Why I Love Dropbox

I admit it, I love Dropbox. I use it every day, it works on all of my connected devices, and it has never let me down. So what is Dropbox, and why do I love it?

Dropbox is a cloud based file storage service. There are lots of cloud based solutions for file storage, but Dropbox is so much more. The beauty of Dropbox lies in its rock solid software, available for a host of operating systems. Dropbox offers software for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS, and Android. In addition to its own software, there are literally dozens of pieces of other software that work seamlessly with Dropbox.

So how does it work? Once you have created a Dropbox account, you are given 2 GB of free "cloud" storage on their server. After you install the free app, Dropbox creates a folder on your computer that acts just like any other folder, with one exception. Any file that you save to or drag to the folder is automatically synced to your Dropbox in the cloud. You can securely access your cloud stored files from any browser on any internet connected computer.

It gets better! Add Dropbox to a second computer, and all of your files are automatically synchronized between both computers. Need your files on the go? There are free Dropbox apps for iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile. Because mobile devices may have limited storage, these apps don't automatically sync, but you can download anything you need from the cloud.

Do you want more? Dropbox gives you more. You can create a "shared" folder in your Dropbox, then share it with any other Dropbox user. For example, my daughter has a Dropbox account, and we have a shared folder. Any files that I drop in the shared folder on my computer appear automatically in my daughters Dropbox. Delete a file from one shared folder, and it is deleted from all the shared folders on every computer.

What if you want to share with someone who doesn't have Dropbox? No problem. Just right click the file or folder in your Dropbox, choose "Dropbox", then "Share Link", and you can create a link to a file, or to an entire folder. Share the link with whoever you wish. When they click on the link, they are taken to a website where they can download your shared file.

Have you every made changes to a file, then hit Save when you meant to click Save As? If the file is in your Dropbox, no problem. Back to your Dropbox folder. Right click, choose "Dropbox", then "View Previous Versions", and you can recover an earlier version of your file.

Do you need more than 2 GB of storage. Dropbox offers you a host of ways to increase your storage for free. You can get free space just by Tweeting about how much you love Dropbox. You can get 500 MB of space every time a friend accepts your referral to Dropbox (up to 16 GB). And, of course, you can buy space. 100 GB is just $99.00 per year.

Enough? In the words of Steve Jobs, "One more thing." Yes, there is more. Save some photos in the "Photos" folder (which is generated automatically by Dropbox). When you share this folder via a link, it generates a neat little on line photo gallery and slide show.

So there you have it, cloud storage, syncing between computers, sharing files with friends, colleagues, and others, restoring old files, accessing files on the go, create a photo gallery. And all for free, or for a reasonable price if you need more storage. That's why I love Dropbox.