Dropbox 1.0 Finally Released

Zack writes "Dropbox has finally released version 1.0. The new version comes with hundreds of bug fixes, including invalid file names on Windows, weird Unicode normalizations, Word and Excel file locking, abnormal symlinks hierarchies, and case sensitive file systems on Mac. It also adds TrueCrypt support, a Rainbow Shell that offers support for extended attributes, selective sync, a new installation wizard, and reduces resource usage."

Comments

What is it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Neither the summary nor the "article" (from which the summary appears to be lifted near-verbatim) makes any mention of what Dropbox is. Very useful, Slashdot!

Re:What is it?

[St.Creed]

Dropbox is several things at once, so I forgive your confusion :)

First, it's a cloudbased fileserver. You can upload your files and it will keep 2GB or more of them on the cloud (S3) for you to access. Not a big deal so far. If you pay money, you get much more space.

However, you can also give other people access to your files. And it will keep all the versions of your files. This is a bit more interesting.

THe real winner for me is that it's also a tool that you install on your PC or Mac or Linux machine. It will then use one folder (located under My Documents) and everything you store in there will be synced to the cloud. Version control and all. The tool will also inform you of any changes and if youre on a LAN with someone else whos syncing files, it will be synced to your PC directly.

Currently Im using DropBox to sync music files to a group of friends, and software updates to my customers who all have a link to a directory in the Dropbox directory.

However, the main thing I use it for is to sync ALL of my projectfiles with several other co-workers who only work on my project for a few days a week. One of them introduced me to DropBox. If anyone changes anything, I get a notification. Anyone makes an update you don't like, you can restore any previous version to any location you like. And it works without intruding, logs you on automatically and generally you don't even see it's there.

The onliest gripe I have is that you can't use TWO accounts, one for personal and another for business use, to link with the tool. And that all of the folders that you have a right to, are counted towards your total. So if a friend grants you access to his account and he stores 60 GB, you can still read but not upload anything else. Apart from that, it's a great utility.

And what does it do?

[Okian Warrior]

Gah! Would it kill you to let us know what the heck it does?

Let's examine the announcement: Dropbox has finally released version 1.0 (but what is it?). The new version comes with hundreds of bug fixes, including invalid file names on Windows, weird Unicode normalizations, Word and Excel file locking, abnormal symlinks hierarchies, and case sensitive file systems on Mac (yeah, but what does it do?). It also adds TrueCrypt support, a Rainbow Shell that offers support for extended attributes, selective sync, a new installation wizard, and reduces resource usage (Awesome! But what does it do?)."

Follow the link and get a great press release. Let's examine *that*:

Huge performance enhancements (but what does it do?) Better user experience (Great! Is it something I could use?) Selective Sync (Also good. Is it useful for something?) Extended Attribute Sync (Another useful feature... or something.)

Follow the link to the Dropbox website, and you find this useful summary:

Our highest quality yet! (Good on you! What's it do?) Huge performance enhancements (Wonderful. Is that important?) Better user experience (Ok, this is just a copy of the press release.)

Go to the Dropbox "about" page, and get all kinds of interesting info:

Dropbox was founded by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi in 2007, and received seed funding from Y Combinator (Academically interesting. What does it do?). Today, Dropbox is well-funded by Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, and Amidzad (Also good. For what?). Since launching publicly in September of 2008, we've attracted millions of users and are growing rapidly (Growing is good. Do you have a purpose?). We've been featured in the New York Times and on TechCrunch, and have won awards from places like PC Magazine and CNET (Great! Publicity is good. What's it do again?).

Our passion is making a product that rocks and putting it in millions of people's hands (Again, good on you. Still looking for a description of the product...).

If you're interested in joining us, we're looking for more talented people to join the Dropbox team, so be sure to check out our jobs page (Not right now. Can you give me some info on the product?).

Going to the home page is equally enlightening. An enormous button invites me download the product, or watch a video of some sort.

Sorry guys, but I don't download something unless I at least know what the heck it's supposed to do.

Re:And what does it do?

[DMUTPeregrine]

Dropbox is a file synch program. Install dropbox, it creates a directory on your hard drive somewhere. All files stored in that directory are auto-synched to the server. If you install it on another computer (or phone, or whatever it supports) you can use it to transfer files, create persistent storage, etc.

Re:Dropbox folder

[melchoir55]

This isn't how Dropbox is really intended to function. The idea is that you keep a file structure as child to the drop box directory. Therefore, whenever you modify files within that hierarchy, they are automatically updated. I have my school and research directory as child to my dropbox directory and find it to be a god send.

Re:Dropbox folder

[polymeris]

You can symlink instead of copying, no duplicate files and keeps your directory structure. I also set dropbox' folder to a hidden path: ~/.dropbox-sync, so it wont clutter my home.

