Dropbox Project Infinite: access to online files becomes simpler

Dropbox has recently unveiled a new technology, currently under development, which will simplify access to files stored in your Dropbox account via Windows or Mac desktop. To achieve the purpose, the popular cloud service operators on the one hand have made it no longer necessary synchronization between the locally stored files on the hard drive / SSD with those of your cloud account, they have also made optional the use of the Internet browser to access files stored in Dropbox.

The files will be visible in local, as if they were physically present in the storage media of the PC / Mac, but in fact, do not take up disk space. The user will have the option to choose whether to download or not in the PC / Mac by making them available, so even when offline. A mechanism based on placeholders, in essence, that closely resembles the one used with OneDrive and that is introduced having in the first place the company well clear user needs, without excluding that such technology could be used in the future, even in the field consumer.

Safeguard the disk space occupied by files stored in the cloud is the goal pointed to Dropbox presenting the new technology:

With Project Infinite we're correcting one of the main problems that our users have asked to solve. The amount of created and shared information has exploded, but most users still work on devices with limited computing capabilities. While teams can store terabytes of terabytes in the cloud, the most portable of the individual users can store only a small fraction of them. To have secure access to all the data used by the team usually means using the web browser, not an optimal user experience. Infinite Project will allow users to easily access and securely to all Dropbox files from your desktop, regardless of the amount of space that you have available on your hard disk.

The locally synchronized files (which therefore take up disk space) will be marked with a green tick, while the available files (physically) only in the cloud, but displayed locally, it will appear with a cloud. The benefits of using Project Infinite to be exploited primarily by work teams are summarized in three points from Dropbox:

Visibility in the context of any Dropbox files, even those stored locally, will appear in the Windows File Explorer and the Finder of Mac OS X. You can access the same without the need for a web app. You can also view information on the file size, creation date, and modification through the file system, without the need to download files.

real-time access. Files and folders stored in the cloud can be rearranged by simple drag and drop, right from your desktop. When you need to view the contents of the file, just double-click on this.

Universal compatibility. Project Infinite supports access cross-platform and is backward compatible with any Windows 7 computer (and higher versions) and Mac OS X 10.9 (and higher).

As anticipated at the beginning, Project Infinite is currently being made available to a select group of teams within the company. It will also be interesting to know the evolution of the project, for stabilre if, ultimately, even home users will benefit profit technology. The Dropbox team, for the moment, shines spotlight following updates on the status of Project Infinite development.