Windows Live FolderShare Beta
- 2 minutes to read
- edit
A while ago I talked about Windows Live FolderShare. As a reminder, for those of you who don’t know:
FolderShare allows you to synchronize files across multiple computers and access or share files with colleagues and friends. You no longer need to send large files via email, burn them to CDs/DVDs and mail them, or upload them to a website. FolderShare allows you to share and sync important information instantly with anyone you invite, making it the perfect solution for personal or small business use. FolderShare allows you to share with other people, sync folders between your own computers, and remotely access your files via a web browser.
In that post, I talked about the similarities between FolderShare and Windows Live SkyDrive and said that
I would really love to see FolderShare and SkyDrive merged together where I can have a single sign-on experience (right now you still have to register on FolderShare separately) using my Windows Live ID and have the Personal folders in SkyDrive actually use the FolderShare Satellite services. Then, if I share a folder I have the ability to share it securely (the SkyDrive Shared folders) or publicly (SkyDrive Public folders). Additionally, since FolderShare already requires a client component it would be great to have some additional options in the Windows File Sharing dialog box. While we’re at it, the default public folder that is created when you setup your SkyDrive account should mirror the Windows Public folder by default as well.
The FolderShare team released an update today that accomplishes some of those goals. The user interface brings FolderShare in line with the “Wave 2” feel of most of the other Windows Live services; in fact it looks a lot like SkyDrive.
There is also a new client application that features a better setup experience, a better system tray menu and better performance on Windows Vista.
While there isn’t integration with Windows Live ID, I’m sure it won’t be far off. That integration should also provide integration with SkyDrive as well. I think this is a great start at a whole new wave of features that will be coming from both the FolderShare and SkyDrive teams.