How To Sync Your Windows & Mac Data With Windows Live Mesh

Many users who use cloud storage services like Dropbox, have recently been concerned about security vulnerabilities that have surfaced, which can compromise their personal data. While many people use services like Dropbox because of the convenience they provide, Windows Live Mesh can be used as a viable alternative for synchronizing your folders between Windows and Mac OS X computers. In this post, I will provide you with a complete step by step guide for setting up your Windows Live Mesh synchronization, to sync data between Windows and Mac.

Step 1: To begin, launch Windows Live Mesh and login with your Windows Live ID. Once logged in, click Sync a folder and select a folder to synchronize your data.

Windows Live Mesh Sync

Step 2: This will open a new window where you will be asked to select devices to synchronize your folder with. The available options will include all connected computers from where you have previously logged in using Windows Live Mesh (using your Windows Live I.D.) and enabled access to your SkyDrive account. You can save your data to your cloud drive and also choose a computer to sync the selected folder with. When you login to the other computer using Windows Live Mesh, the folder will be automatically synced.

Select Devices

Step 3: Using this method, you can save up to 5GB of data on your SkyDrive account between numerous Windows and Mac OS X computers. For example, you can log into Windows Live Mesh from a Mac computer and connect it with your Sky Drive account. This will allow you to obtain your synced folders from your Windows PC to your Mac account via your SkyDrive.

Windows Live Mesh Mac OS X

Summary: You can simply login to any PC or Mac, select folders to sync and save them to your SkyDrive. Each time you login to your Windows or Mac, the data will be automatically synced from the cloud drive (SkyDrive) to the computer where you are logged in.

Windows Live Mesh Mac

You can edit permissions by logging into your Windows Live account (at: devices.live.com). From Here, you can connect and disconnect devices to synchronize your folders with and to control what data is being shared with each connected device.

Select devices - Windows Live

While Windows Live Mesh is a good alternative to cloud storage services like Dropbox and Ubuntu One,  it currently does not support Linux and mobile platforms, like iOS and Android. Windows Live Mesh works on the following operating systems:

  • Windows Vista (Service Pack 2)
  • Windows 7 (All Versions)
  • Windows Server 2008 (with Service Pack 2 and R2)
  • Mac OS X

Download Windows Live Mesh