For those of you that have not heard about it, it’s a program that sits on your laptop/PC/phone/whatever and automatically syncs your files and folders across all those devices. Or, to quote the Wikipedia page on the subject: “Live Mesh is a data synchronization system from Microsoft that allows files and folders to be shared and synchronized across multiple devices. Live Mesh consists of a software component that allows synchronization relationships to be created among different devices. Once a folder is set for synchronization, it will be available in all devices, and any changes made to the content of the folder will be reflected across all devices.”

So, this morning I was working in my office. I made some changes to a document in Open Office (not Word, sorry Microsoft!) and when I saved them Live Mesh sent the changes over the internet to my account in the “cloud”, which were then very quickly downloaded (in the background) when I logged on via my laptop in my local cafe. Meaning I didn’t have to do any file transferring before I went out to work remotely. It was done quietly, quickly and silently in the background.

A few important things to note about Live Mesh*:

- All the files are stored locally, on the machine you’re working on, as well as online so you only ever download any updates to files. The files open instantly and normally. You don’t have to wait for them to download.

- This is basically like having a local network where you can access a folder from any computer on that network. But it’s done over the internet.

- You can invite other people with Live Mesh to have access to particular folders. So collaborative, remote working is a breeze.

- It’s done really, really well. Once I’d uploaded all the files I needed to be available from anywhere (and then downloaded them to the other machines too), I was pretty much ready to go. It’s been a dream for me because I work from a couple of different machines and often find myself in a cafe, realising that the document I need is sat on my machine at home.

Many thanks to Microsoft’s Steve Clayton for highlighting it. For more info on Live Mesh you should check out all his posts on it. There’s loads of writing and videos about it on there. And it’s a cracking blog, full-stop. Ideal for people like me who like to think they’re techie, but they’re not really! Sign up at the Mesh homepage for a chance to preview it. Or nudge me for an invite. I haven’t found them yet, but apparently I have them…

*It needs to be noted that I’m making assumptions about much of this stuff. I really have no idea how it works technically!

For those of you that have not heard about it, it’s a program that sits on your laptop/PC/phone/whatever and automatically syncs your files and folders across all those devices. Or, to quote the Wikipedia page on the subject: “Live Mesh is a data synchronization system from Microsoft that allows files and folders to be shared and synchronized across multiple devices. Live Mesh consists of a software component that allows synchronization relationships to be created among different devices. Once a folder is set for synchronization, it will be available in all devices, and any changes made to the content of the folder will be reflected across all devices.”

So, this morning I was working in my office. I made some changes to a document in Open Office (not Word, sorry Microsoft!) and when I saved them Live Mesh sent the changes over the internet to my account in the “cloud”, which were then very quickly downloaded (in the background) when I logged on via my laptop in my local cafe. Meaning I didn’t have to do any file transferring before I went out to work remotely. It was done quietly, quickly and silently in the background.

A few important things to note about Live Mesh*:

- All the files are stored locally, on the machine you’re working on, as well as online so you only ever download any updates to files. The files open instantly and normally. You don’t have to wait for them to download.

- This is basically like having a local network where you can access a folder from any computer on that network. But it’s done over the internet.

- You can invite other people with Live Mesh to have access to particular folders. So collaborative, remote working is a breeze.

- It’s done really, really well. Once I’d uploaded all the files I needed to be available from anywhere (and then downloaded them to the other machines too), I was pretty much ready to go. It’s been a dream for me because I work from a couple of different machines and often find myself in a cafe, realising that the document I need is sat on my machine at home.

Many thanks to Microsoft’s Steve Clayton for highlighting it. For more info on Live Mesh you should check out all his posts on it. There’s loads of writing and videos about it on there. And it’s a cracking blog, full-stop. Ideal for people like me who like to think they’re techie, but they’re not really! Sign up at the Mesh homepage for a chance to preview it. Or nudge me for an invite. I haven’t found them yet, but apparently I have them…

*It needs to be noted that I’m making assumptions about much of this stuff. I really have no idea how it works technically!