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Cloud design

Posted on 28 Jan 2009 at 16:53

Tom Arah is impressed by Microsoft Live Mesh, and wonders just what Cloud-based computing could mean for the designer.

Put this way, Live Mesh probably sounds more like a minefield than a miracle - and that's assuming you're willing to trust your files to Microsoft beta software in the first place (a lot rides on the security of your Live ID). Never entrust the sole master copies of your data to Live Mesh by synchronising your main Documents folder: instead, dip a toe in the water by creating separate drop folders that you can treat like virtually-shared USB drives, and of course continue to keep a regular local physical backup.

However, I think that Microsoft could turn this major hazard into a major plus, if before Live Mesh comes out of beta it adds simple online archiving, so that before any file is updated or deleted the existing version is automatically stored online, and easily retrievable via the Live Desktop. At a stroke this would mean your files became more, rather than less, safe when you add them to your Mesh, and if done correctly would turn Live Desktop into a basic version control system, without complicating your local filesystem.

In the longer term still, I also believe that the Live Desktop could offer another major advantage: the always-available and universally-accessible online version of your file is the natural version to edit using Microsoft's promised online RIA versions of the Office desktop apps. The potential is exciting - work on your XML-based Microsoft Office documents in your mobile's browser on the way home from work (assuming it supports Silverlight), and all changes will automatically be reflected in your synchronised local copies, ready for editing with the full-blown Windows apps the following morning. It certainly looks as if Buzzword won't have things all its own way for Cloud-based word processing. This is a radical shift in the way we use computers, because it isn't just your Office data that will be always available from any device, but your Office apps, too.

But what about design apps and design data? I started this column talking about the need-for-speed ruling out Cloud-based creation; and that was certainly my view until I got to grips with yet another Live Mesh capability, the Remote Desktop. I almost didn't look at this feature, as Windows has offered a remote desktop capability for a long time, and it's always looked frighteningly complex and only relevant to technical support folk who need to walk end-users through a problem. In Live Mesh, though, it's so simple that it seemed churlish not to take a quick peek. Essentially, you just select any currently connected device, hit the large orange Connect command, and the remote screen appears in front of you.

The immediate benefits are obvious. Even if you forgot to copy a file into one of your synchronised folders, you can quickly retrieve it by cut-and-paste from Windows Explorer. Even better, while Outlook's PST files aren't supported on Live Mesh because of synchronisation issues, Remote Desktop lets you load up Outlook to find that all-important address. It also solves Live Mesh's file-closure problem: if you forgot to close the most recent version before leaving the office, simply connect from home and shut it down. Such emergency use could be a real lifesaver, and clearly worth doing no matter how slow your internet connection (although I wouldn't recommend mobile broadband). But the real jaw-dropper comes when you remotely access a system via Wi-Fi: the responsiveness of the remote desktop becomes so smooth that Microsoft's claim, that "you can use the other computer as if you're sitting in front of it", is actually true.