FolderShare To Be Re-Named Windows Live Sync

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.liveside.net/main/archive/2008/08/09/foldershare-to-live-on-as-windows-live-sync.aspx' target='_blank'>http://www.liveside.net/main/archiv...-live-sync.aspx</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Apparently the shroud of secrecy that surrounds Windows Live and Wave 3 doesn't extend to help files, as our friend Picturepan2 at LiveSino.net discovered as he was snooping around doing some investigative reporting. While Microsoft has maintained that FolderShare would continue on, even in the face of what seems to be redundancy with Live Mesh, those outside the company have been wondering what would become of FolderShare. FolderShare was acquired when Microsoft bought ByteTaxi in 2005, and offers file and folder synchronization between computers with a web interface component. Folder synchronization between Windows and Mac computers is possible. However it does not offer "in the cloud" storage, or work on the FeedSync RSS underpinnings that power Live Mesh (at least in its current configuration)."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//dht/auto/1226678014.usr1.png" border="1" /></p><p>Live Sync? Meh. I'm not feeling that name - FolderShare is a descriptive name that Joe Average can understand - it's something that allows you to "share folders". Sync is a geek work that has virtually no meaning in the realm of non-geeks. Names aside, what I really care about is whether or not FolderShare is going to continue to survive. As Live Mesh improves faster and faster, and FolderShare seemingly stays the same, I worry that FolderShare isn't going to be allowed to survive much longer. Of course, if Live Mesh reaches feature parity with FolderShare, it might not matter.</p>

[John Lane]

I love Foldershare and use it all the time!

[djdj]

Folder Share is one of the best services Microsoft currently offers. Mesh doesn't allow direct synchronization between two machines; everything has to go up to the cloud, so there is a limitation on how much can be synchronized. It also means that all data has to go through their servers. Folder Share, on the other hand, is truly peer-to-peer. It's really slick.

[sundown]

Darn you Digital Home Thoughts for getting me interested in FolderShare. :mad: I LOVE this program and it works perfectly every time. I should have known that was a recipe for failure. :rolleyes:

[ptyork]

Folder Share is one of the best services Microsoft currently offers. Mesh doesn't allow direct synchronization between two machines; everything has to go up to the cloud, so there is a limitation on how much can be synchronized. It also means that all data has to go through their servers. Folder Share, on the other hand, is truly peer-to-peer. It's really slick.

Actually live mesh DOES allow P2P sync. You have to set the sync options so that the Live Desktop is set to "Never" sync. In the old version of Live Mesh you could only do this from the web. Now you can also set it from the client. FYI, the P2P is real P2P. It will LAN sync between 2 PC's if possible rather than routing over the Internet.

FWIW, I switched to Mesh recently from FolderShare. FolderShare kept going down for a day here and a weekend there. Perhaps it is better now, but for a while there it was obvious that they just had a night manager / custodian running the show and keeping the lights on. Live Mesh already has feature parity (there ain't that many features after all) and appears to be solid. The option to automatically (optionally) store some of your folders in the cloud is also quite useful. Syncing to windows mobile is also quite cool, especially for photos.

Incidentally, does anyone "in the know" understand the Live plans well enough to know if the Live Mesh Desktop and the Live SkyDrive folders might merge? Seems almost as redundant as Live Mesh and Live Sync...