14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 will launch in the second half of the year with plenty of changes, including what seems to be an update that would make OneDrive a much more important feature of the operating system.
Redmond is working to make the cloud service a deeply integrated tool of Windows 10, so the company might be planning to replace the stand-alone OneDrive app with a built-in feature that would provide additional functionality to users.
While the OneDrive app could remain available in the store or on older versions of Windows to be used on the desktop, Windows 10 will be the only flavor of the operating system that would offer such cloud capabilities for additional storage and backup options.
Right now, OneDrive is already integrated into Windows to let users quickly access files stored in the cloud and download/upload new items, but the Windows 10 Technical Preview has already brought a number of changes in this regard.
No more placeholders
The existing TP builds give up on the traditional placeholder system and require users to synchronize the folders they wish to access in File Explorer.
This option clearly comes in very unhandy to many Windows 10 testers out there, and a post on UserVoice calls for the company to bring back the previous placeholder-based system that would let them browse cloud content without the need to actually synchronize or download any files.
Microsoft hasn't said a clear “no” until now, but the company hinted that placeholders could be reintroduced at some point to make browsing faster.
“There are important capabilities that we need to bring to Windows 10 - some will make it into the first release - including shared folders and support for the consumer and business service. However, others will come in updates that follow later in the calendar year - most notably the core capabilities of placeholders that are both reliable and comprehensible,” it said in January.
Windows 10 is still in development stage, so a lot could change until the final version of the OS is ready, so more OneDrive updates could be implemented in the coming months.