Skydrive gives 25GB of Online Storage for Free

SkyDrive the online storage service launched by Microsoft earlier this week is no doubt one of the best online storage services of the many online storage services
This post describes the process for using Skydrive and also illustrates some interesting features of Skydrive.

How do i use SkyDrive to upload all my Pictures and Documents?

1.) Point your browser to http://skydrive.live.com which is part of the Windows Live Suite.

2.) Once at it, you need to login to the SkyDrive, using your Windows Live ID. If you dont have a Live ID yet, its time to create one. 

3.) Once you login, you can create new folders and add files or photos to them or add files to the existing folders. 

Windows Skydrive gives you the option to upload your documents or photos and share them with people in your network.

Windows Skydrive gives you the option to upload your documents or photos and share them with people in your network.

4.) You can even add more people to your network and add files to share with them. 

5.) In order to add files, click on the folder where you wish to add files, once inside the folder,click on the link which says ” Add Files”. You will now be required to select the files. Once done, click on Upload and your files will be Uploaded to Skydrive.

Salient Features of Windows Skydrive

1.) Free 25 GB of online storage space.

2.) You have an option to Download your stored photos directly to your Windows Live Photo Gallery.

3.) You can even Download an entire folder in one compressed file 

4.) Support for bigger Thumbnails.

5.) You can even order prints of your photographs directly from SkyDrive.

Caveat: There is one caveat as of now with Windows SkyDrive; the file size size of 50 megabytes(MB) per file is the allowed file size. Any files greater than this size cannot be uploaded, until split.

Are there any new features expected for SkyDrive?

Yes,many. SkyDrive blog says

Hold tight, we’re updating your SkyDrive sooner than you know it with dozens more improvements. Things like:

  • Keep your Internet Explorer favorites in sync between computers, and access them anywhere from your SkyDrive.
  • Make comments work the way you want them to with HTML, new comment options, and spam control.
  • A complete overhaul of the look and feel to match the look and feel of Windows Live.
  • More countries and regions: Arabia, China, Hong Kong, Israel, South Africa, Vietnam and 13 new languages: Basque, Catalan, Guajarati, Hindi, Indonesian, Kannada, Malay, Malayalam, Marathi, Serbian-Cyrillic, Tamil, Telugu, and Vietnamese.

Can i use a Third Party Tool to upload and download contents to SkyDrive?

Yes. Gladinet, an interesting tool which works perfect with SkyDrive and many other online storage services like Amazon S3, Google Docs etc. In short, Gladinet Delivers Web Applications and Online Files To Your Desktop.

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Cheers

Vaibhav Pandey

Gladinet Delivers Web Applications and Online Files To Your Desktop

Gladinet is an interesting yet free Windows application that runs on your desktop and offers easy access to files stored online or across remote PCs.

If you have a some content stored in online services like  Google DocsAmazon S3 and Windows Live Skydrive , Gladinet allows you to manage your content by making all of your files accessible from a virtual drive mapped into your Windows Operating Environment, thereby letting you update and modify files stored on the above mentioned services.

Once you have updated those files, Gladinet uploads the new version back to its original space in the cloud. This therefore elimiates the need for downloading the files onto your computer, editing them and again pushing them back onto the internet cloud for storage.

Other than letting you manage your online files locally, Gladinet also lets you do the following interesting stuff

  • Remote Access To Multiple PCs : Gladinet connects all your PCs together. You can access folders on multiple PCs from any one of them. You can also use remote access solutions such as RDP or VNC among them. Your PCs are always connected even when you are on the road.
  • On Demand Sharing: Sharing Files and Folders is as easy as sending an e-mail or an instant message. Your friends can view your shared files instantly and securely without any Gladinet software pre-installed. You can share both local and online files.
  • Use Web Applications Locally: Use online office to open local spread sheets. Use Paint Brush to open online images. Use online storages as if they were local folders. Gladinet software delivers web applications and online storages to your desktop.

So How Does It All Work?

Its easier to understand it like this, Browser’s are designed for delivering web contents to your desktop and 
on similar lines, Gladinet was designed for delivering web services to your desktop. It then goes a step further than the web browser by integrating web services into the Operating System. The below given figure explains the entire process.
Gladinet -- How it Works?
Gladinet — How it Works?

Feature List & Demo for the currently released version

  • Supported Online Storages

    • Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) 
    • Microsoft Windows Live™ SkyDrive 
    • Google Picasa™ Program 
    • Google Docs™ Program
    • Folders from Remote PCs – Standard Version only.
  • Supported Online Applications

    • Word & SpreadSheet

      • Google Docs™ Program
      • Zoho®
      • ThinkFree
    • Image & Editing

      • Google Picasa™ Program
      • Picnik Image Editing
      • SnipShot Image Editing
      • Image Author Image Editor
    • Support Single Sign-On

      • Google Mail™ webmail service
      • Google Talk™ instant messaging service
      • Google Calendar™ calendaring service
    • Support File Type Association

      • Google Docs™ Program
      • Zoho®
      • ThinkFree
      • Picnik
      • SnipShot
  • Connect All My Computers

    • Resource Drive For All Virtual Directories
    • Support Remote Desktop – Standard version only
    • Support VNC through Device Redirection – Standard version only
    • Merge All My Favorites – Standard version only
  • On Demand File/Folder Sharing – Standard version only 

As i write this, Gladinet, is still in its Beta release.

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Do stay tuned to Technofriends for more, one of the best ways of doing so is by subscribing to our feeds. You can subscribe to Technofriends feed by clicking here.

Cheers

Vaibhav Pandey