Work on some files on your Mac laptop and you will want the same files on your desktop computer. However, it's far too easy to forget which file was last updated on each machine. Recently I was working on my end-of-year accounts and wanted the same spreadsheet to be updated on both computers. With Macs, you can use the MobileMe service, which works effectively for small files. If you want the Mac-based files on your PC, you will encounter problems. You can't synchronise a file from your Mac desktop back to your PC, automatically, using MobileMe.

Syncplicity 0.1.33 is the first public preview of the Mac-based version of the backup and synchronisation tool. Work on a spreadsheet stored in your 'Documents' folder on your Mac and the same file will be automatically synchronised to your 'My Documents' folder on your PC. Edit the same file on your PC, update and the same file will then appear back on your Mac.

As we've said many times, we use Syncplicity regularly. The Mac version can be a little flaky at times, however. Sometimes CPU usage will be high (initially) and you need to be more patient. Still, it's a public preview and they welcome your feedback, so download and test as they're giving you a free 2GB account to get started.

Syncplicity for Mac link.

03 Feb 2009