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Microsoft unveils paid SkyDrive options

7GB of storage should be enough for nearly everyone

Microsoft has revealed the price for paid services on its SkyDrive cloud storage, which kick in at US$10/year, US$25/year and US$50/year for 20GB, 50GB or 100GB respectively. Paid services also gain the name “SkyDrive updates”.

The company has also upped the free storage available to newbies to 7Gb, citing the graph of current usage below to show that only .06% of users want more than that quantity of storage. Dare we say that 7GB should be enough for anyone?

Revealingly, Microsoft says the 7GB figure was decided in part because most SkyDrive users are “enthusiasts” for whom that capacity will be sufficient. 7GB is therefore what all new users will now receive when they sign up for the service. Existing subscribers all get 25GB.

The release of the priced plans co-incides with the release of a new app for Windows that integrates SkyDrive more deeply into the OS by offering access from Windows Explorer on Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista. That app now includes a “fetching” feature that Microsoft says will allow users to “access, browse, and stream files from a remote PC running the preview app to just about anywhere by simply fetching them via SkyDrive.com.” Even MacOS users will feel the love, thanks to a new app said to enable SkyDrive from within the Finder.

Mobile users can join the party too, as apps for iOS on iPhones and iPads can now drive SkyDrive. Windows Phone users get the same functionality. More details here.

DropBox upgrades too

Microsoft isn't getting things all it's own way in the desktop cloud storage caper, though, as Dropbox has introduced a new Links feature that allows paid users to create a URL for anything they drop into the DropBox cloud. Non-members can then download that file

DropBox has advised users that “... if multiple people need to edit the same set of stuff, a shared folder is best. If not, then links are the way to go! Linking is much faster, and it’s also the best way to make your content shine on the web.” You can find more details about DropBox Links here. ®

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