Wuala

Wuala is more than a P2P file exchange application. It's a revolutionary tool that combines an online storage system with a social network for sharing files both publicly, with any community member, and privately, with just your friends and approved contacts.

You will start off with 1 GB storage capacity on this virtual hard drive, but you can get more space by buying it or selling the free space on a local unit that you own.

Now, if you want to rent out part of your hard drive, you need to be able to fulfill the two following requirements: maintain the computer connected to the Internet for at least four hours a day, and have a network configuration that accepts UDP connections from the computer running Wuala.

Wuala provides total integration of your PC and virtual drive, so much so that you can find a direct access right from My Computer. Working with online files is the same as using any file on your computer. Copy, cut, paste, drag and drop are some of the basic functions that you can use to manage your content.

If you want to view a photograph you have stored on Wuala, listen to a song, or watch a video, you don't need to download anything - the application allows you to stream your information. To view media, the program developers recommend that you use VLC Player.

Uploading a file to your virtual hard drive is as easy as dragging and dropping it into the corresponding folder. The transfer happens in the background, and if it's interrupted for any reason, it will restart right where it left off.

Wuala is developed in Java, which means that it's accessible from any web browser and practically any operating system that has Java installed. Just go to the main page of Wuala to get started.

If you have privacy concerns about storing your information online, you'll be happy to know that the files you upload to Wuala are encrypted. You can also decide who has access to your files, and who doesn't. And, you can link to any file stored in Wuala from any website. When it comes to content, Wuala is a reflection of what you can find on the Internet: everything.