<a href="http://www.getdropbox.com/"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-376" title="" src="/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dropbox.gif" alt="" width="167" height="50" /></a>
Dropbox describe themselves as the ÔÇÿ<em>easiest way to share and store your files online</em>ÔÇÖ, and theyÔÇÖre not far wrong.
You simply install a small Dropbox client on your computer (available for Mac, Linux, and Windows), which runs in the background. ThisÔÇÖll give you a Dropbox folder, which is where the magic happens. Drop any files into this folder, and theyÔÇÖll be whisked across the internet and synced to DropboxÔÇÖs servers. If you make a change to any files in your Dropbox folder, the changes will be synced automatically (and <em>just</em> those changed bytes are transferred ÔÇô which is really nice if you work with big files). And, because these changes are tracked, Dropbox does <a title="Revision control on Wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revision_control">version control</a> on your files ÔÇô you have access to every version/change that youÔÇÖve uploaded! Accidentally deleted your important report? Never mind, grab yesterdayÔÇÖs copy! So, if nothing else, this is a nice way to seamlessly backup your files remotely. But what if you want to access them from another computer?
If you install the Dropbox client on another machine, your changes will get pulled down to that computer. Then, any changes you make on <em>either</em> machine will get pushed across to the other one ÔÇô two folders on two different computers, both exactly in sync, without you having to do a thing!
What if youÔÇÖre on a machine that doesnÔÇÖt have Dropbox installed? Simple - you can use the fancy-pants web interface to access all of your files. ThereÔÇÖs even have an iPhone-optimized version, so all your files are available on the go.
And how about sharing these files? Well, you have shared folders ÔÇô you can either add other Dropbox users as collaborators (so the files will be synced to <em>their</em> computers) or for non-Dropbox users you can simply send them a hyperlink to a file, which they can download through their browser. If you send a link to a folder of photos, Dropbox will give it a photo gallery web interface!
It all seems very secure, too ÔÇô files are AES 256 encrypted, and transferred using SSL. Dropbox opened to the public back in September 2008. You get 2GB of storage for free, and if you want more itÔÇÖs around $99 a year for 50GB. For more information, take a look at a <a title="Dropbox Tour - What exactly is Dropbox?" href="https://www.getdropbox.com/tour">tour of Dropbox</a> and <a title="Dropbox: Secure backup, sync, and sharing made easy." href="https://www.getdropbox.com/">the video on their homepage</a>.
