MozyHome

Description

Mozy 2.0 is a welcome, albeit rather mild, upgrade of the client for this popular online backup service. In addition to improvements to the usability, this version adds the ability to use the software to facilitate backups both to the MozyHome cloud service (2GB free; or, unlimited storage for $4.95 per month, or $54.45 for the year), and to a local hard drive.

The user interface has received a partial makeover with larger fonts and icons that make it easier to read, and the new look blends significantly better with Vista and Windows 7, albeit not as well on XP. Mozy is still a bit lacking in the looks department, though, and some of the dialog boxes could use a facelift as well.

Its interface remains a bit of an ugly duckling, but that's of less consequence given Mozy's increased functionality.

Mozy claims better speed with 2.0, and the software seemed zippy in my hands-on. The broadband service I used was a reasonably fast Comcast cable connection that often sees 500kbps uploads and 1Mbps downloads.

The big news is the ability to back up to a local hard drive as well as online. Every backup strategy should include easy-to-restore local, as well as physically secure offsite (in this case online) destinations and covering both with one program can be a work saver. Mozy's local backup is a rudimentary, plain file copy and the sole option to choose is the drive partition (C:, D:, etc.) it resides on. But that's going to be just fine for taking care of your most important data, and it provides the ability to manage your backup from within a single interface.

Mozy otherwise remains basically the same: Cloud backup that includes automatic file selection, open file backup, user-definable backups sets with filtering, and versatile scheduling. It's a great service backed by industry giant EMC, and works smoothly in the background protecting your data. Its interface remains a bit of an ugly duckling, but that's of less consequence given Mozy's increased functionality.