14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has evolved its storage service in the cloud under the Windows Live umbrella brand. In this context, the Redmond company has upped the stakes, increasing the storage size from the initial 500MB to a full 1GB. According to the Windows Live SkyDrive team, since the introduction of the service, the focus was placed on improvements that needed to be introduced. One of the first areas enhanced was the amount of space in Microsoft's operating system in the cloud offered to end users, but this was accompanied by additional changes. And although Windows Live SkyDrive did not evolve its beta label in accordance with the new features, the password-protected online file storage is now better tailor fitted on the needs of the users, as a direct result of the feedback submitted to Microsoft.
"Along with increased storage, the SkyDrive Team has included a few more things worth taking note of: RSS Feeds on Public Folders: Users can now subscribe to an RSS feed for their Public folders. This allows folks to keep track of each other's public files and stay up-to-date with what is uploaded.See who uploaded a file: you can now check out and see who has uploaded specific files to your shared folders in SkyDrive. I have quite a few shared folders which are shared out to large groups of friends - it is great to be able to see which files were uploaded by whom", explained Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc.
"Another thing users told us is that it's difficult to share a folder with people that aren't in your address book. People said, 'We have to go to Hotmail or Messenger in order to add someone to our address books. Why can't we just do it on SkyDrive itself?' We fixed that. Now, you can share with anyone directly from SkyDrive by typing in your friend's e-mail address. Finally, users told us that it would be nice to know who uploaded each file. So, we now display the name of the person that added each file", revealed a member of the Windows Live SkyDrive.
Until now, Microsoft failed to provide a timetable pointing as to when the final version of the service will become available. Still, the modifications delivered to Windows Live SkyDrive are designed as an integer part of the overall growth of Windows Live. But when it comes down to storage, Microsoft did promise that the limit will not remain 1GB. In fact, the online space allocated to each user will continue to grow with the evolution of Windows Live SkyDrive.