Here to solve these problems for people who want to simply share files by letting others view what they upload is a wonderful web service called “Minus”.

Introduction

Minus is a free to use web service that makes file sharing much easier than it previously was. The site is aimed primarily at people who want to share files that are not extremely large. Minus supports file uploads of 50 MB each for registered users, hence the site is best suits for sharing images, documents, and small videos – not entire movies or CDs. Along with hosting these files, Minus lets your friends preview the files without downloading them and lets you embed your files.

Usage

After you have created an account on Minus, you are taken to your dashboard. All you have to do is drag files from your computer into the browser tab in which Minus is opened. The file will appear and begin uploading.

You will find the privacy setting of the file along with its direct sharing URL in the small floating window in the top left. Buttons to vote up the link and Tweet are also displayed in th same area. Using the pencil icon, you can modify the file name and file URL anytime.

Under the file you will find links for sharing the file, embedding it, or viewing the original file since, in the case of images, files are scaled to fit in the visible area. Clicking on the Share link will reveal the various codes – gallery link, forum code, thumbnail link, etc. – for the file.

The Embed link lets you embed a gallery composed of the images you upload to Minus.

Previewing

As mentioned earlier, Minus also lets your friends preview the files you upload without having to download them. This applies not only to the image files but also to audio and video files. As long as these files are smaller than 50MB, you can upload them and when your friends visit the file’s link, they will be able to preview them.

Of course anybody who has the link can also download the files, if they wish.

Conclusion

The abovementioned features are only a part of what Minus has to offer. All the above is combined with a gallery of images and a file list that make Minus the simplest of all online file hosts to use. That, in addition with it letting visitors preview files and letting you change file names and URLs, makes Minus an extremely impressive file host. Although the 50MB file limit might seem small at first, it is ideal for its targeted audience. You can visit Minus @ http://minus.com/