Increasingly, our data is being directly saved in or backed up to the cloud. More and more applications are cloud-based. Arguments concerning cloud-computing, pro and con, abound. But one thing is for certain: it’s convenient. There’s a long list of what cloud-computing offers right now. For the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on a few that offer cloud-based storage for your files.
Microsoft’s SkyDrive was fairly early out of the gate in terms of offering not just online storage, but also the ability to save directly to—rather than back up or upload to—the cloud. An instance of this can be seen in the latest version of Office (2013). When you go to save or open a document, as long as you have an account and are signed in, you’ll see Your Name SkyDrive as an available option.
One of the most recent entries to the field is Google Drive. No surprise there, unless you’re still wondering what happened to Google Docs. Between SkyDrive and Google Drive, there are quite a few other choices. Dropbox has won quite a few accolades, and like other cloud-based storage, it gives you a decent amount of free storage to begin with, and mostly seamless synchronization. Another big player is Box.
All of these services also allow for sharing, of course, and many allow for a great degree of control and protection of documents across companies or other user groups. One of the biggest selling points, if the rest hasn’t already sold you, is synchronization. All of your documents and files, music or pictures, can be easily synchronized across all of your devices.
