A few weeks ago I was talking with a friend of mine and fellow Mac user, and the subject of .mac came up. Up to that point, I had been using my .mac account primarily for the purpose of storing files in the cloud, to access from multiple computers. It worked ok, but transfers were slow, and syncing was buggy at times.
Then my friend told me about Dropbox.
Dropbox is a simple, free, and easy way to share and store files online.
And get this…it works.
Dropbox is made by the creators of 1Password (another great application, by the way). In minutes I downloaded the software onto both my iMac and my Macbook Pro, configured them to share files, and I was in business.
How does it work?
It’s really easy. Once installed, a tiny Dropbox icon sits in your toolbar. Whenever you want to access your Dropbox, click on the icon. A window will open that holds your files. You can drag any file you want into that window and it will be uploaded to the cloud. Once I uploaded some files from my laptop, I logged in on my desktop and the files were right there in my Dropbox. Amazing.
What about syncing?
Dropbox makes syncing super-easy, too. You don’t have to do anything. That’s right – your files are synced instantly to your computers and the web. And if you make a change on a document in your Dropbox, the changes are automatically sent to your computer(s).
Share files with anyone you want. Dropbox’s shared folders let you collaborate with others easily. If you’re working on a project and one of your team members makes a change to a file in the shared folder, the changes are instantly sent to everyone who has access to that folder. But don’t worry – your members can only see what’s in the shared folder – nothing more.
Sharing photos is just as easy. Dropbox already has a photos folder when you install it. Just create a folder inside that and load your photos into it. Those photos will be viewable on the Dropbox web interface, accessed by a special url that you can share.
The bottom line: It just works. It’s fast, it’s seamless, it’s easy. I haven’t found one single thing wrong with it so far.
Dropbox has two versions. Dropbox Basic is free and lets you synchronize up to 2GB of your files, folders, photos, and music. If 2GB isn’t enough, you can upgrade to Dropbox Pro for $9.99/month or $99/year. The paid option gives you up to 50GB storage space.
I’m using the free version and I haven’t even come close to my 2GB limit. Since I use this primarily for sharing between my own computers, I’m constantly adding and removing things from my Dropbox. For now, the free version is perfect for me.
If this sounds like something you can use, go check it out at GetDropbox.com.
P.S. Though I use Dropbox on a Mac, it works with Windows computers too. 
