| Microsoft enhances Live Mesh |
Oct. 30, 2008
 Microsoft announced "significant new features" for its software-plus-services offering, aimed at synchronizing content between multiple desktop PCs and mobile devices. "Live Mesh" now offers dedicated Windows Mobile and Macintosh OS X (left) client software, is available worldwide, and includes a bevy of enhancements, says Microsoft.
Live Mesh, launched in April, is officially still in beta, but has been steadily updated, most recently with a mobile website that provided access to Windows Mobile users. Intended to integrate desktop and mobile operating systems -- including Windows Mobile, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Macintosh OS X -- Live Mesh provides synchronization and remote access services similar to those offered by products like LogMeIn, GoToMyPC, and SugarSync.
Live Desktop is the heart of Live Mesh
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A core part of Live Mesh is "Live Desktop," pictured above. This virtual, Windows-desktop-like web page provides registered users with access to 5GB of storage on a Microsoft server, from any web browser. In addition, via available client software, folders can be automatically synchronized with desktop computers and mobile devices, according to Microsoft.
Initially, Live Mesh was only available in the U.S., and client software only existed for Windows XP and Vista. But, as of today, Live Mesh is available worldwide, and a "limited number" of OS X and Windows Mobile clients is also downloadable, Microsoft says.
 
Microsoft announced new Live Mesh clients for OS X (left) and Windows (right)
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Pop-up windows in the client software (shown in the new OS X version, above left, and a Windows version, above right) help users keep track of their multiple devices. In addition, because Live Desktop optionally allows folders to be shared with friends, family, or colleagues, the client software tracks contacts' online status and provides an indication of who has made changes to shared files or added files to shared folders, according to Microsoft.
Windows users can now drag files to and from the Live Desktop
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As well as offering new client software, Microsoft says it has made many other enhancements to Live Mesh, including the following:- Automatic updating of Live Mesh client software has been enhanced
- Shared folders can now have multiple access rights (creator/owner/contributor/reader)
- Synchronization can now be managed from the client software, without visiting the live desktop
- Windows users with Internet Explorer 6 can drag and drop files to the Live desktop (pictured above)
- Indications in the client software now monitor the progress of file synchronization
- Synchronization is more reliable, and files can synchronize peer-to-peer without appearing on the Live Desktop
- The Live Mesh Remote Desktop feature has gained a "superpan" feature that helps view multiple-monitor configurations remotely
Further information
Not to be confused with the "Live Desktop" mentioned above, Microsoft's RDP (remote desktop protocol) is also built into Live Mesh. Users can interact with the desktop of any connected device simply by double-clicking on it, Microsoft says.
To a large extent, Live Mesh is built upon web standards, including XML (extensible markup language) and REST (representational state transfer). It includes APIs for core services that include online and offline storage, syncing, and peer-to-peer communications. Ultimately, it could enable users to license applications for use across their "mesh," rather than installing them on individual devices. A blog posting by the Live Mesh team claims, "The programming model is the same for the cloud and all connected devices, which means an application works exactly the same regardless of whether it's running in the cloud, in a browser, on a desktop, or on a mobile device."
However, Live Mesh has drawn moderate criticism because some of its functionality does require Microsoft-only technologies. For example, the RDP support is provided via ActiveX controls, and only functions properly via Internet Explorer. Similarly, JPEG files stored remotely can only be previewed via Microsoft's Silverlight multimedia plugin.
Further information
For more information on Live Mesh, see our previous coverage, here, here, here, and here.
For further information on the Live Mesh improvements announced today, see Microsoft's Live Mesh blog, here. To obtain a Live Mesh account and client software, see the Microsoft website, here.
Client software for Windows, OS X, or Windows Mobile devices is downloadable from a user's Live Desktop page, once created. However, warns Microsoft, the Windows Mobile and OS X client software is available to U.S. and U.K. users only, and is currently being rationed, so it may not always appear as a downloadable option. In our own testing, WindowsForDevices was able to obtain the OS X client today, but not the promised Windows Mobile client.
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