I’m a creature of habit, I just got a twitter account and I’ve probably been late to every faceparty ever. Occasionally though I’ll find something really useful that actually makes my life easier. I’ve been using Dropbox since December and I can’t live without it.
Dropbox installs on your computer without hassle and then you need to sign up for an account. Again that’s done quickly. After this you’re given 2GB of disk space to put files in to. You can split up the functionality like this:
- Private files are placed directly in the Dropbox, these get uploaded to secure webspace on the internet so you can access them from the Dropbox Web Interface or any other machine you install Dropbox on. It’s the fastest and easiest way to synchronise lots of small files on multiple machines, I have it working on three.
- Photos are placed in the photo folder, Dropbox will automatically put them in to an online photo gallery for you and make smaller versions that you can view quickly online. It also lets you view the full size versions if you want. Oh and it also copies these images to any other machines you may have Dropbox installed on.
https://www.getdropbox.com/gallery/213613/1/longday___?h=89b57f
- Public files go in to a public directory, then you can right click on them and get a public link to share with people and did I mention the files also get copied to each machine you have Dropbox on..?
- Dropbox also keeps a history of file versions. If you update a Word Document for example, then realise you want the previous version back, log in to the web interface and restore the previous version:
Sweet!
- Finally, Dropbox lets you share folders with other Dropbox users, so if everyone you want to share files with has it installed, as long as they have an Internet connection they’ll be able to get the files you ‘Dropbox’ for them.
Of course like the best things on the internet it’s free but there are premium options if you go wild and manage to fill the whole 2GB (like that could ever happen!). Enjoy.
