Software giant Microsoft announced on Tuesday it has revamped its cloud storage service, SkyDrive, adding a new Web interface, along with updates to its desktop applications and developer API.
The move comes just a month after Microsoft offered a preview of its Outlook.com webmail service in a move to replace Hotmail with a cleaner, more simplistic interface.
Initially launched in August 2007 under the name Windows Live Folders, SkyDrive has become one of the key products in the company’s gradual move of Microsoft products to the cloud, along with its popular Office suite.
Microsoft recently said that the cloud storage service will play a crucial role in the way users of Windows 8 and the new version of Office will store, share and sync files, documents and settings among their PCs, tablets and mobile devices.
One of the main changes made to SkyDrive is in the newly revamped user interface, which is now modelled after the tile-based layout style of the Windows 8 Modern interface.
Other changes include improvements in SkyDrive’s search functionality, drag-and-drop functionality and sorting features, as well as improving the performance time of desktop application for Windows 8 and Mac OS X.
Microsoft said it will also soon launch a SkyDrive application for Android that lets users access, upload and share files from their devices.
There are already SkyDrive applications for Windows Phone and iPhone devices.
And finally, the company has removed restrictions from the product’s API on the types of files third-party applications can upload to SkyDrive, making the service accessible to a greater market.
“With these updates and continued improvements to our back-end infrastructure, we’re excited to leave preview and unlock new possibilities for a billion customers with the upcoming releases of Windows 8, the new Office, and tons of devices and apps that connect to SkyDrive,” SkyDrive group program managers Omar Shahine and Mike Torres wrote in the blog post.
Microsoft previews these new improvements to SkyDrive in a YouTube video.
In April, Google released its own competing cloud storage service, Google Drive.
Talk back: Are you currently using SkyDrive? Will these changes convince you to give it a try? Let us know in a comment.
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