I am waiting for WP8 to come out and will probably switch from Android, which seems to have problem stablizing their software architecture/designs - going from one major revision to next every eight months. However, one problem I have with skydrive is that my company (as most big corporations do) blocks employees from accessing it. I am not sure if there is a solution for this security concern.
This looks much better! and i like how SkyDrive is available to all Apps that can save and load things, without the developer even needing to do any coding.
@Andrew, you didn't mention this part...
"Knowing that most people would still have files on a remote PC that weren’t available through SkyDrive, we built a new feature that allows you to “reach across” the Internet to access any file, stream videos, or view photo albums from a remote PC that is running SkyDrive on the desktop. For any remote folder or file, you can also choose to “copy to SkyDrive,” so that you’ll always have it across your devices."
This level of integration is exactly what Skydrive needs to set it apart from the other cloud storage services.
I think that they let you set any folder to be syncable and that the Skydrive folder is just the default. That's the vibe I got from the blog post, at least.
According to their comments to users in reply, only the Skydrive folder is synched. And all contents in the Skydrive are automatically synched across all clients connected to that WinLive account.
The MSFT guy seemed to suggest the Skydrive "folder" works like a Win7 library and as such you can make any folder be part of that library. Not an ideal solution but at least it seems the ability to add any folder to the sync set is still there.
Now if they just added a right click context menu option to make that a one step process it would be perfect.
Or he might use XP because he actually prefers it, not because he just really likes using the oldest OS he can find just for the sake of using something old. I'm going to guess his liking XP is probably the more plausible reasoning.
LOL, that was never my intention when I sticked to XP.
Vista just didn't convince me. W7 look good, but outboard hardware lacked 64 bit drivers, so I had to "reorganize" first. Now that I'm ready to upgrade I thought I might as well wait for W8 to arrive.
So SkyDrive is moving away from the sync-any-folder approach to the sync-one-folder Dropbox-esque approach?
If so, Microsoft just killed off the one good thing about SkyDrive compared to Dropbox: the sync-any-folder ability. The old setup worked great for saved games, which tend to be scattered all over the place.
MS will announce more stuff about SkyDrive in the future, and more changes will be made by the time Win 8 ships. So this feature could still make it even if it's not in the BETA. I'd atleast expect to see it in the desktop app.
Wrong... iOS, OSX, and Android will have SkyDrive apps. And this will clearly be miles better than DropBox, especially on Windows. If you read the blog post you'll see why.
"With SkyDrive in Windows 8, you won’t just have cloud files synced to your PC. You can also turn your entire PC into your own private cloud, and use its terabytes of local storage to easily access, browse, and stream your files from anywhere by simply fetching them from SkyDrive.com."
To me that's the most interesting part of the blog and is a pretty damn awesome feature IMO.
Overall though it is nice to Microsoft finally putting all the pieces together, long overdue.
Not sure you would want that. Your home system live online and open for access essentially to the world. You could argue there are layers of security in between but there is no absolute method to secure your computer. It is one thing to have a cloud like dropbox feature that is tied to a storage somewhere where a folder(s) are periodically synchronized and you have access from anywhere. That limits your exposure to the one folder of information you deem loseable for any reason that sits on a cloud storage in one direction only. If you set yourself up to access your entire drive remotely with a cloud folder acting only as an intermediary is not a good idea.
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gamoniac - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
I am waiting for WP8 to come out and will probably switch from Android, which seems to have problem stablizing their software architecture/designs - going from one major revision to next every eight months. However, one problem I have with skydrive is that my company (as most big corporations do) blocks employees from accessing it. I am not sure if there is a solution for this security concern.Spivonious - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
If you have a valid work reason to use Skydrive, complain to the right people.Ragbansi - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
I have used Dropbox and then Google Docs with Syncdocs, but this in OS integration looks great!B3an - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
This looks much better! and i like how SkyDrive is available to all Apps that can save and load things, without the developer even needing to do any coding.@Andrew, you didn't mention this part...
"Knowing that most people would still have files on a remote PC that weren’t available through SkyDrive, we built a new feature that allows you to “reach across” the Internet to access any file, stream videos, or view photo albums from a remote PC that is running SkyDrive on the desktop. For any remote folder or file, you can also choose to “copy to SkyDrive,” so that you’ll always have it across your devices."
Killer feature!
Spivonious - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
This level of integration is exactly what Skydrive needs to set it apart from the other cloud storage services.I think that they let you set any folder to be syncable and that the Skydrive folder is just the default. That's the vibe I got from the blog post, at least.
Rand - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
According to their comments to users in reply, only the Skydrive folder is synched. And all contents in the Skydrive are automatically synched across all clients connected to that WinLive account.beefgyorki - Wednesday, February 22, 2012 - link
The MSFT guy seemed to suggest the Skydrive "folder" works like a Win7 library and as such you can make any folder be part of that library. Not an ideal solution but at least it seems the ability to add any folder to the sync set is still there.Now if they just added a right click context menu option to make that a one step process it would be perfect.
cfaalm - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
Upgrading from XP to W8, no problemo!Flunk - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
If you arbitrarily choose to live in the past why not use Windows 98? 3.1? or CP/M?Rand - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
Or he might use XP because he actually prefers it, not because he just really likes using the oldest OS he can find just for the sake of using something old.I'm going to guess his liking XP is probably the more plausible reasoning.
cfaalm - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
LOL, that was never my intention when I sticked to XP.Vista just didn't convince me. W7 look good, but outboard hardware lacked 64 bit drivers, so I had to "reorganize" first. Now that I'm ready to upgrade I thought I might as well wait for W8 to arrive.
wonderfield - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
So SkyDrive is moving away from the sync-any-folder approach to the sync-one-folder Dropbox-esque approach?If so, Microsoft just killed off the one good thing about SkyDrive compared to Dropbox: the sync-any-folder ability. The old setup worked great for saved games, which tend to be scattered all over the place.
B3an - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
MS will announce more stuff about SkyDrive in the future, and more changes will be made by the time Win 8 ships. So this feature could still make it even if it's not in the BETA. I'd atleast expect to see it in the desktop app.steven75 - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
That being it works on ANY platform, not just Windows.B3an - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
Wrong... iOS, OSX, and Android will have SkyDrive apps. And this will clearly be miles better than DropBox, especially on Windows. If you read the blog post you'll see why.No word on Linux but no one uses that anyway.
beefgyorki - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
"With SkyDrive in Windows 8, you won’t just have cloud files synced to your PC. You can also turn your entire PC into your own private cloud, and use its terabytes of local storage to easily access, browse, and stream your files from anywhere by simply fetching them from SkyDrive.com."To me that's the most interesting part of the blog and is a pretty damn awesome feature IMO.
Overall though it is nice to Microsoft finally putting all the pieces together, long overdue.
aguilpa1 - Thursday, February 23, 2012 - link
Not sure you would want that. Your home system live online and open for access essentially to the world. You could argue there are layers of security in between but there is no absolute method to secure your computer. It is one thing to have a cloud like dropbox feature that is tied to a storage somewhere where a folder(s) are periodically synchronized and you have access from anywhere. That limits your exposure to the one folder of information you deem loseable for any reason that sits on a cloud storage in one direction only. If you set yourself up to access your entire drive remotely with a cloud folder acting only as an intermediary is not a good idea.