I have noticed that windows has something called "web folders" but Im not sure exactly how to set this up. I have a home webserver running on XAMPP using Appache, PHP etc. Do I need to have something special set up on my web server?

I like the idea of haveing a folder on my laptop or other computer that is actually stored on the server. Obviously you can do this through a share folder but is there a way to set up a share folder that is accessible through the internet?

Ive also come accross a cool thing called gmail drive which actually puts a small icon in your "my computer" section that makes your gmail act like another hard drive. Is there a way to do something like that with your own webserver. It would make working on sites from a remote location so much faster then having to upload & download files using ftp.

Is there a way to just open and edit the files directly on the server and not have to re-upload them?