Too many devices in your life? Microsoft wants to help you simplify, and on Wednesday it launched a limited technology preview of Live Mesh.
Microsoft said Live Mesh is its new “software-plus-services platform and service that uses the Web as a hub to centrally connect people to the information, applications, people and devices they care about most.” The preview is currently limited to a relatively small number of testers, but a larger beta is expected later this year.
Harder, Not Easier
The platform came about, wrote Microsoft’s Amit Mital on a company blog, following an internal discussion about digital life. The Web is central to Microsoft employees’ lives, he noted, and they stay connected to it through a variety of devices.
“Unfortunately, at least initially,” Mital wrote, “every new device I add makes my life a little harder, not easier.” He said there were many times where he would find that a file was on another machine, or he couldn’t access something because he was offline.
Hence, Live Mesh. It allows devices to work together, data and applications to be available from anywhere, sharing to happen with just a few clicks, and your information to always be up to date and available.
In practice, a user signs up with a Windows Live ID and then goes to a personal Live Mesh page. The user then adds a device to a personal “device mesh,” which allows each Windows device to become “aware” of others. Mitral noted that, in the future, Live Mesh will support the Mac and various mobile devices.
Alternative Delivery Models
After a device has been added, there are a few changes in the device, most notably a new notifier icon in the Windows Taskbar. When a user hovers over the icon, a list of devices, news feeds and folders in the mesh pops up.
A user…