Microsoft Says Its Cloud Is Already Up and Running, No Need to Wait

Apple introduced its own iCloud set of synchronization, backup and sharing services earlier this week, and Microsoft was quick to applaud the main advantage of its own set of Cloud offerings, they’re already available to the public, have been for quite a while.

In contrast, Apple’s iCloud will only be offered to customers in the fall of 2011, with a specific deadline yet to be announced.

Benefiting from quite a head start, Microsoft’s Cloud services, with the software giant focusing on Windows Live SkyDrive, Windows Live Hotmail and Xbox LIVE, have already attracted quite an audience, serving in excess of half a billion customers to date.

“Microsoft is committed to offering cloud services that deliver access to your information across devices and platforms,” revealed Mike Torres, Group Program Manager, SkyDrive Devices and Roaming.

“Hotmail provides sync of mail, calendar and contacts across devices, and SkyDrive gives you access to up to 25GB of documents, photos, and videos from anywhere in the world through the web. And of course these services are available today for free across your Windows PC, phone, and web.”

Windows Live Hotmail remains to date one of the software giant’s most successful Cloud properties, even though its success was built when the Cloud meant almost nothing even at concept level.

One of the latest features to be introduced to Hotmail, Active Views was used more than 200 million times In April 2011 alone. Active Views allows for the integration of dynamic and interactive content within messages, such as videos, but not only.

Then there’s Windows Live SkyDrive. The Redmond company’s collaboration, sharing and storage Cloud service is already being used by over 100 million users worldwide.

“Today, more than 250 million documents are shared through SkyDrive, making it one of the most popular ways to upload, view, edit or share documents on the web. Again, we worked to connect our services to the applications and devices you use every day,” Torres added.

“You can save your Office documents right to SkyDrive from Office 2010 on your PC and Office for Mac 2011, or you can upload documents from your web browser. Once documents are uploaded, SkyDrive works seamlessly with the Office Web Apps for accessing, editing and sharing docs in your browser or in the desktop client.”

In total, there are in excess of 2.2 petabytes of data stored inside SkyDrive, with Windows Live Mesh connecting over 5 million devices.

More importantly, Microsoft continues to work catalyzing the evolution of SkyDrive, with the next step involving the Windows Phone Mango upgrade planned for later this year.

“Xbox offers the entertainment you want with the people you care about,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Softpedia. “Launched in 2002 with more than 30M subscribers across 35 countries, [Xbox LIVE features] 40 percent of activity is non-game (movies, etc.) and 30 hours of video consumption per month, per Xbox.”