Groove turns each user into a broadcaster as well as a receiver. It enables two or more computers to hook up to one another directly and exchange information in real time. It is Napster for data and ideas. In one sense, it is what the Internet is all about. Lotus Notes allows people in the same office to post messages and respond to one another, a kind of electronic bulletin board.
Groove expands that concept to the entire world and adds many useful and valuable features.
The program works by creating space on each user's computer for the files that are to be shared. The program shows exactly the same display on each user's screen, and all the displays change as each user makes changes to it. I downloaded the beta version of Groove last week and put it through its paces with my friend Prentiss Willson in Fairfax, California, just north of San Francisco. At first we had trouble finding each other in the Groove system, but Laura Greer of Groove Network's technical support staff walked us through the problem. After he unchecked it, we made contact, and Groove worked like a charm.