Being a student at university in the UK I find it almost essential to be able to access files from the university network, my home PC, my uni PC, and Netbook in a variety of locations. To be able to do this I don’t want to have to carry around a memory stick all the time or have to swap files on and off of my Netbook, PCs and my uni network account. I have found that there are many ways offered by Microsoft to allow me to keep all of my files up to date across all the devices I use; even my mobile phone.

When I travel home it’s great to be able to go on my netbook in my bedroom, garden or kitchen and access my files from any one of my PCs, one just upstairs (yes I could just use the home network but that’s not the point) or one a few hundred of miles away in my flat.

What I use

I guess it would be best to start with the basic way to keep things in sync and that would be through the Windows Live service. This offers many ways to keep files, email, pictures, contacts, calendar, etc all synchronised from wherever you are. Obviously most of this is replicated very well by other companies and is not something new either. However the ability to use a single login name, Windows Live ID, to access the above list of services is great, it saves having to login in to many different types. When using multiple services one has to sign in on many websites offered by Google, Yahoo and others which is gets tiresome when logging in from different locations. I also like the UI and ability to swap between the different offerings so easily and when used with the application counterparts of these services it becomes a truly great way to keep a limited amount of things in sync.

As I have mentioned Windows Live the next logical service to look at would be SkyDrive as it is part of the Windows Live suite of services. This service allow a user to upload up to 25GB of data to “the cloud”; the cloud being online storage that is accessible from anywhere and its physical location is on servers in datacentres managed by some of the biggest names in tech, depending on the service in question. SkyDrive allows permission customisation to each folder to keep it open to everyone or make it only for the user. This is a free service which is great for such a large amount of online storage as some competition would make the user pay for a similar service. This is not a syncing service per say, but it can be used to store files that you may want to access wherever you are. For me this is a good service, however I hardly ever use it for reasons you will see below.

Another part of the Windows Live suite is Sync which is aimed at keeping all your pictures synchronised across multiple PCs but can be used to keep other files synchronised. I don’t use this service as, to me, it seems to have a very narrow focus but I am sure for some people this is great.

Windows Live wasn’t really designed to keep everything you need in sync, how ever it does have services that, in a lesser or great degree, offer syncing services so as you would expect Microsoft do have their own, dedicated, syncing service called Live Mesh. I use Mesh all of the time as it runs so quietly in the background syncing any folders you have set it to sync with “the cloud” and any other computers you have set it sync with. The service is great and now I am able to access any file I need where ever I am around the world and on any of my computers. It works by letting the user create Live Mesh Folders which can be accessed from the Live Desktop on the internet or by downloading the client software and then setting any folder on your PC, Mac or phone as a Live Mesh folder. This folder then acts like a normal folder, but with a sidebar to tell you all the necessary info, and keeps any file or folder within the Live Mesh folder up to date across your Mesh. A very simple, tidy way to make sure you have access to all that you need.

Talking of phones in the above paragraph there is a new service from Microsoft, MyPhone, aimed at keeping all the information (contacts, text, appointments, etc) and files (photos and files) on your Windows Mobile phone synced to “the cloud” so you can access it even if you don’t have your phone or if it gets lost or stolen. A new phone can download all this information from “the cloud” and it will be just like your old phone, aside from the apps you may have installed on it. I have this on my phone and like Live Mesh I don’t need to worry about it as it syncs silently at night.

Wherever I am in the world (with internet access) from the kitchen of a holiday home in Australia to my kitchen at home or my flat I am able to:

• access any of my files I need from anywhere in the world (via Live Mesh’s Live Desktop and/or Skydrive)
• access and view my photos collections online (via Windows Live Photos)
• view my emails, contacts and upcoming appointments (via Windows Live Hotmail, People and Calendar)
• access all the data I will need from my phone (via MyPhone)

I am also able to access some of the services even when offline such as:

• files and folders previously synced by Live Mesh
• emails, contacts and upcoming appointments by using the Windows Live Essentials Suite

I love being able to sync my files and folders but there are just a few things that I think need to be done to really make it a great set of offerings from Microsoft.

What I want to see

So with all the services it is possible to keep completely up to date but I don’t find this collection to be as simple and unified as it should and could be.

What I want to see is a single service provided by Microsoft that offers all the above and more so that it truly is the best way to keep everything synchronised. This should be done by putting everything under the Live Mesh service so having all online storage provided by Microsoft in one place with a larger storage, maybe 50GB, still all for free. By doing this I could go to one site and see all the files and folders on my PCs and my Phone and all the folders I have synced only to the Live Desktop and at the same time have everything syncing to everything else, which currently isn’t possible (I can only view the files and info on my phone from the internet on not on my PC).

In combining all the services it would make sense to make Live Mesh more like a desktop and allow better viewing capabilities of media on it, which would then negate the need for a separate service of Windows Live Photos. This is entirely possible as the service will support apps and so media apps could be written that use all the features of Photos and more making Live Mesh even better.

I don’t think that Windows Live Hotmail, People and Calendar should be combined in combined Live Mesh though as they are very different from the other services and shouldn’t be bundled with them.

To make the whole experience of Syncing better I believe that the service will need to be more of an extension to Windows and no a completely separate application and service. This could be done by having Live Mesh as a virtual drive which would really allow users to use Live Mesh as though it was part of the OS. By making it so integrated into Windows new users to the services would not be reluctant to try something new as it would feel just like Windows which in turn would likely see a rise in use of all the component parts of the combined Live Mesh.

By having a single service and site it would make for a much more streamlined and easy way to keep ones files and information synchronised across a large number of devices and accessible wherever they were.

One final thing

When looking ahead it is entirely conceivable that such changes are made to the services as we know that Windows 7 will be released on October 22^nd and I would expect some of Microsoft’s other services and products to be updated or released around that time. Live Mesh will surely be released over the next few months as it has been a Technical Preview and Beta for over a year now and much be getting very stable and mature, so perhaps they are busy adding in new features. Also MyPhone will have been in beta for quite a few months for the launch of Window 7 so it may too be finalised for the launch, maybe even being incorporated in another service.

Another thing to note is that Windows Live Wave 4 will hitting before the year is out and that within the update changes that are made could well be done to enhance the services, include greater integration via the linking of IDs to the OS and maybe even, as I hope, combine all of the Windows Live and other syncing services into one offering.

My thanks to @Adacosta for help and tips