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Live Mesh is Microsoft’s big push into Cloud Computing. It hasn’t gotten much press yet, because it’s still in a tech preview mode, but anyone in North America and some European countries can download and try it out. Basically it’s a platform that allows users to connect the web, computers and devices together, synchronize and share files, documents and applications, all in a seamless way.

Right now, only the first few features are implemented. It’s basically a very good file synchronization, sharing and backup feature. Only PCs running Windows are supported, although they will add Macs and mobile devices soon. Any type of files can be synchronized between computers and the web interface, and shared with others, but applications can’t be shared yet. It’s still unclear how one would share an application. The way Microsoft describes it is not quite like Google Docs, but instead it will be an hybrid between web-only and locally installed apps.

Let’s get started. The first thing to do to get Mesh is to sign up at http://www.livemesh.com and download the desktop client.

The installation is quick and painless, the file being less than 1 MB, although it does require the latest Windows XP or Vista patches, currently only runs in the English language, and requires a reboot. Once installation is done, you need to add the computer or device to your account. Simply sign in with the desktop client, or add it through the web interface.

After the device is added, you can synchronize files and folders. You get 5 GB of free space on the Microsoft servers. If you right click a file or folder on your desktop, you get a new option to share this file with Live Mesh.

The Live Mesh client will always keep things synchronized between the computers and the web interface. You can select, for example, to have a folder be synchronized between a work PC and a home PC, or just viewable through the web. Any time you’re on another computer, you can still access the shared files online, as well as upload more files or download the files already there.

Finally, if you click on the members list for a specific file or folder, you get a list of people who have access to that file. By default it’s just you, but you can add others to give them access to some of your files. The Mesh system will send them an email with instructions on how to view it.

Overall, the experience is very simple, easy to use, and stable. The synchronization of a new file usually takes around 10 to 30 seconds, and the Live Mesh system makes it a point to show you all the activity that goes on with your shared files. The web based system also works in alternate browsers like Firefox, so that’s always nice.

Since the initial unveiling earlier in April, the Microsoft team has been doing a good job in increasing the stability and user friendliness of the service. While for now it still is little more than a file sharing and backup utility, they keep repeating that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and we can expect a whole lot more in the coming months.