How About Online Backup?

Several hundred million PCs around the world aren't being backed up regularly. Chances are, you're one of the culprits. If and when some kind of disaster strikes, you're going to wish you had some kind of backup regimen in place. Putting together your own backup system can be a chore. Have you ever considered online backup?

Carbonite 3.0 is a simple online backup service. You simply enter your email address and password, and Carbonite does the rest. All data is backed up by default, and you have unlimited storage capacity, so there's no need to pick and choose files. "It's truly a product you won't be afraid to give to your most computer-illiterate friends and colleagues," said David Friend, Carbonite's CEO. "Release 3.0 is by far the simplest online-backup solution on the market today, and our beta testers have been delighted with its clean, easy, and intuitive qualities."

The new interface has a new clean look and many user-suggested refinements. Carbonite, known for its simple installation, now offers enhanced online Help, new account management pages, and an enhanced file-restore process that features a tab showing progress, a recovery log displaying pending and recently restored files, and the option to stop the restore process easily at any point. Carbonite 3.0 also incorporates an adaptive bandwidth-management system that can more than double backup speeds.

There is also good news for Mac users on the horizon, according to Friend, who said a Mac beta version is slated for October. "We get dozens of messages from Mac users every week, begging us for a Mac version of Carbonite," Friend explained. "And we are happy to provide them with their own version soon."