…from Windows Live Messenger. It also shows you when other members are viewing the content.
You can keep up with what your 'meshed' contacts are doing (such as making changes to a folder or adding comments) by using the news view in the Live Mesh bar, as shown in Figure D.
Figure D: You can view activities by using the news view in the Live Mesh bar
8. What is Live Mesh Remote Desktop?
Users of Windows XP Professional and Vista Business and Ultimate editions will be familiar with the Remote Desktop service, which allows you to set up your computer so that you can access it from another machine (including Home versions of XP and Vista or even older versions of Windows with the Terminal Services client software installed).
However, connecting to a remote desktop across the internet can sometimes be tricky because of firewall configurations. With the Live Mesh Remote Desktop feature, you can connect to other computers in your mesh, view their desktops and run their programs.
The Live Mesh Remote Desktop is built on the same Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) but can more easily connect through firewalls and NAT devices.
You'll need to install an ActiveX control to connect to a device in your mesh with the Remote Desktop feature. If the device to which you're connecting is in use, the person sitting at it will be prompted to allow or deny the connection. Once you're connected, you can completely control the desktop, as shown in Figure E.
Figure E: You can completely control the remote desktop through the Live Mesh RDP connection
One thing that's different from the regular XP or Vista Remote Desktop service is that, while you're connected to the remote device with Live Mesh, the desktop is still visible to anyone who's sitting at the remote computer and both of you can control the desktop. Any task performed by either person will show up simultaneously on the desktop both to the person sitting there locally and to the person controlling the desktop remotely.
Be warned, however, that the remote desktop won't display properly if the computer to which you're connecting has multiple monitors.
9. What about security?
Live Mesh authentication depends on your Windows Live ID, so it's important that your Live ID account is not compromised.
Communications within the Live Mesh cloud are encrypted with HTTPS/SSL.
Live Mesh authorisation tickets are digitally signed with a private key. The tickets expire after a set period of time. Every device in the mesh has its own separate private key. The key is created when you install the Live Mesh software. RSA encryption is used to exchange keys between two devices in peer-to-peer communications. Then, during transfer, data and files are encrypted using 128-bit AES.
When one of the devices is behind a firewall, Live Mesh uses a cloud communication relay at the Microsoft datacentre to forward the data between the devices. The same encryption (RSA and AES) is used.
A more detailed explanation of Live Mesh security can be found on the Live Mesh blog site.
10. What is Live Mesh expected to be able to do in the future?
In addition to the ability to add different types of devices (Macs and mobile devices), in the future you'll also be able to distribute application programs throughout the mesh to all your devices and access them over the web. Developers will be able to write applications and services interact with the mesh.
Debra Littlejohn Shinder is a technology consultant, trainer and writer.
