Originally published at: menino.com - Miguel's website
Dropbox is an online file-storage system that has changed the way I transfer stuff around. It is awesome.
Here’s how it works, you download Dropbox on your computer, and it creates a special dropbox folder. This folder exists on your local computer, but it is mirrored in “the cloud.” So far so good, it’s an online backup of your files.
If you use install Dropbox than one computer, your Dropbox folder is automagically synchronized. For example, I use it on my laptop at home as well as an iMac at work. When I put files in my dropbox, they automatically show up on the work computer as well.
There is no limit on the number of computers that can be connected to a single Dropbox account, so you can have all of your computers mirroring your files. I currently have it installed on a Macbook, a G5 Tower, a Windows XP box, a Xubuntu box, and an iMac at work.
Syncing happens automatically over your LAN and internet connection. It’s gotta be the most elegant cloud storage system I’ve used, since it’s in the background and you don’t even notice it doing anything. Pure magic.
Dropbox allows you to share individual files and folders within your dropbox with other users. For example, I have a folder that is automatically shared with my wife’s Macbook. So if I want to copy a video to her computer, I just drag it into that folder and it will show up in her dropbox. The neat thing about this is that it works seamlessly from anywhere. I’ve used it to copy episodes of TV shows to her while she was on the other side of the country. Very cool.
Dropbox is a clean install, no spyware, no crap. If you don’t like it, you can just uninstall it. But I’ve yet to see a person who starts using dropbox stop using it.
Other features:
- Works on any OS: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iPhone, web-based client
- Can host files like a web-server
- Make simple online photo albums
It’s a free download. The basic account is free, and it gives you 2 gigs of disk space. If you follow this link: http://hackingthemainframe.com/dropbox you’ll receive an extra 256MB in your account, and so will I.