About three years after acquiring FolderShare, a utility for synchronizing files across multiple computers, Microsoft is retiring the application and plans to replace it with a similar utility called Windows Live Sync. You could make the case that what's happening is Microsoft is renaming FolderShare rather than replacing it, as the new version will likely look a lot like FolderShare and have many of the same functions. But it will also have a few improvements including:

• Ability to sync up to 20 folders with 20,000 files each
• You can login with your Windows Live ID
• Integration with the Windos Recycle Bin
• New clients for Windows and Mac
• Unicode support for synchronizing files in other languages (beside English)

Why Microsoft is continuing to push this software at the same time as it develops Windows Live Mesh which allows you to synchronize files across mutilple computers, the web, and mobile devices, is anyone's guess.

Microsoft has thrown open the doors to its Live Mesh file synchronization service. Now anyone can sign into the service using a Windows Live ID. You no longer need to sign up for an account and sit on a waiting list.

Live Mesh, which launched as a technical preview in April, allows users to synchronize files across multiple computers. All of your synchronized files will also be available via the web for easy access even if you're not near one of your computers. The service is still in beta, but now it's a public beta.

The Live Mesh interface also features a nifty news category that presents you with recent updates to your folders and files. If you add music to the shared music folder on your home PC, you can read about it on your work PC or on the web.

Eventually Microsoft plans to roll out Live Mesh clients for Mac and mobile devices, but right now Live Mesh works only with Windows XP and Vista.

[via LiveSide]

Microsoft has launched a technical preview of its new Live Mesh service, which is basically combines remote desktop, online storage, and file synchronization services. Right now the service is available for Windows XP and Vista, but eventually support will be added for OS X, mobile phones, and other devices. And when we say "available," we mean Microsoft allowed 10,000 people to sign up for the first round of testing. All of those slots are full, but you can sign up for the waiting list.

Live Mesh lets you choose folders and files on your computer that you want to synchronize with other computers, and with an online desktop called your Live Desktop. The system gives you a lot of control over which folders to share, and which computers and devices you can use to access those folders. You can also share folders with other Live Mesh users, see when those users are online, and even when they're accessing your files.

Right now there are basically two separate interfaces for Live Mesh: the desktop version and the web version. From either interface you can see a list of updates to your files and folders, access those documents, or initiate a remote desktop connection.

Ultimately, developers will be able to write applications for Live Mesh that you can also synchronize across platforms. In other words, you'll be able to sync more than files. Say you've developed a household budget tracking application. You can share access to the application with other members of your household, and every time someone makes buys groceries or pays a utility bill, they can enter the amount on their own computer and the updates will be available on everyone's system.

We've embedded a video from the Live Mesh blog explaining the service after the jump. You'll need to have Microsoft Silverlight installed to watch.