Update to Dropbox vs Windows Live Sky Drive

A few months back, I compared the features of Dropbox to Windows Live SkyDrive. To see that post, click here. At the time, the biggest reasons I liked Dropbox over SkyDrive was the ease of saving files using the desktop application without logging into the Web site and the mobile app for iPhone and Android.

A quick note about the free space change on the SkyDrive - originally, users received 25 GB of free storage with a SkyDrive account. That is now changing, and new users will receive 7 Gb of free storage. This update still gives student plenty of space for class files without the need to carry a flash drive. If you currently have a SkyDrive account, you can log into your account and take advantage of a free upgrade to the 25 GB of space that you have been getting. The offer is for a limited time only, and the expiration date isn't shown. If you are setting up a new account and need more than 7 Gb of storage, you can purchase 20 GB for $10 per year, 50 GB for $25 per year, or 100 GB for $50 per year. With Dropbox, you earn free storage for each referral you make as long as the person completes the installation steps. The maximum amount of free storage with referrals is 18 GB (2 GB on setup + 500 MB per referral). You can purchase additional storage with Dropbox as well.

I recently found the mobile app for the SkyDrive and saving files to it directly from the MS Office suite is pretty painless. The advantage of Dropbox is that it isn't limited to MS Office when using the desktop application, but SkyDrive is becoming more user friendly for me.

You can save files directly to your SkyDrive from the MS Office suite by going to the File tab (backstage view) and then on Save & Send. Choose Save to Web and you will have the option to log into your SkyDrive account. If you check the box asking if you want to be logged in automatically, you only have to enter your username and password once. Once you are logged in, you will see the contents of your SkyDrive with personal folders, shared folders, and the option to create additional folders. The window will look like the one below.

At this point, it is easy to save your MS Office files directly to your SkyDrive. You can save other files to your SkyDrive account as well, but that will require logging into your account from www.skydrive.com.

The mobile app works very similar to the mobile app for Dropbox. You can only view files (unless you have an editing app for the originating software), but that is still nice to have on the fly. It is definitely worth downloading. The mobile app is available for the iPhone, iPad, Windows phones, and Android devices.

If your preference is staying all Windows based, the SkyDrive is definitely becoming more user friendly and convenient. If you want to give Dropbox a try, follow this link and we can both earn free space - the person referring and the person installing each receive the additional free storage.

Here is a quick video showing the mobile app.