Windows Live Mesh |
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| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
| Stable release | 2011 (15.4.3538.0513 Win, 15.4.5726.23 Mac) / July 20, 2011 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X (Intel Only)[1] |
| Type | File sharing |
| Website | explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh |
Windows Live Mesh (formerly known as Live Mesh, Windows Live Sync and Windows Live FolderShare)[2] is a free-to-use Internet-based file synchronization application by Microsoft that is designed to allow files and folders between two or more computers be in sync with each other on Windows (Vista and later) and Mac OS X (v. 10.5 Leopard and later, Intel processors only) computers or the Web via Windows Live SkyDrive.[3] Windows Live Mesh also enables remote desktop access via the Internet.
Windows Live Mesh is part of the free Windows Live Essentials suite of software.
Contents |
Features of Windows Live Mesh include:
Microsoft bought FolderShare from ByteTaxi Inc. on November 3, 2005, and subsequently made it a part of their Windows Live range of services.[5]
On March 10, 2008, Microsoft released its first user visible update to the then Windows Live FolderShare. This comprised a rewrite of the FolderShare website and an updated Windows Live FolderShare client. Support for discussion groups and Remote Desktop Search was also removed in the update. The new client had some user interface and branding updates and contained several bug fixes - including official support for Windows Vista and discontinued support for Windows 2000.
Since its rebrand as Windows Live FolderShare, the client and service had undergone extensive platform changes, switching from the original LAMP which it was originally built on when acquired, to the Windows Server platform. In the Windows Live Essentials "Wave 3" release, Windows Live FolderShare was again rebranded as Windows Live Sync. New UI improvements were also announced to be part of the "Wave 3" release, integrating it with other Windows Live services. New features of the then Windows Live Sync "Wave 3" compared to FolderShare included increased limit of sync folders, integration with Windows Live ID, integration with Recycle Bin, unicode support, support for Mac OS X, and integration with Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Toolbar to sync photo albums and favorites between PCs.[6] Windows Live Sync Wave 3 was released on December 11, 2008,[7] and an update of Windows Live Sync for Mac was released on November 2, 2009 to add support for Mac OS X 10.6.[8]
Microsoft released the Live Mesh technology preview on April 23, 2008, a data synchronization system that allowed files, folders and other data to be shared and synchronized across multiple personal devices and up to 5 GB on the web.[9] Live Mesh was based on FeedSync technologies to convey the changes made in each device so that the changes can be synchronized across all devices and the cloud.[10] The information about devices and folders participating in a synchronization relationship was not stored locally but at the service-end.[11]
The Live Mesh software, called Mesh Operating Environment (MOE),[12] was available for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X, as well as Windows Mobile 6.[13] It could be used to create and manage the synchronization relationships between devices and data. Live Mesh also included a cloud storage component, called Live Desktop, which was an online storage service that allows synchronized folders to be accessible via a website.[9] Live Mesh also provided a remote desktop software called Live Mesh Remote Desktop that could be used to remotely connect to and manage any of the devices in a synchronization relationship.[12] Live Mesh Remote Desktop allowed users to control their devices from the Live Mesh application, as well as from any other internet connected PC.
Live Mesh also included a developer component, which consisted of a set of protocols and Application Programming Interfaces (API) known as Live Framework (which was also briefly known as MeshFX).[14] It was a REST-based API for accessing the Live Mesh services over HTTP. Microsoft had also provided APIs for managed code (including .NET Framework and Microsoft Silverlight) as well as for Win32 and JavaScript via a developer Software Development Kit (SDK).[14] Unlike the Mesh Operating Environment (MOE), which was limited to sharing folders, the Live Framework APIs could be used to share any data item between devices that recognize the data.[11] The API encapsulated the data into a Mesh Object—the native synchronization unit of Live Mesh—which was then tracked for changes and synchronized. A Mesh Object consisted of a collection of Data Feeds, which could be represented in Atom, RSS, JSON or Plain Old XML formats. The data entries within these feeds were synchronized via the FeedSync protocol. The MOE software also created Mesh Objects for each Live Mesh folder in order for them to be synchronized.[11] However, the Live Framework APIs were discontinued on September 8, 2010 with the aim of being integrated into Windows Live Messenger Connect in the "Wave 4" release.[15] Live Mesh beta was officially discontinued on March 31, 2011.[16]
A beta version Windows Live Sync "Wave 4" was released on June 24, 2010. This new version, while initially branded Windows Live Sync, was the first version which was built using both FolderShare and Live Mesh technologies. Compared to the "Wave 3" version of Windows Live Sync, the new version featured increased limit of sync folders and files, ability to sync up to 2 GB of files to the cloud on Windows Live SkyDrive synced storage, addition of Live Mesh's remote desktop access via Windows Live Devices, and ability to sync application settings for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. This new version of Windows Live Sync was also designed to be completely separate from both the previous versions of Windows Live Sync and Live Mesh, and as such any previous synchronisation relationships were not retained when being upgraded from Windows Live Sync "Wave 3" and Live Mesh. The previous Windows Live Sync "Wave 3" website, and the Live Mesh Desktop, was also replaced by the new Windows Live Devices service in the "Wave 4" release.
The beta was subsequently updated on August 17, 2010, and on August 29, 2010, the service was officially rebranded as Windows Live Mesh, and its cloud-based SkyDrive synced storage was increased to 5 GB, as was the case for the previous Live Mesh service. The new version also allows users to sync hidden files, view a list of missing files that are awaiting to be synchronised, and various performance improvements.[17] The final version of Windows Live Mesh 2011 (Wave 4) was released on September 30, 2010 as part of Windows Live Essentials 2011.
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