Microsoft confirms SkyDrive app for Windows 8
Integration to include Metro-style app and the ability to fetch files from across the Web, Microsoft reveals.
SkyDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage product, will be getting a Metro-style app with Windows 8, the company announced today.
Also coming for SkyDrive will be a desktop app for Internet Explorer and the ability to fetch remote files from the Web, the software giant revealed on its Building Window 8 blog.
Microsoft intends for SkyDrive to "evolve with Windows 8 from a website today into a true device cloud for Windows customers," Mike Torres and Omar Shahine, group program managers for SkyDrive, wrote in the post. "With Windows 8, we wanted to make sure that your files would be instantly available and up-to-date as you move between PCs--without configuring add-ons or using a USB drive."
"This will bring a file cloud to every Metro style app, allowing you to open files in your SkyDrive and save them right back to your SkyDrive just like you would on your local hard drive," the pair writes.
The desktop app will allow "easy drag-and-drop upload and download support for SkyDrive, anywhere access to your data, offline access, and the power of Windows Explorer to manage your files and folders."
SkyDrive will also sport a "Fetch" feature that Microsoft says is much more than just synching cloud files with a PC. SkyDrive will "turn your entire PC into your own private cloud, and use its terabytes of local storage to easily access, browse, and stream your files from anywhere by simply fetching them from SkyDrive.com."
The announcement comes on the heels of a preview Apple gave of Mountain Lion that revealed that the next iteration of the operating system will include deep integration with iCloud, Apple's personal cloud storage product.