Microsoft has finally got around to confirming a SkyDrive app for the upcoming Windows 8 OS and there’s a fresh post on the MSDN blog outlining its capabilities. Apart from this, users can also look forward to SkyDrive files incorporated into Windows Explorer on the desktop and the facility to pull up remote folders through the cloud service.
The application is basically designed around two things – a touch-friendly version of the service and the option to use it from just about any Metro style app through the file picker and the Share Charm in Windows 8. Developers may not need to put in any extra effort if their creations already allow for opening and saving content, since this means automatic SkyDrive support.
“Inside Microsoft, we’ve all been using Windows 8 on multiple PCs for some time now. We clean install Windows 8 on a new PC and sign in, and all of our settings, browser history, and customizations just show up. In addition, one of the most important steps we take to make a new PC ‘ours’ is to copy over our personal files – like documents and photos. 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,” states the blog post.
The SkyDrive app for desktop which is built to be compatible with Windows 7 and Vista, should permit simple drag-and-drop uploads and downloads for the cloud service. It will even bundle in data access from various devices, Windows Explorer for managing files and offline access. Uploading folders of up to 2GB will also be made possible through Explorer. Lastly, remote PC access to content is crafted to be delivered only after a two-step authentication process is completed.
Fans should be able to get a thorough look at the SkyDrive app for Windows 8 once Microsoft launches the OS. Now if only they’d give us a definite release date on that one.