Before Microsoft Live Mesh arrived on the scene I used Groove to move files from my home to my work computer. And before Groove I used a product called Hamachi until Microsoft IT threatened to remove my machine from the network unless I shut it down. Something about it acting as an unauthorized node. That’s not a battle I’ll win so I began looking for a similar product when Mesh came to the rescue.

Mesh, Groove and Hamachi differ in many respects. But the one thing they all did was allow me to share files over multiple computers, even those behind a firewall. Mesh and Hamachi came with remote access as well.

Hamachi was buggy and slow. Groove was a beast to setup and keep running. Mesh is the best of the three. In fact, it’s a huge improvement over the others because it’s easy to setup and works in the background while the others require more babysitting.

I’m not going to cover all the features of Mesh. My needs are simple and I primarily use it for sharing and remote access. Simplicity is its virtue.

Folder Sharing

Once I’ve signed into Mesh I’m presented with a virtual desktop. From here I can add devices from which I’d like to share files. Only Vista and XP machines are currently supported with Mac access in limited preview. Microsoft reps have said wider device support is on the way including iPhone and Windows Mobile. Below you’ll see I’ve added Brett Home which and TSG Computer which are are my home and work computers respectively. I had to to install a small piece of software on each machine I’ve added to Mesh. But it runs in the system tray and stays out of the way.

Mesh also includes a virtual desktop as shown below. Create a folder on your virtual desktop (TSG Work for example) and Mesh creates an identical folder on the desktop of each computer you’ve added. So now that I have a TSG Work folder on my home and work computer I can add files to it and create subfolders which sync up between computers and my virtual desktop. Mesh syncs in the background. The only indications it’s running is the spinning blue circle in the system tray. Microsoft currently allows you to store 5 gigs worth of content on the virtual desktop.

Mesh doesn’t allow me to upload more than one file at a time to the virtual desktop. But I don’t use the virtual desktop very much. I’ll drag files and folders into my TSG Work folder at work and allow Mesh to sync and organize them on my virtual desktop and home PC. I only login to the virtual desktop when I need to add another folder or device to sync.

Remote Access

But what if I need to access a file on my work computer I’m not sharing but I’m on my home PC? Mesh allows me access my work computer via remote access. I’ve used a number of remote access products and Mesh is the easiest I’ve used. I wish it allowed me to drag and drop files between my desktop and remote machine, but that’s not a deal killer. When I remote into my work computer it’s usually to access a network share I can’t do from home. Below, I’ve connected to my work computer (black wallpaper) in a separate window.

Even the performance is quite good. There’s very little lag moving my mouse around the remote computer.

I’m adding Mesh to my list of favorite Microsoft products that includes Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Writer.  I suspect Microsoft will continue adding native support for more devices including the Xbox and more phone models. Maybe even the Zune.

I would pay for this service although I’m glad it’s free. At least for now. Down the road I imagine Microsoft could offer more than 5 gigs of storage for a small annual fee.

Update: An Microsoft employee told me that native Windows Mobile support for Mesh is available when you login from this link. You must be running Windows Mobile 6.0 or 6.1.

Back in 1993 I had saved $2000 in order to purchase my own computer. There were a handful of local computer business in Salt Lake City who would sell me one. Some had models already built while others offered custom built machines. Of course, I also had the choice of mail ordering through a company like Dell or Compaq. After a lot of research I decided to order a computer from an outfit called Zeos.

Macs were not as popular back then. At least not among my friends. Nor were they seen much around the University of Utah campus. Before I decided on Zeos I paid a visit to a local store that sold Apple computers. Two things struck me at the time: they were more expensive and offered fewer models.

I’ll be the first to admit, I wasn’t a computer geek back then so I wasn’t sure I was comparing comparable models. But the number of options and configurations available on the PC was overwhelming compared to Apple’s offerings.

That Zeos computer arrived with a version of DOS and Windows 3.11. Over the next two years I installed a CD ROM drives, a modem, and a sound card, none of which were standard options back then.

It wasn’t long ago that my choice to stick with a Windows PC was determined by the software I wanted to run on top of it. Be it games or word processors or utilities, running Windows gave me access to to the largest library of software. I was tied to Windows by the software I could run on it. Some version of Windows (95,NT, XP) treated me well while others (Me, Vista) tested my patience.

That brings me to today. I still use a PC at work and home. But I’m no longer tied to Microsoft Windows. I current run Vista but it’s irrelevant to me. GMail has replaced Outlook. Google Docs has replaced Microsoft Office. Many of the utilities I used to purchase are no longer needed. The games I play are now online as are my blog, Facebook, Twitter and many other web properties where I spend the bulk of my time. I can’t think of a single program I run that requires Windows that I couldn’t live without or find a web based alternative. I’d miss Windows Live Writer and Windows Live Gallery but neither would keep me on Windows.

