Something that got a little overshadowed by the Windows Azure announcement was the other platform released at PDC: the Live Framework. The Live Framework is the uniform way for programming Live Services from a variety of platforms, programming languages, applications and devices. Live Services include things like the Windows Live apps (Messenger, Photo Gallery, Writer etc.), Virtual Earth, Silverlight Streaming, and, of course, Live Mesh. The Live Framework is built on Azure, but is one layer up from the core OS.
Live Mesh
One of the services built on top of the Live Framework is Live Mesh. The Live Framework is the developer underpinnings to this service, something consumers only know as a file sync tool and remote desktop app.
Using a simple synchronization model called FeedSync, the entire Mesh API is exposed as a series of hyperlinked feeds that can be programmed using the .NET object model, or RESTful APIs and ATOM(PUB), RSS, JSON or POX. With Feedsync, developers can add synchronization capabilities to existing RSS or Atom feeds which can then be used by services on any platform or device. (Developers, learn more here).
This is huge because it means that applications can be Mesh-enabled to run cross-platform: desktop (Mac, PC), web, and mobile. Heck, Ori even has a Mesh-enabled car.
My Mesh Is My Cloud
I’ve been using Live Mesh for a while now and to me it’s exactly how I want the cloud to work. Cloud computing shouldn’t mean that we have to choose between desktop or cloud – we should be able to seamlessly move online and off to take advantage of both worlds.
Live Mesh gives me control over my data as the files and folders can remain on my PC, yet they also exist in the cloud at the same time. It blurs the lines between what’s PC-based desktop computing and what is cloud computing. I don’t have to think about where my files are located – they are everywhere. They are on my computer when I’m on my computer and if I’m using some other PC, they’re accessible from there, too on the Live Mesh Desktop, a web application available from any internet-connected machine.
To me, this is an improvement on a cloud-only service because it lets me straddle both worlds. I can take comfort that my files are safe and secure on hardware that I own instead of solely on a web service that may or may not be up-and-running when I need it.
I can also choose to work with my files in software-based programs if I wish. For example, if I need to do advanced image manipulation, I can use Adobe Photoshop, or if I just have minor fixes and crops to do, I can use Windows Live Photo Gallery before uploading the images to Flickr. And once there, I can work with them in the cloud via Flickr’s built-in tool Picnik. I don’t have to choose one way or the other, but can seamlessly move back and forth between using a cloud service or my desktop programs.
Although today, I would have to re-download the Picnik-corrected image to my PC to return it to my Mesh, the promise of Live Mesh is a seamless integration between the cloud and my desktop. In other words, one day that image can come back down the pipes from Flickr back to my desktop, without me having to explicitly request it to do so. This is done via Mesh connectors, and they are NOT theoretical bits of code, but existing applications that you can see in action right here. (Skip to minute 34:00 of this video for the Facebook photo connector, for example).
Mesh-Enabled Apps
With the Live Framework, developers can build applications that:
- Synchronize files, data, and applications across all the devices in a user's mesh—even in scenarios where devices are only occasionally connected to the service.
- Use the member service to provide file- and data-sharing experiences to anyone.
- Extend the Live Desktop experience to deliver applications that are accessible from anywhere.
- Plug in to the news feed system to generate notifications of key activities in your application.
Here are some of the apps we’ve seen so far. These are demo apps, we hope some developers will build us some apps we can use soon. We hear that’s underway (See, there’s a sandbox!)
Ori Amiga demonstrated some Mesh-enabled applications at PDC, including this Media Center application:
Long Zheng got a sneak peek last month at a demo app called Tracker:
This session at PDC demoed Mesh apps like Collaborative Crossword, Mesh Lists, Corkboard, and Crowd Vote:
Other PDC sessions demonstrated apps like this Shopping List:
…and this Mesh Board app, a private message board:
