Latest Version of ownCloud adds Encryption, Versioning and More

The amazing open source cloud storage software ownCloud has recently released a new major version that brings a number of new features.

There are a large number of cloud storage apps available today, however they are all closed, proprietary systems that each need their own client, and work with only their own hosting. With ownCloud you can actually own you data as you can host it anywhere, on any hosting service that offers PHP and MySQL support. There are even dedicated ownCloud hosting services available now days, much like there is WordPress or Drupal hosting.

It can perhaps be best compared with Google Drive, which forms a base service with a number of included apps, but can be extended with other applications which can use it as storage. With ownCloud you get an image gallery app, a text file editor, a calendar, a contacts app, a music streaming app etc. Other apps can be added on.

With the release of ownCloud 4, it is now more competitive than ever. ownCloud 4 boasts of the following features:

• File Encryption
  Files stored in ownCloud can be encrypted with the password used for accessing the service.
• File Versioning
  Now you have access to multiple versions of the same file. This is a feature available in both Google Drive and Dropbox.
• TODOs App
  A new app for managing todo lists
• Drag & Drop File Uploading
  Files can be dragged and dropped onto the browser window to upload.
• Shared Calendars and Calendar categories
  Multiple users can share calenders, and categorize them.
• Viewer for ODF Files
  ODF or Open Document Format is the standard format for documents used by OpenOffice and supported by recent versions of Microsoft Office.

Another interesting feature of ownCloud, which is currently in its experimental stages, is support for “Mounting of external Filesystems”. With this feature it will be possible to “mount” other storage services such as Google Drive and Dropbox in ownCloud so you access all your files from one place.

You can find out more about ownCloud and download it from the ownCloud website.