Windows Live 2011 is arriving soon, but some of you -- myself included -- may have gotten your hands on the download a little early. It was, after all, like every other Microsoft product, predictably leaked to torrent sites over the weekend.
Live Sync has evolved from Live Mesh, and if you speak to just about anyone who used Mesh they'll tell you it's awesome. Sync now integrates with SkyDrive -- but before you get too excited, there's a catch. See, you don't get the whole 25GB of space offered to SkyDrive users for Sync use. No, you're limited to 2GB just like a free DropBox account. That limit is on cloud-only storage, so it's OK by me. I'm far more interested in keeping files in sync on my computers than I am with making sure they're cloud-accessible.
In addition to syncing any folders I specify, Live Sync also handles Office templates (handy, what with the Office Live apps integration now available in SkyDrive) and custom styles and Internet Explorer favorites. That's a nice bonus, since I sometimes still have to access sites which are IE-only at work.
As if all that wasn't enough, Live Sync also includes Live Mesh's remote function which allows you to control any system you've set up as part of your Live Sync network. It's zero-config, though not quite as snappy as products like TeamViewer and GoToMyPC. On the plus side, it does support multiple monitor configs and there's nothing in the license agreement I could find which prohibits commercial use. That means unlike some other free remoting options, it's OK for you to use Live Sync on your work computer too!
The official download for the entire Live Essentials 2011 suite will be available very soon -- stay tuned, we'll keep you up to speed!
Tags: 2011, beta, control, live, rdp, remote, sync
