Share Files with Co-Workers Using this Simple Alternative to SharePoint

In the old days, we had SneakerNet -- slang for carrying a file across the room using a floppy disk and your own two feet. Since those ancient times, we've come a long way, with a dozen high tech solutions for accessing and sharing files. So why is it that we still share so many files via e-mail? E-mail is great, to be sure, but it is perhaps the clumsiest way to deliver files to co-workers and clients. If you don't have a full-fledged content management system, though, you might want to see what the cloud has to offer. Here's a new alternative: a file sharing service called minus.

Here's where minus gets interesting. You can drag and drop files directly from your desktop to the minus Web page, no need to install any software. This currently works in most browsers, but not Internet Explorer. There are other upload options as well, such as a desktop app that supports drag and drop uploads, and a apps for iPhone, Windows Phone 7, and Android.

By default, uploaded files are private, so no one else can see them -- to reach the file, you need to know the unique URL of the page it's hosted on. Switch the setting to public, though, and anyone can browse your profile page to see the file. That makes minus a handy way to simulate a file library like SharePoint: Just share your minus URL, and anyone can see and download your public files.

There's a 50MB file size limit, probably to prevent minus from being used to share video and other large media files. And keep in mind that public files are truly public -- you can't assign permission on a per-user basis. But as a cheap and dirty way to share files, it's a cool new tool in your belt.

More on BNET:

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• Share Huge Files with Multiple People At Once