Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Windows Live OneCare 2.0 beta almost here

In an email sent to Windows Live OneCare testers, Microsoft confirmed the imminent start of the OneCare 2.0 beta program. Designated as a "pre-premiere", OneCare 2.0 will not be available as a public beta initially.

New features we should be seeing include:

  • Multi PC management - designate a hub PC and then add additional PCs to your OneCare circle using a common Windows Live ID. You can then see the status of the other PCs within the group.
  • Printer Sharing - share your printer with all the PCs in your OneCare circle
  • OneCare Online Photo Backup - paid storage is available online for photo backups (we're hearing 10GB but that could change by the end of the beta)
  • Securing wireless networks - if your router is supported OneCare 2.0 will allow you to secure your wireless network
  • x64 support

The ability to backup online is a feature we've been talking about for a while, as a potentially key part of storage in the cloud. Windows Live Folders is currently set at 500MB, but if 10GB is what is being offered for OneCare Photo backups, a significant increase for the final version seems more than likely.

If you haven't signed up for the beta already, here's the link.

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