14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is sending all Live Mesh Beta testers email messages warning of the imminent death of the project. Live Mesh was an ambitious Cloud synchronization service close to the heart of Ray Ozzie, the company’s former Chief Software Architect, but a project that never made it out of Beta.
The software giant announced in 2010 that it was killing Live Mesh, but while doing so it also revealed Windows Live Mesh, part of Windows Live Essentials, and the successor of Sync.
“After March 31, you won't be able to access any files stored online in your Live Desktop or connect to your PCs remotely using the Live Mesh software,” reads the message from the Redmond company.
“Microsoft will not be able to help you retrieve any files you have stored online after this date. Your files will also stop syncing between your computers and your Live Mesh online storage.”
With Live Mesh Beta heading for the grave in just a month, early adopters that have been testing the service need to make sure that they don’t lose any content stored in the Cloud via their accounts.
In this regard, they will need to synchronize all the files in the Live Desktop with their computer. This is the only action which will prevent the files from being shredded once the Live Mesh beta service is shutdown at the end of next month.
According to the software giant, the decision to kill Live Mesh was based on the fact that it was already overlapping with one of the products from the Essentials suite.
“For the last couple of years, Microsoft has offered two similar services for syncing your files: Live Mesh beta and another service, called Windows Live Sync, which let people sync large folders of files between PCs.
“To deliver a better product for all our customers, we decided to combine these sets of features into a new product called Windows Live Mesh,” the company added.
Although Microsoft will keep Live Mesh Beta alive until March 31, the service has already been amputated. For example, no new Beta participants will be accepted, and Live Mesh folder sharing capabilities have already been turned off.
“On March 31, 2011, you will no longer be able to sign in to Live Mesh beta on your PC, Mac, or on the web,” Microsoft said.