Microsoft SkyDrive Features- A Detailed Introduction.

Microsoft first launched their cloud service in 2007. In those times, cloud services were not as famous as they are today, neither was SkyDrive. And we do not have current usage stats of SkyDrive, but in June 2011, there were over 100 million users according to Microsoft. Taking into consideration the fact that only recently did Microsoft released SkyDrive apps for Windows, Android, iOS and complete overhaul of the SkyDrive Web App with the introduction new great features, the numbers should be very different now.  Cloud services themselves are becoming more famous with more and more competitors jumping in. But how does Microsoft’s SkyDrive stands out from the crowed? What features can make it the number 1 cloud service out there? Lets begin.

1. Simple User Interface

SkyDrive has a very simple to understand, neat and clean design. Perhaps the simplest of all other competing services out there. We do not believe it can create any kind of confusion or complexity for any one. You can clearly see the links/buttons for the action you want to perform such as uploading a file, creating a new file, opening a file from your SkyDrive, seeing the shared documents, searching for a document, sorting the files and folders, accessing your authorized PCs.    

 

2. Apps and Windows/Office Integration

SkyDrive apps are available for Windows, iOS, MAC, Android Devices, & Windows Phone. In addition, SkyDrive is nicely integrated into Windows 8, Windows Phone, and most important office 2013 for PC and MAC. An API is available for third party apps. This is where SkyDrive Excels. Apps for other competing services might be available too, but integration into the unrivaled MS Office and Windows  make SkyDrive special. You can choose to make a backup of your files automatically to your SkyDrive. Cool, hmm?  You have got a built-in App for SkyDrive on Windows 8 and you can share content from within Windows 8 Apps such as Photos App or third Party Apps. In addition, it has also been integrated to Windows gallery (previously windows live gallery)  and Windows Movie Maker. If you are a Windows Phone user, SkyDrive is the only cloud service for you.

3. Storage and File Size Limits

You can upload up to a 2GB of file to your SkyDrive . You get 7GB of free space which is scalable to 25 GB free of cost for existing customers. For additional storage, you have got to pay.

 

Looks like Microsoft has become more generous, mmm?  So again, it’s the SkyDrive that’s the best.  May be you don’t feel like you need more space, but time changes. You may not need it now, but you may need it in the future. Who knows? We just gave you another reason to stay on SkyDrive. 

3. Access Your PCs 

Ok, here is another one. SkyDrive is the only cloud service that will let you access the files on your PCs from anywhere, even if they are not there on the cloud. Just authorize your PC and that’s all. Now you can browse your PC from anywhere in the world via SkyDrive.com.

4. Share your files, let others edit them

Sharing your files with colleagues and letting them to edit your files is a very handy feature that can be manipulated in many different situations. This is not exclusive to SkyDrive, but SkyDrive does not lack it either.  Just click on a file, click share, enter the email address of the person you want to share this file with, and set the permissions you want to give him (you can change the permissions later).

Now, he will get an email notification and can view the file in ‘shared files’ folder . He will be able to edit the file if you permit him. Before every edit, the file is saved as a different version. You can see who has edited the file and when, and looking at the previous versions, you can easily figure what changes the specific user has made.   

5. Office Web Apps

Sure, Google has got Google Docs as alternatives, but who can match the productivity and global recognition of Microsoft’s Office.  files created with Google Docs are in a format the Office can not recognize. Meaning, you can not view them offline. Oh, what? Yes that’s true. In a nutshell, Google is no Microsoft.

6. OneNote

OneNote is Microsoft's alternative to Evernote. Lets be sincere, Evernote is better  in several ways but hey, Google Drive has got none.  

SkyDrive has got a Web App for OneNote,  and it is integrated into OneNote  on Windows Desktop App and Modern style App, iOS App , Windows Phone App, and android App.  One more Plus.

 

 

 

    

  

How to set up outlook.com email account on Windows Live Mail and other mail clients

Most email clients do not automatically recognize Microsoft’s new outlook.com including the ones from Microsoft itself) and therefore users often face problems setting them up.
Here, we will show you how to configure your mail client for outlook.com. Outlook.com and Hotmail/windows live mail all have the same settings. So if you already know how to manually configure your mail client for Hotmail or Windows Live Mail, you already know how to configure it. In case you do not, here is an easy guide.
When you first run Windows Live Mail mail App, you see a screen where you have to set up your email account. In case you have already set up for Gmail or other email service, you can launch the set up wizard again from accounts tab. Click on Accounts Tab and then click on Email.  A screen, as shown in the image below will appear.

  Now, Enter your full email address, your password and your Full name in the respective fields. Check the box in front of “Manually configure server settings” and click next. Now, another screen will appear shown in the picture below.

