March 18, 2004

TIMES COLUMNS: Computer Currents

Migo software allows you to bring desktop almost anywhere you go
USB Flash Storage on steroids

By Rick Dexter

Staff Writer

I've been walking around lately with a small device on my keychain that looks like an ordinary USB flash drive available in any computer store. When my friends see it, they are unimpressed—at least at first. I plug it into their computer, type a password, and in a few seconds, I watch their face turn green as they see their computer desktop transform into one that they are completely unfamiliar with—mine!

My friend's wallpaper is replaced with my favorite Star Trek image, his desktop icons disappear and in their place are about 75 shortcuts I like to keep on my own desktop (OK, I admit, I'm a pig). I click on Outlook and feel the quick gasp of someone who is worried I might see a love letter from his girlfriend, and instead up pops my inbox, calendar, and contact database. The sound of breathing stops cold as my friend believes that he's lost his entire contact database, and it's about that time I explain what this new gadget is about.

Unlike the USB hard drives, this unique little toy is more about mobility than just storing data. It is called Migo by Forward Solutions ( www.4migo.com ), a cool tool for mobile professionals. The Migo software has the ability to synchronize your desktop, your documents and files, your wallpaper settings, and even your Outlook data, all of which is then accessible from any USB equipped PC in the world. You can configure Migo to synchronize everything, or only things that have been added or changed in however many days back you want to specify. People like me who never clean out their inbox can tell Migo to sync only the last 30 days of e-mail, for example. You can even send e-mail while your Migo is docked to another PC, and Migo automatically figures out your own mail server settings and instantly reconfigures the e-mail program of the computer you are on. When you're done, you simply close your programs and unplug the Migo and the computer you were using goes back to its original state with very little trace you were even there. All of your documents are loaded directly from Migo so there are no shadow copies left on the PC you are working with.

The amount of data you can synchronize is limited only by the size of the Migo hardware device. The standard Migo is 256mb, but Migo wants to be a software company that is independent of the device it stores data on, so eventually you'll be able to use just about any flash media to store your Migo data. I even saw a Migo-powered wristwatch with a pop-out USB connector!

When you get back to the office, you plug Migo into your primary computer and synchronize all the changes you've made while you were on the road. You can use Migo in airport data kiosks, on hotel rental computers, or anywhere that has a PC with a USB port. A Mac version is coming soon and you will be able to sync your data with a PC, so it won't matter whether the hotel you are staying at is technically challenged or not.

Many mobile professionals will want to shed their laptop bags and go the lite route with a Migo. I use mine to take files back and forth from home to work, keep an updated backup of all the files on my laptop, do instant Powerpoint presentations for prospects, and also to carry around important documentation about my customer's networks for quick and secure access. Migo does not synchronize software applications, so the computer you are on has to have its own copy of Word, Outlook, or whatever other programs you need to use. I still haul around my heavy laptop because I use a lot of network troubleshooting software tools, but I'm finding that I am using my laptop far less than I used to because Migo carries a virtually real-time copy of my standard documents that I can access from most computers.

So far, I've only found one disappointment—airlines don't rent laptops on planes. Hmmmm, sounds like an interesting business opportunity…

Rick Dexter, founder and CEO of NDYNAMICS Network Professionals in Campbell, lives in Almaden. Dexter has over 25 years of experience designing and supporting computer networks, particularly for small businesses and startups seeking reliable and scalable IT infrastructure. If you have a computer question that you would like to have answered in a future column, e-mail it to computerconnection@ndynamics.com .