Windows Live Sync Beta: Too Little Too Late
I was a Windows Live Sync Beta user when it first came out (and was originally called FolderShare) back in what now seems like the dark ages. Then I discovered Windows Live Mesh and jumped over to that service because I liked some of its features. Live Sync would look at folders you selected on multiple computers and automatically compared the differences between the folders and mirrored the contents so that all the docs in the folder on PC1 
would show up pretty quickly on PC2. Mesh did the same thing but also added online backup for up to 5GB of data. You could log into your Life Mesh desktop and access those files and download them to a computer that did not even have mesh installed.
I would do this to take the slides I had created in Photoshop on my home or office PC, put them in a folder that I was sharing via Mesh so they would upload to the online site and download them onto the PC in our church’s sanctuary. It didn’t have Mesh because I didn’t want all my personal files on it. It is used only to displays our presentations while I preach and record the worship services for Ustream and our CD distribution ministry.
For the first year of use I was happy with just a few exceptions. Mesh didn’t handle my OneNote Notebooks well. Things would get messed up and I often lost whole notebooks. Also it would not sync an Outlook data file (the file with a .PST extension that stores all your Outlook data). It was frustrating but manageable.
For a while the Mesh team would update the software and it got better and better even though it was in beta. I came to rely on it. Then everything seemed to stop. The above weaknesses remained. I kept asking for help in the Mesh forums and I searched for solutions on Google and elsewhere. Nothing! It was like the Mesh team just disappeared and the software was orphaned.
The other problem with Mesh was that it would not sync with their Skydrive service, a cloud storage solution from Microsoft. I would upload files to my Skydrive using Skydrive Explorer, a program you can install on your PC and it treats the online storage as a local disk. It is now called SDExplorer Pro. But Mesh wouldn’t work with Skydrive. This was frustrating and I kept asking if this would ever come and there would be no answer from official sources.
Almost unrelated, I got an iPad. When I did, I began wanting to find a way to easily move files from my computers to the iPad. I used the iTunes import method. But while doable it is not quick and easy. Then I discovered DropBox. And with that discovery I removed Mesh from all of my PCs. Now I put all the files I want to sync in my DropBox. I can access them on my different PCs because the DropBox client syncs them quickly. There are two significant weaknesses in DropBox when compared to the beta version of Mesh. First, Mesh offered 5GB of online data. DropBox gives you only 2GB for free. You can pay for more, but I didn’t want to pay for what I could get for free from Mesh.
The second weakness of DropBox compared to Mesh was the ability to log into a computer and remotely control it. It was very slow but at least it was doable. There are other services that make this possible, but I liked having it all together in one app. But again, I got an iPad. And with my iPad I found LogMeIn Ignition, a $30 app that I previously demonstrated (see above video) It lets you control a PC so long as the PC is running the client software. It is as simple as installing a little app on the computer and the iPad and logging in. It just works and it is amazingly quick even over the Internet.
So, after waiting for improvements to Mesh and after finding DropBox and LogMeIn and the iPad, Mesh became expendable.
Now, Microsoft has finally updated Live Mesh integrating it with Live Sync and Skydrive. And they have created something that I was longing for when I was a user. It is integrated with Skydrive. It syncs your computers. And I understand that it will even sync your Microsoft Office settings and personal files. OneNote notebooks and Outlook files are apparently included. They even are integrating it with Office Web Apps. But I have long since abandoned Outlook for Google’s Apps for my Domain and OneNote because it doesn’t work well with the iPad. I use Evernote for that now. And I just don’t use cloud based office productivity software unless I absolutely have to.
When I learned of the new version of Windows Live Sync with Mesh technology and Skydrive integrated and syncing of notebooks and settings in Office, I was tempted to try it again. Then I realized a couple of things. You only get 2 GB of online sync. What a ripoff! Going from 5GB down to 2GB when it is now new and improved†reminds me of the way Hershey shrunk their chocolate bars and called them better. 2 GB? I already have that with DropBox. Also the new Sync is still a little slow and doesn’t work on the iPad. DropBox does.
