Since I’ve done quite a few Mac posts lately, I thought I’d throw something out for my awesome Windows users (don’t worry Windows faithful, I have even more coming soon).
A while ago Mozy released their version 2.0 software, but for Windows only (the Mac version will be out later in 2010). I thought I’d take a look and see what is new/improved.
Now Prettier
Mozy has improved the UI somewhat. The fonts and the buttons are a bit bigger and easier to read. It’s still not the most beautiful UI in the world, but I guess with online backup software, the important part is what happens on the server, not on your computer.
Now Faster?
Mozy claims that Mozy 2.0 is “up to” 25% faster at transferring files to their servers. I don’t really have a way to empirically test this, but I will take their word for it that they’ve made client-side improvements to speed things up. It’ll be interesting to see if the Mac version has similar speed increases.
Since slow uploads can be one of the biggest issues with online backup, anything they can do to speed things up is great.
Local and Online Backup
Whenever someone asks if they should go with local backup or online backup, my answer is always “Yes”. In other words, you want to have your critical files in as many places as you can, both locally and offsite.
The biggest new feature of Mozy 2.0 is what they are calling “2xProtect”. This new feature is sort of like what CrashPlan does. In addition to backing up your files online, you can also back them up to a local drive. A very welcome addition.
I had a bunch of screenshots of 2.0 ready to go for this article, but my VMWare Windows install has just started going crazy so I will post them later.
If you want to check out Mozy 2.0, it is free for 2 Gigs of backup, or $4.95 a month for the Unlimited Home version. There is also a Pro version for businesses.
In the meantime, any Windows users want to chime in on the 2.0 upgrade? Do you find it is actually faster? Any general experiences with Mozy pro or con? Leave a note in the comments.
