After some delay, Microsoft finally introduced the newly renamed OneDrive this week. But the renaming of the company’s cloud storage service once called SkyDrive has proven to be more than that. Microsoft is also taking the opportunity to turn an embarrassing legal defeat into a big marketing campaign with new features.
Topping the features list is the huge amount of free space that Microsoft is literally throwing at you. First off, there’s 3GB of storage that comes with the automatic camera upload feature. Then there’s another 20GB for users who follow a special bonus link, valid within the first year. Then there’s 500MB for every person you successfully refer to OneDrive.
Those of you who had SkyDrive installed on your phones don’t need to uninstall or reinstall anything. Your phones will silently update and the app will change without any input from you.
Other features include video sharing and viewing, automatic camera roll backup for Android phone owners, and real-time collaboration with Office Web apps Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.
OneDrive is baked directly into Windows 8.1 and Office. You can even set OneDrive as the default save location for your files. In doing so, Microsoft is sending a clear signal that the days of the PC are numbered, and that cloud computing is the future.
Watch this video overview from Microsoft outlining some of the features of the new OneDrive cloud storage platform:
OneDrive is currently beating rival cloud storage services with its prices. 100GB with Skydrive comes to $50 a year, while its nearest rival, Google Drive, comes in at $60 a year for the same amount of storage. Box and Dropbox trail far behind at $120 a year for 100GB.
Image: OneDrive
Why aren’t they focusing on enterprises? That video made it seem like they aren’t doing anything for enterprises, just the consumers. Maybe they know what they’re doing, but it seems like they’re falling farther and farther behind.
Mark O'Neill
Agreed. Microsoft always seems to be playing catch-up to other companies. But would businesses really entrust their most valuable documents to OneDrive?
Sean DeSilva
After trying both cloud service offerings, Microsoft wins on internal features while Google wins on collaboration. I typically use the cloud for collaboration and my own desktop software for features,so Google gets the nod from me
Mark O'Neill
I use both, along with Dropbox 🙂 Why pay for storage, when you can have multiple services set up, and have everything spread out?
Desiree Meyette
For the last 4 years, as a virtual assistant, I have worked in Google Drive and had to deal with their endless limitations when it came to manipulating Excel spreadsheets. Yesterday, after spending about an hour trying to make a spreadsheet work with Google Drive, I finally gave up and moved it over to OneDrive. All of the necessary Excel functions work perfectly and I can share the file with team members WITHOUT them having to create a Microsoft account. OneDrive has my vote!
Chris
Totally Agreed!
Mark O'Neill
That may be their biggest selling point – their compatibility with Office documents.
Desiree
I know that’s made my life much easier!
I’m pretty much OK with Dropbox. I don’t need that much space to warrant paying for it. As much as OneDrive seems OK, I didn’t use it when it was SkyDrive; I don’t really see that changing for me, but never say never.
Mark O'Neill
If you get 7GB free, why not claim it and hold onto it? Dropbox doesn’t give you that much free space (unless you use their camera upload feature).
Aira Bongco
I like the name change. The name evokes what it does in one reading. Unlike Skydrive (which has a nice sound to it by the way), it looks like it is not linked with Google at all. But more than the name, let’s see what this technology can do.
I really did prefer the name SkyDrive to OneDrive, you know. OneDrive, however, is more in keeping with what the service is about.
Mark O'Neill
Skydrive reminded me all the time of the Terminator movies (Skynet). Weird how the brain makes connections like that. 🙂
That Guy
One Big Drive is a consolidated cloud storage company who started their site and services 3-4 weeks prior to Microsofts One Drive and has many of the same features. This is probably the biggest issue for Microsoft and their name choice. OneBigDrive.com will probably start litigation or sue Microsoft at some point if Microsoft doesn’t buy them out first. They are a publicly traded company at PTPF so this may get interesting.
Oh dear. Hmm, if this is indeed true, then I wonder why Microsoft didn’t do its research before going with its new name. Or maybe it did, came across One Big Drive and thought it wasn’t too much of a threat.
Either way, they may be trouble ahead if what you say is true and OBD decide to challenge Microsoft.
Mark O'Neill
Using the word “One” is stupid, as it is such a common word. At the very least, the BBC is going to have an issue with it, because their main channel is called “BBC ONE” – and they heavily promote the name.
Desiree
Both “OneBigDrive” and “OneDrive” seem to be too descriptive to have been trademarked. If that’s the case, then that would explain why Microsoft would have moved forward. I highly doubt there will be an issue.