And that’s a major challenge for Microsoft which has opened the door to companies like Google by refusing to offer an online version of their Office Suite among other online services. Someone is asleep at the wheel when the largest software company can’t offer an online version of Word and Excel while much smaller companies like Zoho pick up the slack. 

The internet is becoming the new operating system and that’s not a good thing if you’re Microsoft. I’m baffled by Microsoft new marketing spin called “Software plus Services” which appears to be an attempt to keep one hand milking the cash cow (Office, Windows) while the other hands plays around with web services. It’s Microsoft’s way of saying, “ we’ll charge for the software and the subscription”. I call it the World of Warcraft model and I expected more from Ray Ozzie.

For the time being, the huge number of hardware choices keep me on Windows. But I can see the day when I no longer want to build my computers by hand. I hope by that time we’ll have PCs where the underlying OS is so small and reliable it fades into the background. I hope one day all I’ll need is a small form factor computer running Firefox and broadband connection.  

Summers at work are the most hectic and challenging times due to the number of events that are scheduled back to back. These events are also some of the most complex requiring the greatest number of technicians to support.

During the summer I try to attend a few shows to see how things are going and support our technicians and event managers who are the real pros at this work. The group I work for at CompuCom supports most Microsoft related tradeshows, product launches, conferences and internal training events. This amounts to nearly 500 events each year.

It’s a lot of fun to get out of the office and see the amazing work our people do. It’s not uncommon for them to put in over 100 hours a week getting the technical areas of the show setup and ready for the attendees to enjoy. Many of them are coming directly off other events which keep them away from family and friends weeks at a time. I’m always amazed at how efficient and good natured they remain in the face of many late nights, demanding clients and the occasional computer that refuses to cooperate.

This week I’m helping (might be too strong a word) at a show here in Seattle called Tech Ready where we have over 30 technicians onsite to support several thousand attendees. I took this picture last night at around midnight which shows a room stacked full of 150 computers that are used to copy content over to attendee provided hard drives. One of our technicians wrote a cool little application that takes care of the process with very little input needed by the technician.

When I show up onsite, they assign me to an area when I can do the least amount of damage. So last night I worked the 4 pm to Midnight shift where my only company was a couple of very bored security guards and lots of blinking hard drive lights.

Hey, what does this red button do? 🙂

Microsoft released the Worldwide Telescope for download this weekend. This is the coolest product I’ve seen come out Microsoft in years. Maybe ever. This is the product that made Robert Scoble cry the first time he saw a demo and now I understand why.

I can’t stop clicking around the galaxy. This is very addicting. Work can wait while I zoom around the cosmos.

It’s breathtaking. Amazing. And freaking cool.

Hey, Microsoft just created something cool that doesn’t have a big green X on it.

I like that Microsoft put out a product just because they can. I have no idea if they will attempt to create a business or service. But there’s no doubt that my kids will have the opportunity to learn about space and the universe in a manner that wasn’t available to me.

Gartner recently released a report that centered around the many challenges facing Microsoft Windows. Their conclusion will not surprise anyone who runs the bloated Vista: Windows is collapsing under it’s own weight and is need of drastic change.

Only Captain Obvious himself, Ric Romero, could be proud of this conclusion. The report chides Microsoft for trying to be everything to everyone and makes some suggestions for fixing the problem before Microsoft ceases to be relevant. Here are a few of their suggestions:

1. Windows should be able to be tailored to specific applications
2. Better security
3. Make migration to new versions easier
4. Simplify licensing to focus on specific devices

None of those suggestions tackle my primary gripe with Windows: Performance and stability degrade the longer one runs it. Some people call this “Windows rot”. I shouldn’t have to run a toolbox full of utilities to fix problems Windows causes. I’ve been running a fresh install of Windows XP on my current dual core machine for about 6 months. It started out running quite well, but each week, it takes longer to boot, applications take longer to load and the general experience deteriorates into a routine of frustration. Why should anyone have to spend a day rebuilding his or her machine just to get it back in working order?

When Gates announced the plan to get Windows 7 out the door by next year that effectively froze many corporate IT departments and their decision to upgrade to Vista. Why spend a year upgrading hardware and testing Vista when the next version is only a year away?

My suggestion to Microsoft would be to start from scratch and build a very scaled down OS that works well with the web. Make it modular so I can select or remove any applications. I never use Windows Media Player or Internet Explorer so why should I be forced to install either? Make it fast and stable and fire whoever decided UAC was a good idea. Stop gouging people $250 for the best version. Take a page from Apple’s book and make one version. Make it self healing. When a problem occurs, don’t make me Google for the solution. Don’t tie it to your other properties like Live Search, Spaces or Passport. Windows should be a Gateway to everything else but not get in the way when I want to use non Microsoft product. The web gives me this agnostic experience.

Then again, does it really matter what the next version of Windows looks like? If I’m able to run the majority of my applications from the web then a browser running on top of a small, fast, scaled down OS is all one really needs.

This is how things will work. Microsoft can either adapt to these changes or fade away into oblivion.