For these reasons, sorry Microsoft. Windows Live Sync beta may be great. It may have much of what I have asked for. But you took a big step backwards cutting storage to 40 percent and you were just too darn slow to update the thing. A little heads up might have saved me as a user, but not now. Further you are ignoring a device that has become a big part of my mobile life.
Category: Accessory Reviews, News
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You raise some interesting points, and clearly for you Dropbox is a better solution, but the real power in Live Sync is being able to take thousands of photos, videos, and files and have them flow from one PC to the next. For me, that's more important than keeping anything in the cloud. Dropbox is great for some scenarios – and clearly it works well for you – but it's absolutely no replacement for Live Sync if you have lots of data you're trying to keep in sync between multiple PCs.
While it specifically says Live Sync is not capable of database, yes it is a pain if you have to synchronize pst files. Just get an exchange hosting or use the Hotmail connector to partially synchronize your account I guess.
For Onenote, you are not supposed to sync OneNote like that. Close all your notebooks. Share your Onenote Notebooks folder on one computer. On the computer that shared the notebook, open onenote notebooks through your own network share ( localhostonenotenotebooks for example). On the other computer, open onenote notebooks through the network share of the original computer. You don't have to worry about your change being lost in a stupid way for Onenote that way.
For OneNote, you can just share them on Office Live or SharePoint. Use the Share function in OneNote 2010. Very simple, and it just works.
That's right. Live Sync and Dropbox, while there is overlap in features, are still not exactly the same product. Dropbox is like a mobile briefcase, holding a small amount of files while allowing you to share them to anyone on any devices. Live Sync does more grunt work by synchronizing giant libraries (e.g. all my music and photos) as well as remote desktop.
I'm surprised at the number of changes you made to your workflow and the costs you were willing to incur to accommodate the iPad. It's a nice little product and everything, but worth all the time and effort, especially when there are bound to be competitors within the next few months that wouldn't require the same upheaval?
Im user of Dropbox and a love it, but i`m forced to keep Live Sync (old and the new version now) exactly the sync between multi computers , pictures and music sync. It is one good suggestion to Dropbox include this feature.
Why doesn't dropbox work well for folders full of photos, videos or other content? It synchronizes just fine for me, across multiple PCs.
It does, but with DropBox, you can’t sync between two computers unless the files are also on the cloud. If you have a folder that’s got 10 gigs of data that you have not interest in putting on the cloud, but you want to sync across multiple computers, you can do that with live sync without needing 10 gigs of storage on the cloud. with drop box, you have to have enough storage on the cloud do that. live sync is really the only software that does that. by the way, live sync no longer supports xp, for those old laptops that can’t be upgraded to windows 7, there’s sync-only solution at all.
The fact that you have to have both computers on at the same time for the”new” live sync means that thousands (millions) of computers will now be permanently turned on. My green, one computer on at a time, just turned black as soot.
Mesh, if you did not accumulate too many files, worked as both backup and sync and I loved it.
Dropbox which I have not used yet seems to be the mesh we used to have.
If, someday, Microsoft creates a full sync solution for Outlook (without Enterprise hosting) I might come back…
Live sync beta is actually pretty cool… but the 5gb of storage would be even better.. I think we should be polite and tell Microsoft how much the extra storage means to us!!
https://feedback.live.com/?productkey=wlsync&sc…
Useful article, and an interesting perspective. I use Live Sync (the new “improved” version), and I use Mesh in the past. I have a few friends who use DropBox, and they are all quite happy.
But I have to take exception with this comment: “You only get 2 GB of online sync. What a ripoff! ”
On what planet is free, useful software, and free online, always available, always backed up storage a ripoff? It’s like someone sending you $100 every month for no reason, and then suddenly they start sending you $40 every month instead. Maybe disappointing, but a ripoff? Please.
Live Mesh DOES allow 5GB free storage