Under incoming server information, select POP (will be selected by default) as Server type. Enter pop3.mail.com as server address and check the box to the front of “Requires a secure connection (SSL)”. Set Logon user name to your full email address.
Under outgoing server information, set the server address to smtp.live.com, check both the boxes beneath it (requires a secure connection, requires authentication). Set port number to 587. Click next and then click finish. That’s how easy it is. Now, to configure other mail clients, just use the same settings as for Windows Live Mail. If you want configure Windows mail on Windows 8, you may want to see this. 

Outlook.com Vs. Gmail/Google mail , Detailed Comparison

Gmail /Google mail is one of the toughest contender for Microsoft's email services. In the last few years, it has attracted millions of users and Microsoft’s Email service (Hotmail/Windows Live mail) was continuously loosing the ground. In order to rival this outstanding product from Google, Microsoft has recently completely revamped its Email service and released it in the form of Outlook.com, which still is in beta. The new outlook is simply great. Here we will compare in detail this new email service with Google’s Gmail. 

1. User Interface 

The new Outlook has an outstanding user interface. Based on Microsoft’s Modern UI ( previously metro UI) .It is neat, clean, intuitive, touch friendly as well as mouse friendly and is beautiful. You can choose from a variety of colors to match your taste. Gmail’s user interface is not bad too, but not great either. It is simple but not as simple as outlook, it looks good but not as beautiful as outlook and its not touch friendly. You can readily appreciate these differences by comparing image above with the one below.

 

Winner: Outlook.com

 

Storage and File attachments

Outlook.com gives you an unlimited amount of storage space. As your needs grow, your storage will grow. Gmail has a maximum limit of 10 GB storage. Outlook has a 100 Mb size limit for file attachments. When you connect your SkyDrive to your email, then the limit is 300 MB. Contrast, Gmail has a 25 MB size limit on file attachments. 

Winner: Outlook

Spam Control

Gmail

Gmail lacks the ability to automatically recognize newsletter type emails, nor you can unsubscribe from them if the sender does not have an option to unsubscribe. However, you can add automatic filter words e.g. newsletter, unsubscribe, Facebook etc. Moreover you can not delete all messages from a specific sender with one click but you can search for messages from a specific sender, select them all and then delete them.

Outlook 

You can either mark an email as Junk (sender will be marked as unsafe and message will be deleted) or a phishing scam (to report a spammer who asks for private information). In addition, an unsubscribe button is added to newsletter type emails (outlook recognizes newsletter type emails automatically)  when the sender does not have one. Moreover, you can delete all messages from the same sender by one click. These features make it superior to Gmail in spam control features.

Winner: Outlook

POP/IMAP Support

Both services support POP. Hotmail’s POP can currently be used for Outlook.com and it works. Outlook also supports ActiveSync, so you can sync your   email with an email client that supports ActiveSync. In contrast, Gmail has full IMAP/POP support which means you can sync your email with any client you want. So, Gmail is better in this regard.

Winner : Gmail

The New SkyDrive is here

 

Microsoft has released the new SkyDrive Web App and Windows App. The new Web App is similar in user interface to the new outlook.com that was released two weeks ago.  

 

In addition to a new user interface, it also brings several other wanted features to the table. Visit Skydrive.com to see it for yourself.

Outlook.com at 10 million users

It has just been two weeks that the new outlook.com was rolled out, and now it has 10 million users. On a blog post today, Chris Jones of Microsoft announced that, as of today, 10 million users have signed up for, and are using outlook.com. That’s a big number in two weeks. 

Bing team is developing Apps, too.

Microsoft’s online service division is working not just on search, now they work on app development too. There are a couple of hundred developers who are doing a full time job in writing apps for Windows 8, Windows Phone, and Xbox gaming console.  This team is know as AppEx (Application Experiences). They have built the travel, weather, news, finance, sports, maps applications that were built into Windows 8 preview builds. Primarily they use HTML5 and JavaScript to build these apps.

So the question is, Why? Why is this team focusing on developing Apps?  AS we built a search service, "along the way, we've created a key big data/cloud asset for the company," said Adam Sohn Bing's General Manager.

Technorati Tags: Bing

Outlook.com Security to be strong and better than Gmail, claims Microsoft.

 

A Microsoft spokesperson has said that Microsoft is working to make outlook’s security stronger and better than Gmail. Microsoft wants to offer a strong solution that wont be inconvenient for the users. That means there will be no two step authentication process. The spokesperson said Outlook requires strong passwords and offers single use codes.

The new Outlook.com is a great new product by Microsoft and its good to see Microsoft looks concerned about user security and convenience at the same time. 

Source: Mashable