Cloud storage is the latest “big thing” on the Internet, especially now that both internet giants, Google and Microsoft are battling with each other to get the largest share of this emerging market.
Google’s cloud storage service is called ‘Drive’, while Microsoft has named their cloud storage service ‘Sky Drive’.
Both services allow users easy access to all their stored data across all the devices that they use, be it a desktop, a mobile phone or a tablet computer. To do this, the user has to download the feature to all his computers. He can then easily create, share and collaborate all his information from any of the connected devices.
Both GDrive and Sky Drive have some pros and cons and only time will tell which of the two is really more useful than the other.
It is easier to store data on Google’s cloud storage system because of the ease with which Google Docs operates. It is possible to store data in various formats including Microsoft Word. On the other hand, Microsoft’s SkyDrive operates with Web Office which is a little more cluttered, and it also allows storage only in Office format. Loading data on Google Docs is also faster than on Web Office.
Google Drive also has better search features compared to SkyDrive and also offers video previews, making it easier to select which video one wants to download. Google’s service also offers users a larger variety of paid storage options ranging from 25 gigabytes for $2.49 per month to 16 terabytes for $800 a month.
On the other hand, Sky Drive offers 7GB of free storage capacity, which is better than the 5 GB free storage offered by Google. Moreover, Microsoft is offering 25 GB free to existing users who upgrade to the new service. SkyDrive offers fewer paid storage options, but the service is cheaper with an offer of 50 GB extra for $25 per year or a maximum of 100 GB at $50 year. 100GB is generally thought to be more than enough for most regular users.
SkyDrive gives better remote access to users via SkyDrive.com. Editing a document is also easier on Microsoft’s cloud storage system than it is on Google’s Drive.
Industry opinion currently seems to favour Microsoft’s offering. However, individual users might go for Google simply because the brand has greater leverage than Microsoft and they trust Google more. That said, businesses might prefer Microsoft’s offering because of its seamless integration with Microsoft Office, which is still the leading productivity app for enterprise.
