After much speculation, Microsoft has released a preview of its closely guarded research and development project, Mesh.
At its core, Mesh is a software program that places the individual at the centre of digital technology – allowing anything and everything with an electrical pulse and a screen to be linked together and controlled by that person. In other words, this means that PC’s and Macs, through to mobiles and internet TV, suddenly have the ability to be can all be interconnected - “meshed”, if you like - and the possibilities are endless.
With Mesh, the user is able to set up a virtual desktop in cyberspace, which is accessible through any computer, anywhere. If a file is placed into the user’s Mesh-ed online desktop system, it is automatically synced to any available piece of technology where the software has been installed.
Ultimately, this means file and content-sharing at a level that has never seen before. Videos, documents, music, photos – all will be accessible by the user to share whenever they like with friends, family and colleagues. Imagine the potential: connect to your home computer from work; with no need to email attachments or links, keep track of the activities of the people you know; allow them to see where you are in life, the ability to spend less time managing data and more time to manage life.
Currently, Mesh only works with Windows XP or Vista, however, the Mac and mobile versions are due to released soon. The long-term vision of Microsoft is to connect every available piece of daily technology; games consoles, printers, digital picture frames – each unique network being accessible to selected users, and controlled by a single individual, therefore merging the boundaries between online and offline even closer.
This work from Microsoft is long overdue. With potential dominance from the living rooom (XBOX 360) to the desktop (XP, Office) and online with MSN, Microsoft has been in a logical position to hook these elements together to become world beating. Indeed, their Microsoft Passport (for logging into multiple entities with one password) has been around long before Google even started on this path.
So time will tell if Mesh has the metal to make us fall in love with Microsoft all over again, but for now we’re off to sign up for the Beta Testing. We’ll keep you updated with what we find.
As you would expect, Mesh has been a huge topic both before and after the announcement. We recommend reading the Tech Crunch profile of Mesh as a good starting point. You can find it here.
You can also read the official line from Microsoft here.
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