AOL's Xdrive online storage service allows users to store up to 5GB of data for free. Windows users can also install Xdrive as a virtual hard drive making it easy to upload and download files or perform automated backups. But the the Xdrive desktop software often takes a while to connect and in our tests kind of wreaks havoc on the Windows Explorer process.

Today AOL is launching a public beta of Xdrive Desktop Lite, a new desktop application for uploading and downloading files from your Xdrive storage space. Xdrive Desktop Lite is built on Adobe AIR, which means it works on a PC or Mac.

Xdrive Desktop Lite users can upload files simply by dragging and dropping items from their computer. For some reason downloading isn't quite as easy. In order to download a file using the application you need to click on an item and select the download option from the drop down menu. There are also menu options that will let you email a link to the file or grab a string of code that will let you embed media files on any web page.