OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/19673/Ten_Things_To_Know_About_Microsoft_s_Live_Mesh Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:06:29 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif OSNews.com http://www.osnews.com Influence of OLPC http://osnews.com/thread?311012 http://osnews.com/thread?311012 It sounds like that live mesh is influenced by the OLPC XO mesh network hence the name. Whether that method will work remains to be seen. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Finalzone) Comments Holding data hostage http://osnews.com/thread?311015 http://osnews.com/thread?311015 Wow, another way for MSFT to hold hapless consumer data hostage...now it will be even easier for them to make your data obsolete - all they have to do is decide the project isn't making enough money and you lose everything. Woohoo, Sign me up. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:41:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sargek) Comments RE: Holding data hostage http://osnews.com/thread?311050 http://osnews.com/thread?311050
Wow, another way for MSFT to hold hapless consumer data hostage...now it will be even easier for them to make your data obsolete - all they have to do is decide the project isn't making enough money and you lose everything. Woohoo, Sign me up.


How is this different than any other web based service you signed up for? What if Flickr suddenly shuttered (pun intended) its service? Or if MySpace decided to go away? You run that risk with any kind of web based service. Why don't you just say what's REALLY on your mind? Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jayson.knight) Comments My Briefcase 2.0 http://osnews.com/thread?311053 http://osnews.com/thread?311053 This looks, to me, like a cross between My Briefcase and Office Groove. I have used both, and they both failed so badly for me that I can't see adding some web-2.0-ification will magically fix anything.

When I was at school, our only-moderately-incompetent ICT department had a go at using XP offline synchronisation on some laptops. All locally cached files were stored without any security or encryption, so anyone could freely view 10Gb of cached profile data from the last people to log on to the machine. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:02:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (stestagg) Comments RE[2]: Holding data hostage http://osnews.com/thread?311057 http://osnews.com/thread?311057 Well, Microsoft have a well documented history of actively persuing vendor-lockin strategies.

Take, for example, the IM wars that have fragmented the Instant Messenger market so much.

Having been forced to [slightly] open their Office document formats, Microsoft will now have to find new methods to force their customers to stick with them.Edited 2008-04-23 20:12 UTC Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:10:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (stestagg) Comments RE: Holding data hostage http://osnews.com/thread?311065 http://osnews.com/thread?311065 Yeah, I'm glad that it will work with open standards, so it sounds like it might actually not be something your data is trapped in, but I won't hold my breath.

I think that Microsoft might realize that open standards will pretty much be a requirement for any 'cloud computing' services they offer. What I really hope is that people have the same negative image of Microsoft I have, and will shun anything by MS that they're not locked in to.

Meaning if MS isn't going to somehow tie this as the only available service to integrate with their other products, people will naturally stay away from it in favor of something like AWS.

Well, it's fun to dream anyway ;-) Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (AndrewDubya) Comments RE: Influence of OLPC http://osnews.com/thread?311067 http://osnews.com/thread?311067 The only thing they have in common is the word "mesh". Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (DCMonkey) Comments RE: Holding data hostage http://osnews.com/thread?311068 http://osnews.com/thread?311068
Wow, another way for MSFT to hold hapless consumer data hostage...now it will be even easier for them to make your data obsolete - all they have to do is decide the project isn't making enough money and you lose everything. Woohoo, Sign me up.


Care to tell me how synchronizing files/data that reside on your device is being held hostage by teh evul Microsoft? Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (DCMonkey) Comments RE[2]: Holding data hostage http://osnews.com/thread?311079 http://osnews.com/thread?311079
I think that Microsoft might realize that open standards will pretty much be a requirement for any 'cloud computing' services they offer.


By their definition, OOXML is an Open Standard. Think about that one for a minute.Edited 2008-04-23 22:14 UTC Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (MattPie) Comments RE: Influence of OLPC http://osnews.com/thread?311090 http://osnews.com/thread?311090 Not really! Mesh comes from the networking concept/model and recently has become another buzzword Web2.0ists throw around. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (linumax) Comments RE[3]: Holding data hostage http://osnews.com/thread?311095 http://osnews.com/thread?311095
By their definition, OOXML is an Open Standard. Think about that one for a minute.


OOXML is ISO-certified. It is an open standard. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (tomcat) Comments MS still playing desperate "me too!" with Google Docs http://osnews.com/thread?311099 http://osnews.com/thread?311099 Just another example of Microsoft playing catchup/me-too with Google Docs.

Google's way is MUCH better.

Who wants to share out of sync copies of documents when you can collaborate in real-time with google docs.

Not to mention the most likely vendor LOCK-IN proprietary crap that will come with any Microsoft solution.


Microsofts idea of 'collaboration' is only valid if your talking to people who have the exact same $500 worth of Vista Ultimate Home Media Business Ultra Extreme Edition with IE 92.5 and Office 99.2332.2332.


Googles idea of collaboration is.....hmm...anyone with a browser on any platform. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Milo_Hoffman) Comments RE: MS still playing desperate "me too!" with Google Docs http://osnews.com/thread?311102 http://osnews.com/thread?311102 You're not too bright. First, your Google Docs comparison is limited, Mesh (And things like FolderShare) are not limited to a single service and second, your petty comment about "IE92.5" and costs is silly since they'll be supporting Windows XP/Vista + Mac on FF, IE, Safari, etc for free. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (byrd) Comments Bad URL in osnews summary http://osnews.com/thread?311130 http://osnews.com/thread?311130 As I write this, the URL of the link in the osnews summary is http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft , which is just the front page of Mary Jo Foley's Microsoft column, and the "Ten Things to Know About Microsoft's Live Mesh" story is already sliding off of that page. The osnews summary should be updated to link instead to http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1355 , the permanent link of the "Ten Things About Live Mesh" story.Edited 2008-04-24 04:35 UTC Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:32:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (MollyC) Comments RE[3]: Holding data hostage http://osnews.com/thread?311146 http://osnews.com/thread?311146
Take, for example, the IM wars that have fragmented the Instant Messenger market so much.


I dont see how MS is any more to blame for that than AOL and ICQ. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Soulbender) Comments RE[4]: Holding data hostage http://osnews.com/thread?311148 http://osnews.com/thread?311148 I didn't say they were. Please explain where you think I said that they were. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (stestagg) Comments RE[4]: Holding data hostage http://osnews.com/thread?311292 http://osnews.com/thread?311292 It is a standard for which *no conforming implementations exist*, much less the "at least two" that I, and I think most people, would like to see.

The format may be documented, mostly, in an official ISO document, but that doesn't make it an open standard. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sorpigal) Comments RE[5]: Holding data hostage http://osnews.com/thread?311317 http://osnews.com/thread?311317
It is a standard for which *no conforming implementations exist*...


First, I don't see any proof that that's true. Second, even if it were true, that doesn't obviate the fact that OOXML is an open standard. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (tomcat) Comments RE[6]: Holding data hostage http://osnews.com/thread?311458 http://osnews.com/thread?311458
OOXML is an open standard


Sure, and Mugabe is a democratic president. Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ichi) Comments RE[6]: Holding data hostage http://osnews.com/thread?311625 http://osnews.com/thread?311625 How would you define an open standard? What are the requirements for making it "open" instead of "closed"? For that matter, how would you define a standard?

A recent article I saw on one of the many news sites I frequent described MS office 2007 word as creating files which fail to check out as conforming to the standard. Since MS actually wrote the "standard" based on the output of existing Office programs, I find that to be both funny and horrifying. If they can't get it right, who can? Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:50:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sorpigal) Comments