Dropbox is a new easy to use program to help share out and store your files online. DropBox has a lot of similarities to MS Mesh, which I reviewed about six months ago, allowing you to drag and drop files into folders on your desktop which automatically sync out to other computers linked to your account.
The Drop Box Advantage
Drop box is superior to MS Mesh in a few ways:
1. Better Syncing – Ever synced with a folder to watch in horror as the old file overwrote the new file? It happens. DropBox alleviates this problem with a version tracker and undelete features.
Any changes to the file by anyone makes a new version. You can revert back to previous versions and resave the file with a new name, preserving the changes.
2. Undelete Files- Say you accidentally deleted something from your master sync folder instead of the synced local directory. In Mesh – you just deleted the main file, if you system is set up backup quickly you may not have time to move the file out of the sync directory before it is deleted forever. DropBox allows you to right click the file and undelete it. Kinda spooky, but Im sure it will save an intern’s life in short order.
3. Photo Sharing – Mesh allows you to allow other into your mesh and allows them to post files to your mesh, but it lacks an in depth, easy to use program to view these files. You have to download them and open them with your local system. Drop Box comes out of box with a flick-r like interface to help you browse your shared photos quickly and easily.
4. Remote Desktop – The only category where Mesh wins as DropBox has no comparable feature. So when Im accross town and I have to access my machine to get a string I left in open on my desktop in notepad… I can log into Mesh and see my screen, grab the data I need and never leave my chair. This is a small feature of what Mesh does, and so if this sort of function does nothing for you then by all means use DropBox instead.
5. As a smaller company DropBox will move a lot faster to include web 2.0 mashups, the same way as they are with photos and flick-r and this is just the beginning.
Ill be excited when they post their next update.
