Microsoft turns SkyDrive into cloud computing storage tool for Windows 8
February 21, 2012
Microsoft has detailed plans to integrate its SkyDrive cloud storage service more closely with Windows 8, a move that will enable users to seamlessly access files on any computer and use SkyDrive as a remote access service to fetch files held on their computer.
In its latest update posted to the Building Windows 8 blog, Microsoft said SkyDrive will evolve with Windows 8 from being just a website into a true "device cloud" for Windows customers…
As part of these plans, Windows 8 will get a Metro-style SkyDrive app, while SkyDrive will also integrate into Windows Explorer on the desktop, and users will also be able to use SkyDrive to fetch files remotely from any other PC of theirs which is running SkyDrive on the desktop.
The SkyDrive app will be available in the upcoming Consumer Preview of Windows 8, Microsoft said, and thanks to the "charms" and "contracts" features in the new platform, SkyDrive functionality will be available to any app as a location to open and save files to, as if SkyDrive were a local drive connected to the PC.
For developers, this means that any app they build which accesses files will automatically support SkyDrive without any additional work.
Writing on the blog, Microsoft’s Mike Torres and Omar Shahine, group programme managers for SkyDrive, said the aim was to make it easy for users to have their personal files and date available, even when moving to a new PC.
"With Windows 8, we wanted to make sure that your files would be instantly available and up-to-date as you move between PCs – without configuring add-ons or using a USB drive," they said.
But Microsoft is also bringing SkyDrive integration to the conventional Windows desktop, so that users will be able to use Windows Explorer to manage files and simply drag-and-drop files between SkyDrive and local folders.
SkyDrive on the desktop will also run on Windows Vista and Windows 7, according to Microsoft, but not Windows XP.
The SkyDrive desktop app will also integrate functionality from Microsoft’s Windows Live Mesh service, enabling users to keep SkyDrive synchronised with the content of a folder of their choice, in a similar vein to the way Dropbox operates.
"As you update files on your PC, they’re uploaded immediately to the cloud, and as changes are made in the cloud or on another device, they’ll sync back down to the PC," Torres and Shahine said.
Finally, Microsoft said that users will be able to access files on their PC from anywhere by simply fetching them by logging in to SkyDrive.com.
Dubbed by the firm as the "Forgot something?" feature, this will enable users to reach across the internet to access files from their PC, so long as it is running SkyDrive on the desktop, in case they need some document or other content they have forgotten to upload to their SkyDrive account.
For security, this will require a second level of authentication, requiring the user to type a code that SkyDrive sends to your mobile phone or alternate email address, to prevent others gaining access to your hard drive.