Box.net, an online file-sharing, content management and collaboration tool, will roll out an updated version in beta tomorrow, after 6 months of development and design.  The beta period will last for 30-45 days, within which time beta users will send their feedback. If the version’s workability is confirmed, it will officially launch as the primary version of  Box’s personal and business cloud service. The company claims Box.net to be a tool that preserves simplicity over a heap of innovative content sharing and collaboration features.

“One of the things we’re most passionate about is maintaining Box’s simplicity even as we continue to add new content sharing and collaboration features,” said David Lee, Directors of Product Management, in the box blog. “So we decided to rebuild our interface from the ground up, and today we’re excited to announce an all new version of Box. The new Box is the culmination of six months of development and design, and in addition to improving your Box experience now, it will allow us to bring new features to you faster than ever before.”

The new Box boasts an integrated content viewing featuring a richer content experience, folder-based discussions, real-time updates, frequently-used controls, simplified admin console and scalable UI framework. Trial period runs until the end for February.

To try out the new Box, here’s what you have to do:

Look for a “Preview the new Box” link when you log in.
Once in the new Box, you have the option to switch back to the current version by going to ‘My Account’ > ‘Switch back to old version’.

Last year, Box.net had a big update for personal storage capacities, from 1GB to 5GB, as they try to respond to the growing demands of individuals. One of its biggest competitors, DropBox, also upgraded and deployed its version 1.0 last month which tags along some serious improvements such as 20% reduced download size for Mac users and bug fixes.

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