Wait! Scratch that…they didn’t do it themselves! Almost exactly a year ago Microsoft acquired FolderShare, added a cute web 2.0 “beta” tag to its name, changed it to a free service, and put it under the “Window’s Live Service” umbrella.

FolderShare allows you to keep specified folders in sync across several computers. So if you have documents on a work computer that you would like backed up to a laptop and also your home computer automatically this is a perfect solution. But, you would need to have all the computers on and connected to the internet as it doesn’t upload the documents to a central server, rather it transfer the files directly to the other systems. It optionally transfers the files under encryption.

FolderShare can also be used to allow family and friends access to files and folders you specify on your system by inviting them through the FolderShare web site. This is extremely useful for sharing large files and much easier than setting up an FTP server.

I was using FolderShare since before the Microsoft acquisition, when it was still a pay service. It was worth the 20 some dollars each month for the Pro account. Since the acquisition. it appears Microsoft hasn’t made any other changes and I strongly believe that’s a good thing as FolderShare is a nearly perfect program. I sincerely hope Microsoft doesn’t decide to “improve” upon it.

[tags]FolderShare, file sync, folder sync, automatic backup, Microsoft, download[/tags]