problem with Live Mesh returning errors when waking from sleep/hibernate

It is great news that UAC is no longer required!

MsftGuy has a solution for this issue.  Basically you run the LiveMesh.exe from the command line with the -force argument.

Thanks for the tip! Helped me a lot

http://msftguy.blogspot.com/2008/06/befriending-live-mesh-and-server-2008.html

• Connects your devices to the cloud and remotely controls them from any of the connected devices. Devices are PCs and Mobile phones. Currently only PCs are supported.
• Creates a 'Desktop' in the cloud. Meaning you can store files on a remote share
• News – not sure about this yet.

This service is by invitation only. Once you are approved, you need to download and install the Live Mesh software. Installation is breeze, just a few clicks and you are done. You can connect to the cloud in two ways. Via browser and using Live Mesh client installed on your machine.

Connect devices and remotely control them

• You can add a device by clicking the + sign. Once added, you will get an icon assigned for that device. You can notice that I have added my Work and Home laptop to the cloud.

• By clicking on the device and 'Connect' button, you can remotely connect to the device.
• The remote computer gets a pop up "Requesting permission' to connect. By default permission is granted to connect to the device.

• Once connected the screen exactly looks like 'Windows Remote Desktop Connection' screen. You can click the ↗ icon and expand the screen to cover the entire desktop.
• To disconnect the remote desktop just close the window by clicking the x in top right corner.

I love this than any other remote control programs in the market. Connection is fast, seamless and works across corporate firewalls. If you are used to 'Remote Desktop Connection' in Windows, you will be at home with this. Best part is cut & paste works across the remote desktops.

Desktop in the cloud (Shared folders)

• When you click the 'Desktop' button on the top, you get the Cloud desktop.
• Currently it lets you to create folders and store documents in them.

When you install Live Mesh, it installs a notification window in the bottom right notification area. Clicking the Live Mesh icon pops up a window as show below.

You can also use this to remotely connect to your device or desktop.

So far I like the remote desktop feature and having fun with it.

More later,
-Balaji NJL

However, the company has long owned the Acrobat family of products, basically a 'Office' like system for business based around the extremely successful PDF format. I can't speak from much experience, but I feel this particular part of the company's activities has probably been a little neglected recently with the domination of Microsoft Office.

Many companies now, however, are moving away from the desktop - having their programmes running on people's own computers - to a system where everything is online. And there are advantages to this: we can access all our programmes and files across any computer, always get the latest updates, and the companies can monitor our actions (although that is more of a benefit to them!)

Microsoft recently launched their 'Live Mesh' online platform, which was hailed by many at the time as being the dawn of the third Operating System after Windows and Mac OS X. This was their plan to bring services online, with the official blog that launched it saying...

"Our design goals for Live Mesh are to have…

• …your devices work together
• …your data and applications available from anywhere
• …the people you need to connect with just a few clicks away for sharing and collaborating
• … the information you need to stay up-to-date and always be available"

Which is really a pretty comprehensive set.

But Adobe's new Acrobat is strong competition - mainly because it works and it delivers on what it offers.

After purchasing the Buzzword online word processor, Adobe had a good set-up to launch their plans.

The services offered are basically...

• Buzzword - online word processor, with a very glossy interface. Used for online editing of documents (although I think they are limited to .txt and .rtf formats - that's quite a big problem!)
• ConnectNow - which I haven't tried, but it seems to be a very good office communication tool
• CreatePDF - a service Adobe have long offered and is welcome to the service, though I certainly prefer another means of PDF creation
• Share / My Files - perhaps the next stage in the development of the 'third OS' is the online storage of files and then the ability to share them. This area does it very well, if with only a limited number of file types

While this is fairly orientated towards business customers, it is a good example of what can be achieved. It is all run using Adobe's extremely popular Flash system, and this allows it to provide a very rich, immersive experience to users. Not that you need Flash, have a look at this new presentations application.

But its not perfect. There are holes that may or may not be filled, but I think it could be done better, bigger. And Microsoft are probably the company that are able to do it.

Microsoft want Live Mesh to be at the centre of everything online, and I think there should be a service that does it. Currently, they have developed such a wide range of applications under their 'Live' brand, but they are not as coherent as they should be, and they do not tie in with Live Mesh.

While I'm on this topic, I would love Microsoft to stop creating more and more stupid domains as advertising points for their promotions. Stop it. Strong brand in one place.

In my opinion, Microsoft and their Live department, need to develop on the following areas...

