Test Drive the new Windows Live Skydrive (Beta)
Very typical of Microsoft, they always start late in business, be it the ZUNE or the SkyDrive, but with their mammoth sized revenue they always make it to the top.
What is Skydrive?
Skydrive is the name given to Microsoft’s online storage solution.
This is the main page of Skydrive.
Why Skydrive?
Now this was one thing that Microsoft lagged when compared to Google’s GDrive. In the present era of online business, Microsoft knows that it would loose out if it just sticks with the legacy products, and that’s why you have been hearing a lot of Microsoft online services and that’s where the Windows Live fits in.
How Skydrive?
Okay so you now know what is Skydrive. Lets have a quick look on the interface and the usability.
Once logged in, you would be presented with the following screen.
As you can see, the interface is pretty sleek and clean. Basically three types of folder access are provided, Private, Shared and Public.
A progress-bar at the right top keeps tack of the total and available storage space. Very bad, at present it is just 500Mb. Lets wait and see if Microsoft would give something better when Skydrive is released.
Once you select any field it bring up the file upload/download screen.
You can either select to upload files one-by-one(5 at a time), by browsing to the file directory, or you ca install an ActiveX control to upload many files at the same time(using drag and drop).
I have installed the ActiveX control and its very easy to upload, just drag and drop files into the window and click upload.
One thing that I like the most is that the upload/download speed is pretty good.
Earlier I used to use 4shared for file sharing, but the speeds would be slower in 4sahred and for the free account, the files are removed after 30 days of inactivity.
You can click on the uploaded file to get the file download link. If you wanna share files to your friends then you should upload the files to the shared location. Remember for your friends to open the file, they should have a Windows Live ID.
Conclusion
Overall I would give it a 6/10(read the pros and cons).
Microsoft is just starting with it, once geared up it will surely prove a good competitor to Google and other online services.
- Pretty fast uploads and downloads.
- Compatibility with all the top tier browsers.
- Pretty descent sharing capabilities.
- Able to mark files as public or private.
- Can use it anywhere anytime – much better than any other free service and you don’t have to install any software.
- Storage space is very less compared to competitors(just 500MB).
- Can’t upload folders(in Beta).
Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Windows, Live, Skydrive, Beta
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
I did not like for the fact of Brazilians not to be able to use this sevi