Microsoft Windows Live Mesh

Microsoft's free file-syncing service, Windows Live Mesh (free), lets you access your home PC's files from the office and your work documents while at home, even if one of those machines is a Mac and the other is running Windows. Easy to understand and with a clear dashboard, Windows Live Mesh is a very good service for keeping your files intact, up-to-date, and available to you no matter where you are. One bonus you'll find in Windows Live Mesh that you won't get in other file-syncing services is remote-desktop functionality, or the ability to see and control one machine, such as your home desktop computer, from another.

Windows Live Mesh sits under the umbrella of Windows Live Essentials, a suite of Microsoft tools and services that encompasses email, instant messaging, photo storage and sharing, and more. If you're looking to adopt a new file-syncing service and that's all, my one complaint about Windows Live Mesh is that it's difficult to escape the rest of the package. Once you have Live Mesh, the other Live Essential services are always in your periphery when you use the Web-based parts of the service. But if you're already a Windows Live user (or don't mind the whole package), Live Mesh is a fantastic component well deserving of the rigorous use you'll likely give it.

I also found it very difficult to figure out how much storage I would get with a free account, as there's some conflicting and confusing information circulating. You get some storage for syncing computer-to-computer, and some other storage amount for using "SkyDrive." Once you have the software set up, it shows you how much space you have left very clearly?but it's hard to know what you'll get before you sign up.

If all you want is a stand-alone file syncing service, we recommend SugarSync (free for 5GB, 4.5 stars) for its simplicity and support for most platforms, or Dropbox (free for 2GB, 4 stars), which is equally simple but in a different way.

System Requirements
Windows Live Mesh works on both Windows PCs (Vista and later) and Apple Mac computers (Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and later, Intel processors only). It also offers access to files through the Web with Windows Live SkyDrive, where you can store up to 5GB of files for free.

To use the remote desktop features, you'll need a host computer running Windows Vista or 7, and a second PC with Windows XP, Vista, or 7, and Internet Explorer 7 or higher.

Windows XP users may become frustrated just looking for official information about Live Mesh; if you find the official URL from a Web search and click it, the resulting page appears to have no information whatsoever about Live Mesh because it hides the information as soon as it detects that your computer is running an incompatible operating system.

In its relatively short history, Windows Live Mesh has worn a number of names: "Live Mesh," "Windows Live Sync," and "Windows Live FolderShare." If you search for the full and proper name as it stands now, perhaps seeking blogs with expert tips or best practices for using the service, you can easily come up short if the source was written a while ago and refers to Microsoft's file-syncing service by one of its past names.

Installation and Set Up
I downloaded and installed Windows Live Mesh on a Windows 7 computer and a Mac, both with no problem in just a few minutes. To authenticate the service, I signed in with my existing Hotmail user name and password. If you don't have a login for any of the supported services, you can create one for free.

During set up, Windows Live Mesh prompts you to select folders that you'd like to sync. In the realm of file-syncing services, this method?asking the user which data to sync?seems to be the preferred method, and it's how most services operate by default. Dropbox, however, one of the first names in file-syncing, uses a different default method: If you want something to sync, put it in the new Dropbox folder that's created on your computer when the software is installed. Dropbox users do have advanced options that let them take the other approach, but it's not the default set-up. Other services blend the two methods, creating a special folder for syncing as well as letting you designate what files and folders should sync. Windows Live Mesh doesn't create any confusing options here. Tell it what to sync, period.

Features
The software's clean interface makes all the difference, too (see the slideshow for images). You can easily see all your synced devices, folders, and files. In the online dashboard, a snapshot and short line of text for each folder explains what it is, where it came from, and whether or with whom it's shared.

You can share files and folders with up to nine people. If you send someone an invitation to your files through the website, you can tap into your Hotmail contacts list to pull email addresses.

Similar to Apple's iCloud (free for 5GB), which syncs data across a number of different Apple programs, Windows Live Mesh integrates and syncs data across multiple other Microsoft applications. For example, while iCloud can sync your bookmarks in Safari across multiple computers, Live Mesh can sync favorite URLS and recently typed URLs on Internet Explorer across computers. iCloud syncs any files you create using apps like Pages and Numbers, while Live Mesh can sync custom dictionaries across Microsoft Office.

Syncing is the primary purpose of Windows Live Mesh, and it works simply and elegantly. Install Live Mesh on multiple machines, mark folders or files to sync, and all the synced data will now always appear (in its latest version) on any of the devices you've enabled. The remote desktop feature extends beyond well file-syncing to give you complete accessibility to not only your files, but your entire computer, from afar. With any remote-desktop service, the host machine has to be on and disabled from going into sleep or hibernate mode. With Live Mesh's remote access feature, you must be using Internet Explorer (version 7 or later) as well.

I wouldn't recommend people rely on remote desktop functionality too often, as there's a lot that can go wrong. For everyday work, file-syncing should be sufficient. But there are certainly times when it's very handy to be able to get inside your computer from afar. Just be sure to read Microsoft's complete instructions for set up and use before trying it.

Windows Live Mesh
Once most people use Windows Live Mesh, they'll find its basic service is very easy to understand?even if it seems unnecessarily confusing in print, with its various names and different allocations of storage space. If you don't want to get bogged down in all the other Microsoft Windows Live Essentials offerings, however, stick to a standalone syncing service, such as our Editors' Choice services, SugarSync and Dropbox.

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