• Proper online storage and sharing. They already have SkyDrive online storage, however, this needs to be incorporated with Mesh, and be broadened to have support for as many files as possible. Storage needs to be as big as Microsoft can afford to make it, and people encouraged to store all files online. Massive investment needed to maintain security. A breach could ruin everything. Sharing is very important too though.
• With storage, they may want to create a 'Live Mesh Base Station' that can sit on the desktop. Whether its just to speed up access to services/files or whatever, but I feel this would probably be useful. If not as an interface, more as a storage and running unit.
• Make WL Spaces useful. They may want to scrap it and start again, but they do have the technology. I'd like to see the blogs feature and the photos feature all under Live Mesh. The blogs should compete with WordPress and Blogger, and the photos with Flickr. Store and manage images with the Mesh, choose those to be public (try mesh.com/photos/username or something), and then manage blog postings through the same system. It needs a brilliant interface and some positioning to get it into the market. Not only do they have Spaces, but also WL Writer and Photo Gallery - it should be so easy to integrate!
• Make applications online. All the Microsoft stuff on Windows needs to be on Live Mesh. From Office to Media Player, they all need to be available for interaction with people's files online. Get it all online.
• Devices - these seems important to Microsoft and will probably grow to be more as we move across various items
• Communication - messenger, mail, contacts, calendar; get them all under Live Mesh, get them in one place. I could see Messenger (like all of this) coming through the browser, with a Silverlight set up running it, perhaps notifications via the Base Station?
• Feeds - the way to stay up to date with everyone. Microsoft need a comprehensive reader application.

The fact with a lot of this, is that Microsoft already have the technology, the users (every Windows user at every user with a msn, hotmail or live email address) with an already set-up login process and the Silverlight platform from which to create rich, browser experiences. They just need to get their act together and make it all accessible!

Because if they don't Google will. They already have an online office system (if small), online photo storage, blogging platform, a downloadable pack with Google Toolbar, YouTube for videos/media, device development though Android, online chat with GMail and the very popular Google Reader for feeds.

So, Adobe are just got in to the bed, Microsoft are there with everything they need don't seem to know what the plan is and Google are in there and going full-steam ahead.

The Rob Blog @ robparker.org.uk

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If you haven’t checked lately it’s 2008 but we still have the same basic options as we did in the 90’s, some games are much better but EVERY SINGLE GAME MAKER IS STILL MISSING THE SOCIAL focus of the games! GTA 4 is an amazing game but made a critical error in the social side.

Hey good point, it's all about friends and the social connections, they took out the most important feature for most gamers. We were all looking forward to finally being able to just handout with our friends in other cities online without being shot at in COD4 or run over in GTA4. Then go shoot at people in COD4.

What does Niko Bellic do at the end of the day after he kills the mob boss and pulls the plug on his dreams?

He goes to a bar with another Niko Bellic who lives 1500 miles away and has a virtual beer and shoots some darts with a friend online. Maybe with the current game on the LCD TV in the virtual bar.

Maybe they would get some more friends together and go water skiing or suba diving under the bay.

You know I don't know because some deveopler up there at Microsoft isn't creative enought or they're to proud to ask the gamers and the core community what they want. They are just like to movie industry and they will fall the same way if they don't change.

We have been asking for a social virtual world since Trade Wars 2002, with the bathroom wall and secret passwords.

If the social network advancements and myspace and Army of Two concepts haven't proven that there is a major gap in the social focus of gaming and entertainment then nothing will.

Just 4 or 5 guys and gals in distant cities playing some darts, bowling, water skiing... together over xbox live. It's so sad the one most important feature and main reason everyone gets xbox live is to connect with others but there isn't anywhere to do other then in the middle of a war.

Why can I play darts with someone that is fake but not someone real, when the focus of Xbox Live is to allow Social interactions between gamers, family and friends. This shows a critical failure of understanding by the developers and Microsoft in what our expectations are of them.

Other points.

I wrote this to Major but we don’t get any answer from anyone at Microsoft. No, company in this world ignores its customers like Xbox and Microsoft because we’re talking about games the customer doesn’t seem to matter. Well I’m not a kid, I am a customer that spend a large % of my yearly budget on technologies but yet no one will talk to us or write us back. Yes, I know there are a lot of emails and questions but we are paying you to deal with us, not ignore us.

