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What's the difference between Live Mesh, SkyDrive, FolderShare and Groove? RRS feed

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    Is there anyone who is familar with Live Mesh, SkyDrive, FolderShare and Groove?
    Can you explain when/why you would use one over the other?  And the advantages/disadvantages of using each?

    Thanks

    Tuesday, November 23, 2010 9:14 PM

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    Live Mesh beta is going to end service 3/31/11 (that's the subject of this forum) - www.mesh.com

    Windows Live Mesh is a progam/service that allows you to sync files and folders between devices, to the cloud (in a part of SkyDrive), and provides remote access to your PCs. The forum for Windows Live Mesh is at http://windowslivehelp.com and more information can be found here: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh?os=other

    SKyDrive is online storage where you can manually upload files from any PC and access those files from anywhere - http://skydrive.live.com - and allows one to set permissions for sharing those files and folders with other users.  Although the cloud storage of Windows Live Mesh uses SkyDrive, that storage is apart from the storage provided for users of SkyDrive. http://explore.live.com/windows-live-skydrive

    FolderShare is a dead product. It became Windows Live Sync, which is now Windows Live Mesh. Windows Live Sync is a different platform. The Sync platform will go away on 3/31/11, too. XP users cannot use Windows Live Mesh, so will need to seek an alternative.

    Groove is a workspace/file sharing platform that is unrelated to all of the above. It has been renamed to Microsoft SharePoint Workspace 2010 - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-workspace/

    -steve

    ~ Microsoft MVP Windows Live ~ Windows Live OneCare| Live Mesh|MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator ~
    Wednesday, November 24, 2010 1:19 PM
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    Live Mesh beta is going to end service 3/31/11 (that's the subject of this forum) - www.mesh.com

    Windows Live Mesh is a progam/service that allows you to sync files and folders between devices, to the cloud (in a part of SkyDrive), and provides remote access to your PCs. The forum for Windows Live Mesh is at http://windowslivehelp.com and more information can be found here: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh?os=other

    SKyDrive is online storage where you can manually upload files from any PC and access those files from anywhere - http://skydrive.live.com - and allows one to set permissions for sharing those files and folders with other users.  Although the cloud storage of Windows Live Mesh uses SkyDrive, that storage is apart from the storage provided for users of SkyDrive. http://explore.live.com/windows-live-skydrive

    FolderShare is a dead product. It became Windows Live Sync, which is now Windows Live Mesh. Windows Live Sync is a different platform. The Sync platform will go away on 3/31/11, too. XP users cannot use Windows Live Mesh, so will need to seek an alternative.

    Groove is a workspace/file sharing platform that is unrelated to all of the above. It has been renamed to Microsoft SharePoint Workspace 2010 - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-workspace/

    -steve

    ~ Microsoft MVP Windows Live ~ Windows Live OneCare| Live Mesh|MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator ~
    Wednesday, November 24, 2010 1:19 PM
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    Thank you. I still can't see the difference between Windows Live Mesh and Sky Drive. When I am in SkyDrive and click on synched folders I get the folders I synched in windows live mesh. So where is the difference?
    Monday, December 13, 2010 3:26 PM
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    SkyDrive is the cloud storage. If you use Windows Live Mesh and choose to sync to SkyDrive, you get special storage allocated for Windows Live Mesh to automatically sync to.

    You can have files in other folders on SkyDrive outside of the synchronized folders and they will never sync anywhere, though you can access them from anywhere.

    -steve

    ~ Microsoft MVP Windows Live ~ Windows Live OneCare| Live Mesh|MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator ~
    Monday, December 13, 2010 5:41 PM
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    Stephan,

    for XP users, and for Win 7 users who cannot use Mesh for other reasons, are there any products available anywhere with comparable functionality to Live Sync?

    Thanks in Advance.

     

    Saturday, January 8, 2011 5:57 PM
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    I'm not aware of anything comparable. Some people have reported that they are happy with DropBox for File Sync capabilities.

    -steve

    ~ Microsoft MVP Windows Live ~ Windows Live OneCare| Live Mesh|MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator ~
    Monday, January 10, 2011 11:54 AM
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    I've used Live Sync since it's early Foldershare days to keep four computers in sync, two of which are XP.  Not supporting XP is a real problem.  It still has a huge installed base and abandoning us and killing a really good product doesn't seem to be a good idea.  It works flawlessly and is very easy to use.

    Foldershare came about in the days when peer-to-peer and Ray Ozzie where hot, in the early 2000s (just what are we calling that decade?).  It will be sorely missed.  If Microsoft that this will encourage us to dump our older PCs that are still perfectly good, then they are wrong.  After getting an iPad recently, this 30-yr PC/Windows guy is ready to give up on this platform.  This action my Microsoft just makes me think that switching is a good idea.

