What Features Does Microsoft SkyDrive Offer?

Microsoft has upgraded and added new features to SkyDrive to make it more user-friendly. The latest release utilizes HTML5 technology which makes SkyDrive faster to navigate and easier to get around. This technology upgrade makes it even easier for those using the service to stay connected on their computer, mobile phones and handheld devices. Since more users are on the go and want to access content away from their computers, SkyDrive’s upgrades to how they manage content is essential to making this as easy as possible.

In previous versions of SkyDrive, it took up to 10 seconds to perform tasks. Microsoft has reduced this wait time to 100 – 300 milliseconds. From what I have observed using SkyDrive myself, it responds quickly to my clicks across folders, uploading, downloading and creating new documents. This allows users to quickly gain access to content whether they want to edit it, share it or just have access to it. It makes SkyDrive much more competitive with the speed of GoogleDocs and other only content hosting services.

SkyDrive has also overhauled how content is displayed and accessed by users. This gives them one view to summarize everything going on within SkyDrive in one glance. You can dive deeper into your content by organizing them into folders, sub-folders and more. You can browse documents either by name and type or by folders. This makes it much easier to see what is going on, especially documents you have worked with recently.

If you are using Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 9, you can take advantage of the Jumplist. The Jumplist allows you to pin SkyDrive to your taskbar and access the service in Office Web App much quicker. This brings together Microsoft Office, Office Live and SkyDrive in a way that is much more seamless for users.

SkyDrive has also upgraded the way it stores, shares and organizes photos to make it more in line with other photo storing services. SkyDrive’s photo storage utilizes Bing’s image search which makes it seamless when scrolling through pictures. You can upload, tag, describe and work with pictures easily. You can also upload pictures traditionally or drag and drop to get them into SkyDrive. SkyDrive can also host videos up to 100 MB through the photo service.

Microsoft is also focusing on making it easier to share pictures and videos through mobile devices. While this is still a work in progress, they hope to make it much simpler to share content via texts, e-mails and instant messages when connected to SkyDrive. Since mobile technology is working overtime to give users functionality on the go, Microsoft’s changes to SkyDrive have ensured it is able to live up to those demands.

While SkyDrive may not be perfect, Microsoft is releasing new features to make it as best as possible for Windows Live users. While you may choose to use Google Docs, if you are a frequent Windows Live user, giving SkyDrive a try and seeing what it can do for you is crucial to getting the most out of what you use from Microsoft. By looping together Office, Office Live and SkyDrive, you can rest assured that your documents are in the right hands on your computer and online.