Xbox live was built to be a place to game and connect with gamers across the world but after 3 years there is still not ONE single social focused program or application. Video conf, voice conf have not been upgraded ever! No, new features have been added to help us continue to make the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live our core media center. We’ve made the change but Microsoft has stuck us with, we might get to it someday…  I have 4 Xbox 360, 1 Home Server, 4 Vista PC’s and we fully use Media Center yet we are told to wait for features year after year. We have the most advanced setup in our area but yet we can’t do some of the simplest things because Microsoft won’t listen to us.

·         I still cannot meet with a group of friends anywhere outside of a game. On Xbox Live even after paying $50 a year per person per family. (that’s $150 a year for my family alone yet we still can’t meet with more than one person at a time)

·         I still cannot manage any type of social network on Xbox Live, even when Microsoft owns Live Spaces.

·         I still cannot manage any type of clan or pro grouping system, no top friends nothing

·         I still cannot share video mail with family and friends, and have almost no video effect when video conf

·         I still cannot video and audio conf with more than 1 person on each side, no room Mic

·         I still cannot 3 way call (a simple feature free on land lines and cell phones but not xbox live)

·         I still cannot meet in a open 3D world with my friends and family

·         I still cannot access my gaming statistics online or anywhere

·         I still cannot get gaming release dates, news or rate features or xbox live content

·         I still cannot access Video over IP tv (MSN Video performance on a 15MB cable is very poor and not Video over IP)

·         I still cannot access web content from my Media Center with good performance. Even when cable and sat both have On demand streaming video options but Microsoft and Xbox Live still don't? There should be a yearly option for unlimited downloads of shows and movies from Xbox Live, no one wants to pay per movie, PLEASE, BLOCKBUSTER IS DEAD let their failed business model go with them. Unlimited access is the name of the game we don't want to rent anything!

You tell my 10 year old daughter why she can't watch hairspray day after day for a week because we can only rent it for 48 hours then we have to pay to rent it agein even after we've downloaded it? What are we paying for?

But yet I'm spending $15 a month for netflix? Why doesn't Microsoft take that money and give me FREE unlimited content from Xbox Live?

·         Add-ons for Media Center have been poor, with few useful applications, even fewer that work on extenders.

·         Even with the Xbox 360 I am yet to be able to use Microsoft Word on my Xbox 360, even when most USB Keyboards work great and Microsoft has Office Live in Beta

·         I am unable to access my Microsoft Live Mesh dashboard and data from Xbox Live Dashboard on Mesh

·         I am unable to change the Dashboard Nav type (there should be a 3D option for Navigation in the Xbox 360 Dashboard)

·         There are few Video Cam application, even fewer effect, no full screen for video conference….(this is just stupid) Should I go on with missing video features there’s a lot

·         There is no touch screen support, also should include multi-touch support before Windows 7 does. Must be supported in media center!

·         Unable to use a Mouse or wireless style pointer or Wii style remote

·         Unable to Backup my game data anywhere but a USB memory card (Mesh, DFS, MS Home Server integration…) and only sometimes, viva piñata still can’t be copied

·         Unable to stream video content for game previews, reviews…. Why must I download everything I want to watch even if just one time just to delete it a few minutes later, this is a great waste of bandwidth and storage.

·         Why can’t I get Fox News or the News of my choosing on my Dashboard as a tab? Why no rss feeds?

·         Why can’t I Picture and Picture my duel tv tuners in Media Center?

·         Why are the music visuals so poor? Winamp style anyone, why can’t we control the effects in a visual editor and then save.

·         Why are there no advanced features, there are more than just stupid people using these tools and consol’s and we should have the right as consumers to have at least some control and advanced features. Just like in Windows you can default the settings stupid but please give us the options to control visual and feature based options.

·         I don’t care if the core of Xbox 360 OS runs in 64MB give us more options and make it run in 256MB. Same with Windows 7 you can make it lean by default but you better give us the advanced options too or we’re out.

I’m tired of being treated like a kid because I play games and use an Xbox as my social connection to my family. Microsoft better start focusing to the GTA, Mature crowed soon before we leave for PS3 as they do have social focused networks online and do give advanced options.

Time is passing and year after year we wonder why Microsoft vision of Xbox Live and Xbox 360 are so short and limited. We see that based on the comments of the Xbox Live Director telling us no Spring update because they only built the Xbox Live library to hold 15,000 titles and must upgrade and expand the network.

This shows a critical lack of vision for Xbox Live and show they don’t get it. We have been demanding since BBS days for a 3D social network in a free world. Server/client based I don’t care, even if it can only host 8 users at a time.