Acronis has released the first private beta of Acronis True Image Home 2012, its flagship backup tool. True Image, which combines drive-imaging, online and file-based backups in one program, is now available to Acronis account users. After registering, the beta can be downloaded and installed.

Acronis True Image Home 2012 introduces a new file synchronisation feature, closer integration with Acronis Online Backup and a number of under-the-hood improvements as well as some other minor changes.

The file synchronisation feature allows users to keep folders in sync between multiple computers and network devices such as NAS drives. Files can be synced directly between networked computers, or via the internet using Acronis Online Backup, which requires a separate subscription, although a single month’s trial offering 250GB is available. When this expires, however, no limited free subscription like the 5GB offered by dedicated online backup services such as AVG LiveKive and SugarSync is provided, so if a sub isn’t taken out, features that explicitly rely on Acronis Online Backup will stop working.

Version 2012 also adds an e-book filter to the file-based backup, ensuring your electronic books can also be easily backed up and restored. Under the hood improvements include better integration into Windows 7 when the program’s icon is pinned to the Taskbar, plus support for large (over 2TB) hard drives even on OSes that don’t natively support them – specifically Windows XP 32-bit.

Anyone who installs the True Image Home 2012 Plus Pack (a separate purchase) will also be interested to learn that it now adds full support for GUID Partition Table (GPT) disks and Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI). The Plus Pack won’t be available until the final version of True Image Home 2012 is released.

Acronis say they will award 10 of the most prominent beta testers – those providing the most useful feedback – a free Acronis True Image 2012 serial code after the commercial version is released.

Acronis True Image Home 2012 beta is available now for Acronis account holders, and will expire 15 August. Click here to register the software. True Image Home 2012 requires a PC with 1GHz processor and minimum 512MB RAM running Windows XP SP3, Vista SP2 or Windows 7 SP1.