I am still working on a new
Mozy Stash review, but thought one of the questions everyone is going to wonder is how
Mozy Stash compares to
Dropbox.
Operating System Support
One of the great things about Dropbox is the ability to install it on Windows, Mac and Linux computers. It makes moving from computer to computer no matter what operating system they are running so. Stash currently only runs on Windows and Mac computers so there is the ability to move from Windows to Mac computers and have your files sync across those different computers. This is not a huge deal for many folks since they may only have Windows and Mac computers but for the Linux fans out there they will want to look at Dropbox over Stash. According to the Stash FAQ there are plans for a Linux version but no timeline when that might be available.
Winner: Dropbox
Free Account and Storage
Both Dropbox and Mozy offer 2GB free accounts so you can try both services out for free to see which one suits you best. The difference between the Dropbox 2GB free account and the Mozy 2GB free account is with Dropbox you can earn extra space by referring others to the service. You can earn as much as 10GB for free from Dropbox, which makes a free Dropbox account fairly useful.
Winner: Dropbox
Paid Storage
If you need more space than you can get with a free account from Dropbox your options for a paid account are actually pretty expensive. Dropbox offers 50GB accounts for $9.99/month and 100GB accounts for $19.99/month. Not exactly cheap.
Stash shares storage from your main Mozy account and the costs for a 50GB account start at $5.99/month and 125GB accounts for $9.99/month. The cost per month drops if you sign up for 1 or 2 year subscriptions.
Winner: Stash
Sign Up and Installation
Things need to be easy to use, there is no doubt about it. The last thing that any computer user of any experience wants is a long and complicated sign up and installation process.
Dropbox has a very simple sign up process, so simple in fact it is almost to easy. Once you sign up it is just a matter of downloading the desktop client and installing it. With the defaults it is pretty simple.
Creating a Mozy account is not to difficult but does require a few extra steps, then after you have created your Mozy account you need to login and download the Stash client to download. It is not a difficult process but not as seamless and easy as Dropbox unfortunately.
Winner: Dropbox
Sharing
Stash does not currently offer sharing, while Dropbox does. Hard to compete on this one at all.
Winner: Dropbox
Number of Computers
Currently Stash has a limit of 5 computers attached to an account, but you can access your Stash files via the web on as many devices as you want.
Dropbox does not have a limit on the number of computers attached to an account that I am aware of or could find information on.
Winner: Dropbox
Encryption
Mozy has a good record of strong encryption with its backup service. Stash is no different. Mozy allows you to use your own encryption key for backup, but at this time Stash uses the default Mozy encryption key. Mozy uses a secure sockets layer (SSL) to transfer files and since Stash cannot use a private encryption key yet files are encrypted using 448-bit Blowfish encryption.
Dropbox does offer encryption but they have had problems in the past. It is common knowledge that Dropbox can view your files if they need to. Dropbox does use a secure sockets layer (SSL) to transfer files and AES-256 bit encryption to store them, but they also hold the encryption key.
Although both services use similar encryption the Stash has the possibility to use a private encryption key, possibly before it comes out of beta.
Winner: Stash
File Sync
Stash is fast, certainly faster than backing up files to Mozy. When copying files to Stash they seemed to appear in the Stash folder on other machines almost instantly. Might be because the computers were all on the same network, but the sync was quick.
Dropbox has always been quick at syncing files and it is a great part of using Dropbox. Stash is just as fast as Dropbox in this category and will be one to watch when it comes out of beta.
Winner: Tie
Mobile Access
Both Dropbox and Mozy offer iOS and Android apps for accessing your files on your mobile or tablet. The Dropbox app is great for accessing your files but it has never been great at uploading files. It has gotten better but there is still no automatic upload of photos or video from your mobile to your Dropbox.
The Mozy app allows you to access not only your Stash files but also all of the files in your Mozy backup. Not to mention the app offers automatic uploads of photos and video from your mobile or tablet to your Stash account. This is similar to how SugarSync and even Google+ will upload files automatically for you.
Winner: Stash
Web Access
Mozy has had a web interface for recovering files from their backup service for many years. Stash is just another part of that web interface. It is functional and works.
The Dropbox web admin is an intergral part of Dropbox. You can do almost as much in the Dropbox web interface and you can with the application on your desktop including uploading files. Dropbox’s web interface just offers more at this point. Perhaps in the future Stash will be able to give the web interface more features.
Winner: Dropbox
And the Winner Is?
Dropbox
Overall Dropbox is still the leader in online storage and file syncronization compared to Stash. Stash shows potential, and it is an excellent offering coming from Mozy. It is perfect for existing Mozy users but is perhaps lacking in some of the features that make Dropbox so popular in the file storage and syncing area, particular sharing. For syncing Stash certainly comes in at a better price than Dropbox and automatic mobile upload is a nice feature that Dropbox is still not offering. If you are looking for backup and sync the new Mozy Stash and MozyHome does make a nice combination.
If you are just wanting to sync files between computers, use Linux or want sharing Stash is probably not for you. Dropbox is a leader in online storage and sync for a reason, it works well across all the operating systems. It is easy, fast and convenient.
SugarSync has just launched an updated look to their website and a few changes to the desktop apps. If you visit the site now you will notice a brand new look featuring that great hummingbird. It is a nice refreshing look for SugarSync and I really like the favicon of the hummingbird.
If you are wondering what kind of external hard drive we ordered, it was the 
