Another service, that this article didn't mention, that I've already been using is ElephantDrive. it also allows for data sharing, in addition to just backing up your stuff. unlimited storage for not a lot of money, and a really intuitive interface for its desktop client. i'm def. not holding my breath for a windows app. (esp. one that works reliably..).

Maybe someone at MS realized that they look pretty foolish with 500MB of storage.

This can hardly be called a "showdown", even if the service were actually live, rather in pre-beta. Google already offers 2+GIGABYTE of storage - in other words over 4 TIMES as much as MS will "eventually" offer.

Yes, I know that officially Google offers this as "email storage", but it doesn't take more than 15 minutes to get yourself set up to use it as a file repository. That includes downloading Firefox. Firefox and the "GSpace" add-on don't take too long to download if you have broadband, which anyone who intends to use on-line storage had better have anyway. Setting them up doesn't take too long either. As I said, the combination shouldn't take more than 25 minutes.

They work just fine.

If you really can't bring yourself to use Firefox, you can get GDrive to use your gmail account for file storage directly from the windows desktop. I will admit that I haven't used this one, so I cannot tell you how well it works.

If MS wants to have any credibility in this space, they are going to have to move fast. More importantly, they are going to have to offer far more space, and they are going to have to offer something that is at least as good what google offers, and probably better.

Anyone using any of the options mentioned in the article or comments needs to get cozy with some kind of strong encryption. If you think any of these are immune to prying from any number of police and other gov't agencies along with bored employees of whatever company, you're begging to find yourself with serious problems.

"but I'm not doing anything wrong..." Yeah... I get that allot. Problem is the U.S. has more laws on the books than anyone can count. You're doing something illegal just about every day and probably don't even know it. Should someone with a grudge or political agenda decide they don't like you, there is absolutely nothing stopping them from pulling out every obscure reg/law they can to be nasty. Given that internet surveillance is increasingly automated, it doesn't take much to end up on various government lists.

Why would any sane person entrust their files to faceless, non-accountable entities? Why would they entrust their files to (of all people) Microsoft?

Do people have a death-wish?

Buy a disk drive for heaven's sake!

I agree with Bilbo in some degree. Why would you want to trust faceless corporations with your data? I do not however believe that Microsoft is any worse than Google.

Hard drives aren't nearly as expensive as they used to be and there are countless "free" or inexpensive programs out there for backup in case you don't like the built in backup program which comes with your OS.

If you like the idea of accessing your data no matter where you are, setup a web server on your high-speed connection. Again, there are many programs available for this and it will not cost you a dime.

Of course, the services that Google and Microsoft are touting are not necessarily for those of us who can setup our server. They are for my dad and mom and all the others who have a limited knowledge of technology.

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