"offline files" possible on a Mac?

bottombrick · bottombrick #1 (**permalink**)

05-15-2005, 05:41 PM

Well, finally threw my weight around at work, bought a Powerbook, and informed IT they were going to have to deal with a non-Thinkpad on the network...

Looks like the minimum requirements for being a serious choice in the corporate environment are handled ok (Entourage for using an Exchange server, Active Directory support in Tiger, VPN clients, etc.).

The only thing I don't see an obvious solution for is the equivalent of "offline files" in XP, where you can tell the OS that you'd like certain files or folders on network file servers to be available offline. When you're on the network, you just work directly with the network copy. But when disconnected (e.g. on a plane, or offsite) you can still work with all the files you need to do business. When you reconnect, all changes get reconciled.

I'm hoping that I'm just missing something. Is this not built into the OS? Or if not, is there a commercial utility that handles this really well? This is a tremendously important feature for environments where 1) people are nomadic, and 2) files have to live on the network, because we work in teams. This describes most business settings I've been in.

If I can show that the Mac is really usable in a corporate setting, there are a number of other folks in our company who are just waiting to switch over...

Thanks for any help!

Ben

technologist · technologist #2 (**permalink**)

05-15-2005, 06:23 PM

Maybe a shareware app like this would do what you need.

You might also be able to get similar functionality by using Automator or AppleScript (folder actions.)

spong · spong #3 (**permalink**)

05-15-2005, 08:10 PM

Cheeky post here - if your IT guys ever work out how to seamlessly run your Mac through an ISA firewall, I'd love to hear about it.

When I bought my Powermac, I took it to the office for a week to see if it would fit in with our Win2k network. The only thing I couldn't do was use anything beyond simple web browsing (ftp, updates, p2p wouldn't run). Which unfortunately means 'no macs' on our network.

allansplace · allansplace #4 (**permalink**)

01-25-2009, 08:47 PM

Hello. I'm pretty new to the Mac world, and lack of offline file sync has, for the past year, been my biggest issue with Macs. Microsoft Entourage, Word, Messenger, all these things work well so far on the Mac. I decided to search for info and found this.
Apple - Downloads - System/Disk Utilities - FileSync
It might help you. I'll try it out today.
I put all my files on a Win2003Server system and have multiple PCs on my little network. Only one Mac.
It's pretty simple to use, ... and it puts a copy of the files you want on your desktop. Happy offline-ing!

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"offline files" possible on a Mac?

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bottombrick #1 (permalink)
Guest Posts: n/a	05-15-2005, 05:41 PM Well, finally threw my weight around at work, bought a Powerbook, and informed IT they were going to have to deal with a non-Thinkpad on the network... Looks like the minimum requirements for being a serious choice in the corporate environment are handled ok (Entourage for using an Exchange server, Active Directory support in Tiger, VPN clients, etc.). The only thing I don't see an obvious solution for is the equivalent of "offline files" in XP, where you can tell the OS that you'd like certain files or folders on network file servers to be available offline. When you're on the network, you just work directly with the network copy. But when disconnected (e.g. on a plane, or offsite) you can still work with all the files you need to do business. When you reconnect, all changes get reconciled. I'm hoping that I'm just missing something. Is this not built into the OS? Or if not, is there a commercial utility that handles this really well? This is a tremendously important feature for environments where 1) people are nomadic, and 2) files have to live on the network, because we work in teams. This describes most business settings I've been in. If I can show that the Mac is really usable in a corporate setting, there are a number of other folks in our company who are just waiting to switch over... Thanks for any help! Ben
	QUOTE Thanks

technologist #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Mar 30, 2004 Location: USA Posts: 4,744 Mac Specs: 12" Apple PowerBook G4 (1.5GHz)	05-15-2005, 06:23 PM Maybe a shareware app like this would do what you need. You might also be able to get similar functionality by using Automator or AppleScript (folder actions.)
	QUOTE Thanks

allansplace #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 25, 2009 Posts: 1	01-25-2009, 08:47 PM Hello. I'm pretty new to the Mac world, and lack of offline file sync has, for the past year, been my biggest issue with Macs. Microsoft Entourage, Word, Messenger, all these things work well so far on the Mac. I decided to search for info and found this. Apple - Downloads - System/Disk Utilities - FileSync It might help you. I'll try it out today. I put all my files on a Win2003Server system and have multiple PCs on my little network. Only one Mac. It's pretty simple to use, ... and it puts a copy of the files you want on your desktop. Happy offline-ing!
	QUOTE Thanks

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