From: "Glenn Meadows" 

Ah, like Mac.com.  You can do the same there, have files shared public or not.

--

Glenn M.
"Geo."  wrote in message
news:46498a42$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> May 14, 2007
>
> Microsoft online storage disappears overnight
> Filed under: None
>
> Assuming you blinked this weekend, you probably missed an inadvertantly
> short sneak peak of what could be the next big services showdown between
> Microsoft and Google: online storage.
>
> Microsoft's Live Drive cum Windows Live Folders -- which will offer
> subscribers 500MB of free online storage -- was caught in the
> screen-capture sights of LiveSide.net on Saturday before shutting down
> hours later. The much-anticipated service will someday lock horns with the
> rumored Google GDrive, which may in fact push the bounds of plausibility
> by allowing users to store an unlimited amount of files on the Web.
>
> Not yet in beta, Microsoft's Windows Live Folders will allow users to
> upload files to the Web via Internet Explorer or Firefox and organize them
> into personal, shared, and public folders. The service -- in part fueled
> by Microsoft's 2005 acquisition of ByteTaxi FolderShare -- will tap
> Microsoft Live ID to enable users to restrict access to files, share
> documents with designated users, or open access to their files to the
> public at large as they see fit.
>
> According to LiveSide.net's test-drive of the fledging product, users can
> assign read or contribute status to other users, thereby facilitating
> collaboration on documents among small teams or groups of friends.
> Undoubtedly, identity-based access to files via the Web will prove ripe
> for developing additional social-networking functionality into the
> product --  especially if Microsoft continues along the Web-centric path
> it has been outlining since the MIX conference by offering APIs to
> developers.
>
> Why Microsoft unveiled and veiled the service so quickly is unknown.
> Perhaps, though, the premature launch of the pre-beta Windows Live Folders
> may simply have been a stunted attempt to establish an early lead on
> Google. But when it comes to delivering services in Google's wheelhouse,
> how many years' lead will be enough? If last week's Windows Live Hotmail
> Beta, which may finally have rendered Microsoft's free online e-mail
> service relevant again, is any indication, a decade ought to do it.
>
> That said, iterations of what some are labeling "virtual hard
drives" are
> already available in the form of startups such as Omnidrive, Box.net, and
> Streamload. Perhaps a series of key acquisitions could tip the scale in
> what will undoubtedly be a heavy-use market.
>
>

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