Microsoft has today added a sync client to SkyDrive that works with Mac and Windows. Similar to DropBox, the new SkyDrive apps create a folder, called SkyDrive, which provides a native syncing functionality.
But the good news, sadly, comes with bad news. Microsoft has also revealed that, while previous users will still be able to get 25GB, new users will only be getting 7GB.
That’s still a lot of data for Microsoft to be giving away for free, but it really does show that the previous 25GB was just for show, and Microsoft did know that, with the website only, it was almost impossible to fill it up. It’s really disappointing to see this change, especially since many Microsoft fans are happy to see this happen, whereas I would’ve expected people to be disappointed.
You will soon be able to upgrade your storage, but the upgrade page currently only says:
The Verge’s Tom Warren is saying that storage was expected to arrive as soon as the desktop clients did, with $10, $25, or $50 per year for an extra 20GB, 50GB, or 100GB. He also said that the clients were going to be made available in the coming weeks, but that’s been contracted to right now, possibly a reaction to Google Drive rumours. While the storage plans aren’t yet online, I’d expect it to come soon.
As some may say, I’m being a bit negative with this news. I am. But I really feel that the more we think critically about the things we love, the better they can be. And letting Microsoft do this, without any backlash, will be unfortunate.
For the rest of the week, one eye will be on Google for now, to see whether Google Drive, as rumours suggest, arrives this week, what Google Drive offers comparitively (whether it’s a DropBox clone or not), and to see whether Google Drive’s 5GB limit changes as a reaction to this news. Or to see whether Microsoft can offer competitive storage upgrade prices with Google Storage, which is already shockingly cheap if Google uses the current prices for storage upgrades. Hopefully Microsoft doesn’t mine our data. Oh, wait, sorry, we’re only meant to say things like that about Google.