Impenetrable

[Mysteray]

So I read this and think "Well its on Slashdot, this Dropbox thing must be really important". I wonder what it is?

I click on the link...

The new version comes with hundreds of bug fixes, including invalid file names on Windows, weird Unicode normalizations, Word and Excel file locking, abnormal symlinks hierarchies, and case sensitive file systems on Mac

Oh, so are invalid file names a bug or a feature? Why would I want to lock Word and Excel files? I know what they are but I don't use them. I don't use abnormal symlinks hierarchies or a Mac either.

So I click the first link 'Dropbox' which goes to (wait for it...) "The Dropbox blog"

Hey everyone! We’re super excited to announce the new hotness that we’ve been cooking up for the past few months: Dropbox 1.0! In addition to hundreds (yep, hundreds) of bug fixes, vastly reduced resource usage (think of it as the Prius model of Dropbox), Dropbox 1.0 (“Rainbow Shell”) also offers support for extended attributes, selective sync, and a shiny new installation wizard. Those are just the CliffsNotes though — here’s the true story behind Dropbox 1.0:

You get the idea. It goes on and on. How can these people talk so much and say so little?

The first link from this page: Dropbox Home. This looks promising, it goes to https://www.dropbox.com/

Here is the text of the page:

Suggestions, ideas, bug reports, and comments are always welcome. If you'd like to interact with other Dropbox users, check out our forums. Email Address (optional) There was a problem completing this request. Request completed successfully. Log in Email Password Remember me Create an account Dropbox - Secure backup, sync and sharing made easy. Watch a video about Dropbox. Watch a Video Sync your files online and across computers Download Dropbox Free for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Mobile Dropbox - Secure backup, sync and sharing made easy. Sync your files online and across computers Download Dropbox Free for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Mobile * Sync files of any size or type * Share large files and photos easily * Automatic online backup * Track and undo changes to files Take a tour of Dropbox © 2010 Dropbox * Dropbox * Home * Install * Mobile * Pricing * Features * Tour * Community * Referrals * Twitter * Facebook * Wiki * Developers * Partners * Support * Help Center * Forums * Votebox * Feedback * Contact Us * About Us * Dropbox Blog * Our Team * Press * Policies * Jobs

Oh, ok. So from this I gather that it's some sort of file sync application which needed a major rearchitecture before it could be released at version 1.0.

Almost all of the viewable area of the page is taken up by a giant video play button. Well, believe it or not I actually use my computer for computing and not as a television. I also like it to be halfway secure, so I don't have any Adobe products such as Flash installed. I do know how to read and it is several times faster. I'm not watching some video made by people who can't complete the sentence "Dropbox is ...".

I still don't get it, except that it syncs files and the people who made it should probably cut back on the Red Bull and talk to someone outside the office who hasn't been making and eating their own dog food for eighty hours a week for the last year.

Re:I see your clue and raise you one

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll just pull out my Brutally Honest Dictionary, 2nd Edition here...

I'll do the same.

The OP never asked what dropbox is.

The summary sucks. Yes, it sucks. And so does the article. You know why they didn't say what it does? Because they are lazy. The entire "article" is just a reprint of the information from the dropbox site, but at least the original article links to dropbox, as opposed to the summary which links to the Techpub article. So it appears the intents of the submitter is not to give us any kind of information, but to generate page hits on Techpub.

I come to slashdot because it's a news aggregate site, and I don't feel like doing the looking and researching myself. If I end up having to do all the research myself, what's the point of coming here in the first place, other than to Troll the discussion... (I think I just answered my own question, especially looking at the tone of your posts).

Just for the record, I'm not the same AC commenting earlier.

And mobile devices...

[itsdapead]

THe real winner for me is that it's also a tool that you install on your PC or Mac or Linux machine.

Plus, clients for iPad/iPod, Android and Blackberry (along with basic access from anything that can download from the web).

Its about the easiest way to get files on and off an iPad - its a crying shame that Apple don't add "export to DropBox" to the mobile iWork Apps. Its very easy to use by (e.g.) people who would run a mile from rsync.

I've hit a few headaches when trying to use it for collaborative work - some may be addressed by the new file locking fixes, others have really been PEBKAC which can't really be blamed on the software - e.g. person puts latest file in dropbox folder, emails everybody to say latest file is in dropbox, doesn't check that dropbox is actually connected and syncing...

There's a related issue for Macs in that, as far the Mac is concerned, the dropbox is a folder on your hard drive, so when you drag files in and out of there the default is to move, not copy - which is not usually what you want (especially when dragging files out).

An option to share "read only" would be nice...