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I think we all knew this day was coming ever since SkyDrive came out and especially since more and more features of Live Mesh have made their way into SkyDrive itself.

Well now it is being made official by the team at the Inside SkyDrive Blog.

Dave Kornfield, one of the teams product Marketers, authored the blog post giving details about Live Mesh’s official demise.

Windows Live Mesh was first released in beta back in late 2008 and was used to keep files in sync and to remotely access a PC. A lot has changed since 2008—the cloud has become far more ubiquitous and capable of storing larger and larger amounts of data, usage of always-connected mobile devices with minimal on-board storage (smartphones & tablets) has sky-rocketed, and TVs are now connected to the cloud through devices like Xbox 360.

As we’ve discussed in the past, we’ve been working to bring the DNA of Windows Live Mesh together with SkyDrive into a single service, set of apps and developer APIs. So we’ve been making big moves with SkyDrive—taking it from a single website (SkyDrive.com) a year ago, to the world’s most available and versatile cloud storage service with a new HTML5 website and apps for Windows, Windows Phone, Android, iPhone, iPad, and now Xbox 360. And with Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows Phone 8, the new Office and tons of other apps and websites that build on the SkyDrive APIs, your SkyDrive is now deeply integrated into devices and apps in a way that makes saving to the cloud, or using your cloud files, simple and seamless.

In addition the history lesson on the consumer cloud development at Microsoft from Live Mesh to SkyDrive he also provided a simple chart that translates the three key functionalities of Live Mesh and how that is done with SkyDrive.

Windows Live Mesh task

How to do it using SkyDrive

Automatically sync files across PCs, Macs, and the cloud

Drag any file (up to 2 GB) or folder into your SkyDrive folder to sync with the cloud and other PCs or Macs. You get 7 GB of free storage and can buy up to 100 GB more.

Access files on a PC when you’re away

Fetch files on any PC running Windows where you’ve installed the SkyDrive desktop app. You can do this from SkyDrive.com

Share folders with others

Use SkyDrive.com or the desktop apps to share any file or folder in your SkyDrive. People you share with can access files you share using any browser or device.

Chart courtesy of Microsoft.

Source: Inside Skydrive Blog – Update on Windows Live Mesh