    • Edited by SkierGolfer Tuesday, January 11, 2011 8:47 PM wordsmith
    Tuesday, January 11, 2011 8:46 PM
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    I agree, SkierGolfer. I've been using FolderShare since the pre-MS days. I can't believe they are killing a perfectly good product. What a shame. As you said, Microsoft is making it easier for me to switch to Mac and Google Docs. It's like they try to alienate people these days. Very strange considering they are losing mind-share with consumers and businesses alike.
    Wednesday, January 12, 2011 2:24 AM
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    I just recently finished upgrading all my and my collaborators computers to Win 7 thinking (naively) that it would allow me to have a smooth transition to Live Mesh 2011. Absolutely all of Microsoft's online literature says that "Live Sync is now part of Live Mesh 2011" when in reality the two programs' functions are only barely similar. Maybe I'm dense and am incapable of navigating my way to Live Sync's functionality, but I CAN'T for the life of me find an option to sync amongst different users unless the folder is synced to your SkyDrive.

    So Live Mesh 2011 lets you sync folders between your devices or store/sync/backup up to 5GB to SkyDrive, but by only letting you sync with other users folders that are on SkyDrive, it essentially imposes a 5GB limit on what you can sync between users, which was the only functionality (as far as I know) that was unique to Live Sync. I know it's cliche to complain about companies withdrawing free services, and I wouldn't even resent it if it was done in an effort to steer me to a pay product, but there's literally nothing else I can find to do this.

    I've just gotten so used to sharing about 40GB of information amongst folks that I collaborate with and would be perfectly willing to pay for a service such as Live Sync (Syncing amongst different USERS while maintaining integrated native file system access to the files locally when offline). Any advice about what product I should migrate to? Will I ultimately need to create a dummy admin user to keep logged in to all of my collaborators computers to manage the sync? That way I would not be limited since each user would essentially then be a "device"? Help!!

    Monday, March 7, 2011 10:13 PM
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    Take a look at Microsoft Groove which is now Microsoft Sharepoint Workspace 2010 for you syncing needs.  It's included (free) with some versions of Office.

     

    Monday, March 7, 2011 11:29 PM
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    I just recently finished upgrading all my and my collaborators computers to Win 7 thinking (naively) that it would allow me to have a smooth transition to Live Mesh 2011. Absolutely all of Microsoft's online literature says that "Live Sync is now part of Live Mesh 2011" when in reality the two programs' functions are only barely similar. Maybe I'm dense and am incapable of navigating my way to Live Sync's functionality, but I CAN'T for the life of me find an option to sync amongst different users unless the folder is synced to your SkyDrive.

    So Live Mesh 2011 lets you sync folders between your devices or store/sync/backup up to 5GB to SkyDrive, but by only letting you sync with other users folders that are on SkyDrive, it essentially imposes a 5GB limit on what you can sync between users, which was the only functionality (as far as I know) that was unique to Live Sync. I know it's cliche to complain about companies withdrawing free services, and I wouldn't even resent it if it was done in an effort to steer me to a pay product, but there's literally nothing else I can find to do this.

    I've just gotten so used to sharing about 40GB of information amongst folks that I collaborate with and would be perfectly willing to pay for a service such as Live Sync (Syncing amongst different USERS while maintaining integrated native file system access to the files locally when offline). Any advice about what product I should migrate to? Will I ultimately need to create a dummy admin user to keep logged in to all of my collaborators computers to manage the sync? That way I would not be limited since each user would essentially then be a "device"? Help!!

    Add the folder to your list of Synchronized folders.

    Choose what computers to sync with, and optionally sync to Skydrive.

    In the Windows Live Mesh program on your PC, click on the folder you just added to the Mesh.

    Click on the line, Shared With: Just Me.

    Your web browser will open with a box to enter the LiveID/email of the person you wish to share with.

    They will receive an invite via email. They click to view the invite and accept or decline. They would also need to install Windows Live Mesh to sync to their PC.

    Note that you should continue discussion of Windows Live Mesh in the proper forum. This one is for the discontinued beta product.

     

    For discussion of the new Windows Live Mesh (formerly Sync), (as well as the released Live Sync version) go here:

    http://windowslivehelp.com/forums.aspx?productid=24

     

    -steve

     

    ~ Microsoft MVP Windows Live ~ Windows Live OneCare| Live Mesh|MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator ~
    Tuesday, March 8, 2011 12:16 PM
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    is there any encryption used with the Live Mesh connections?
    Sunday, March 27, 2011 1:26 AM
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    is there any encryption used with the Live Mesh connections?


    Yes. Data transfer using Windows Live Mesh is encrypted.

    For discussion of the new Windows Live Mesh (formerly Sync), (as well as the released Live Sync version) go here:

    http://windowslivehelp.com/forums.aspx?productid=24

     

    -steve

    ~ Microsoft MVP Windows Live ~ Windows Live OneCare| Live Mesh|MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator ~
    Monday, March 28, 2011 2:40 PM
    Moderator