Microsoft adds 200GB storage option to SkyDrive
The company unveiled the 200GB plan, which costs $100 a year, on the same day it launched its Surface 2 tablets.
Microsoft SkyDrive users can now grab an even bigger chunk of the cloud to house their documents, photos, and other files.
Launched on Monday along with Microsoft's new Surface 2 tablets, the new SkyDrive plan offers 200GB of space for $100 a year. That amount of online storage is enough to hold a photo taken of a person every hour from the moment of birth to college graduation, at least according to Microsoft.
SkyDrive users who want to sign up for the 200GB plan will now see it listed as an option on their SkyDrive Web page. Just select the link to "Manage storage" and then click on the button to "Buy more storage." Consumers who purchase one of Microsoft's new Surface 2 tablets will get the 200GB of storage free for two years.
For those with less hefty storage requirements, Microsoft still offers less pricey plans. SkyDrive users can currently get 7GB of space for free. Paying $20 a year kicks in an additional 20GB. Paying $25 each year adds 50GB. And coughing up $50 annually brings in another 100GB.
SkyDrive is available both for Windows and the Mac. For Windows users, the SkyDrive client comes as a desktop application as well as a Windows 8 app. Microsoft has also integrated SkyDrive more immersively into Windows 8 and especially Windows 8.1 so that users can save their files directly to their online storage space.
Microsoft still has to come up with a new name for SkyDrive. In July, the company revealed that it will rebrand SkyDrive following a trademark skirmish with British Sky Broadcasting Group over the "Sky" name.