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With a nod to rhyming poets everywhere, Microsoft has[unveiled Windows Live SkyDrive][2], a new online hard drive storage service. Previously known as Windows Live Folders the service was first [announced earlier this summer as a private beta][1].
Today's announcement doesn't remove the beta label, but the service is now open to the public. And the new SkyDrive isn't just about the name change, there's also a revamped UI and some new features as well. Among the changes are support for drag-and-drop file uploads to ease batch transfers, the addition of a "Also on SkyDrive" which shows the folders of other Skydrive users that you've browsed and a new embed option for sharing files on your blog or website -- similar in function to Zoho's new Viewer, which we [reviewed yesterday][4].
But SkyDrive isn't really a Zoho Viewer competitor, rather it competes with the likes of Omnidrive, box.net, Google's [new paid options][3] and others in what is already a crowded market.
As with similar services your account offers public and private folders for storing and sharing and you can also set read/write permissions for folders so other users can upload docs to your account.
Microsoft describes the service as "a personal hard drive on the internet," but at 500 MB, hard drive isn't exactly the image that comes to mind. Which is too bad because otherwise the service is quite nice, easy-to-use and integrated with your Windows Live account.
There's also the chance that, at some point, Microsoft will offer an option for Windows users to automatically backup key documents ala the .Mac services from Apple.
However, until Microsoft adds some more compelling features to the mix, the current storage space limitations make SkyDrive a bit of a cripple in the field -- you're probably better off with other similar, more generous services.
For more info on how SkyDrive works here's a demo video from Brandon LeBlanc at the Windows Vista Blog:
<embed src="http://images.soapbox.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf" quality="high" width="432" height="364" wmode="transparent" name="msn_soapbox" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="c=v&v=1e598918-03f0-4a3b-a2d4-a2adb33694f5"></embed>
[1]: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/06/microsoft-ramps.html
[2]: http://skydriveteam.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!977F793E846B3C96!124.entry
[3]: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/
[4]: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/08/zoho-viewer-spa.html
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