Microsoft's handy cloud-storage services were consolidated from two products to one back in June and the combined product was named Windows Live Sync. After further beta testing though, the company has decided that it will once again be changing the name, this time to Live Mesh.
The two consumer services - as they were before the merger - were named Live Mesh and Live Sync. Both did broadly the same thing, though, allowing automatic synchronisation of files between a computer and Microsoft's cloud servers. Mesh provided a few additional features, including a Remote Desktop function, more storage and the ability to keep files synced across multiple devices as well as the cloud.
When the services were combined, the best parts of Mesh were rolled into Live Sync, though the storage was decreased from 5GB to Live Sync's 2GB.
Following further feedback, the development team has decided that it will return to the Mesh branding once the service launches next year as a part of Windows Essentials 2011. Storage will also be increased to 5GB for all users and support for hidden files - which synced under Mesh, but not Live Sync - has been restored.
Lastly, the team has made numerous performance improvements to the client software, which should significantly reduce memory- and CPU-usage during periods of activity and when idle.
The service is free and available to anyone with Windows Live ID as a part of the Windows Live Essentials beta program.
