Look how old this is!
I post at SearchCommander.com now, and this post was published 16 years 7 months ago. This industry changes FAST, so blindly following the advice here *may not* be a good idea! If you're at all unsure, feel free to hit me up on Twitter and ask.

This week, Microsoft announced the launch of “Live Mesh” which is going to be their answer to the ultimate computer-nirvana goal of accessing everything you have, from anywhere you may be.

Your files, email, pictures, documents, music, and basically your whole life, can be instantly accessible from anywhere you happen to be, as long as you have an internet connection.

There are already people doing this with other programs, but Microsoft sees another revenue opportunity, so the’tve launched the Microsoft Mesh website, and sent out some private invitations. Here’s a first look at Mesh by a brave pioneer.

The first thing I thought when I heard this was, “what marketing genius thought up that name?” Can’t you hear the inevitable jokes about people blaming lost information and missed appointments etc. on their “Microsoft Mess”?

The second thing I thought was, “Why would I put even more opportunity for frustration into Microsoft’s hands” ? Personally, if I were to get an invitation to this program, I’m afraid it’s one I would have to decline.

Time after time Microsoft has frustrated us all,  in my case most recently with the incredibly stupid office 2007.   The last thing I would ever want to do is to put even more reliance on the Microsoft operating system or any of their software.

Yes Microsoft was really the innovator that brought computers to the world, but because they were the only kid on the block, they’ve maintained an arrogant indifference to what users have complained about.

For years we haven’t been screaming for more features, we have been screaming for the existing stuff to just work the way it’s supposed to, for crying out loud!

(Did you ever wonder how virus and spyware prevention could NOT be an integral part of the Microsoft operating system? It’s because we let them, and because we had no other choice.)

“Computing from the cloud” means being able to access all of your data in all of your files no matter where you are, as long as you have an Internet connection.  Putting all of this responsibility into Microsofts hands seems like it would be a foolish choice on my part.

I have tried to give myself as much versatility as possible, and through a redundant series of file and document backups, I’m not only able to get back up quickly after disastrous computer crashes (link) but I’m also able to work efficiently from wherever I may be located.

I carry a small portable hard drive of 250 gigs in my laptop case, and I synch it nightly with my office documents folder.

However, that’s not computing from the cloud, and in my case, I’m still in the stone age. When I get back to my office, any changes I may have made to certain documents must be transferred.

Since I still use Outlook in a POP3 setup, any mail I have responded to or not consciously saved for my other PC will not appear at work until I synch things up again with a cable, exporting my sent items folder.

If I were really “computing from the cloud”, I could borrow anyone’s laptop and login somewhere that everything is available. Cloud computing means that no matter where you are, all of your documents, your files, your folders, and someday even your software applications will be accessible wherever you are.

On May 27th, Scott Hanselman will be presenting about cloud computing at the Oregon Computer Consultants Association meeting, which is free and open to the public (You should come).

When we originally discussed organizing a “cloud computing” program, Scott Hanselman came to mind because we knew from an earlier presentation that he had taken his whole family off of Microsoft Office, and put them into Google docs and GMail.

Now however, Scott works at Microsoft, so it will be interesting to see if he’s still an open-source proponent, or if he’s planning t oplace his family into Microsoft Mesh.

Personally, I’m looking forward to the day when I can REALLY be computing from the cloud, and before the end of the summer I intend to have a good handle on Amazon’s web services, and I’ll have a laptop installed with the gOS operating system, exclusively using word processor, spread sheets and presentation software from  Google Docs, I’ll use Google Calendar for all of my appointments, I’ll use the Firefox web browser, and not much else.  As soon as I can have a compatible Android phone,  then I’ll be pretty much done with Microsoft products.

Why don’t I fear placing all of my valuable data in Google’s hands, like I do with Microsoft?  Well, think for a minute… when is the last time you did something at a Google property that failed to work, or caused you to lose time or data?   Exactly.

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