In a previous post I talked about using Microsoft's SkyDrive to store files online. The one major problem with SkyDrive is that it wasn't as easy to use as something like DropBox where there was a folder on your computer that would seamlessly sync any files in it to the cloud. To use SkyDrive you had to log into the system through a web browser and manually upload the files. The 25GB of free space was great, but somewhat difficult to use. Until now.

Microsoft has made major changes to SkyDrive in preparation to the tight integration it's going to have in the upcoming Windows 8. There is good and bad. Lets start with the bad - the bad is that the amount of free storage has gone down from 25GB to 7GB. This is still better than the 5GB for Apple's iCloud and Dropbox's 2GB. There are many more good:

Additional storage can be purchased (half the price of Apple's iCloud)

20GB $10/year
50GB $25/year
100GB $50/year
As a bonus to those of us who have been using SkyDrive already, there is a free upgrade from the 7GB limit to 25GB. Just sign in and you'll see the option for the free upgrade.

You can now use SkyDrive like Dropbox where there is a local folder on your computer (see Fig. 1) that automatically syncs to the cloud and to any other computer you have signed into using the new SkyDrive app (PC and Mac).
SkyDrive can be accessed through Windows Phone and iPhones by loading the app from Microsoft. There is no official support for Android, but there are 3rd party apps available.

Fig. 1

Another big feature that has been added is the ability to remotely access all the files your computer from any computer using a web browser (see Fig. 2). When you first set this up you will have to authorize this feature - a text was my mobile with a security code I had to enter.

Fig. 2

For the most part this is a great upgrade to SkyDrive and will make it much more accessible to everyone. Some people might be upset about the lowered storage limit, but if you've already been using SkyDrive then you get back to 25GB anyways and if you are a new user SkyDrive already has more free storage than it's competitors. Google has yet to offer such a service (except for the 2GB storage you can get on Picasa), but that should be changing shortly with the rumored Google Drive and a 5GB limit.

UPDATE: Google did release Google Drive just hours after this post. It appears to work the same way as Dropbox and SkyDrive (local folder syncing to the cloud), but it starts with 5GB free with additional storage costing slightly more than SkyDrive (eg, 100GB is $60) and there is no remote access to your computer.

UPUDATE 2: As usual with Google services, there are concerns about how private your files are. Google is saying what is yours will stay yours, but there is also a clause stating that they, and their partners, can scan your files. This would probably be meant for helping them to target advertising. Microsoft and Dropbox are much clearer that your files are more private than on the Google service.