On Monday, Microsoft announced it’s updated version of SkyDrive, to correlate with the upcoming release of Windows 8. This could coincide with the launch of Google Drive, which has been rumored to be ready within the next few weeks, and would compete directly with it and other cloud storage services
Microsoft says that Skydrive will be tightly integrated with Windows 8, and plans to insert the app into every desktop via Windows Explorer. The updated drive will include improved file management and synchronization, across multiple devices, secure authentication for remote access to files not yet uploaded to Skydrive, and support for file uploads of up to 2 GB. Mike Torres and Omar Shahine, group program managers for SkyDrive, have commented, “we think what people want in personal cloud storage is a single drive that’s available across all of their devices. To bring this to billions of people, our approach is to seamlessly connect the files (and behaviors) that people have today on the PC with the app and device experiences that they will use in the future.”
Below is the pricing structure for Skydrive’s storage, as compared to the 10 GB, 20 GB, or 50 GB of additional iCloud storage, for $20, $40, or $100/year.
Microsoft has been hinting at an October release date for Windows 8.