A couple weeks ago I gave some reasons why Hotmail is worth another look. Piggybacking off that post, here is another way Microsoft is listening to what people want.

Skydrive basics

For starters, you get 25GB of web-based storage. This is a very good size for the average user. You have a little extra space so you do not need to worry as much about how many pictures you are uploading.

Skydrive is linked to your Hotmail/Live login. This means when you want to share a picture, file or link, you send it right from the email account you are already using.

Because it is online, you can access things from anything with an internet connection, including mobile devices.

If you think that 25GB is too much for you, here are 5 ways to help you fully utilize your Skydrive account.

1. Backing up of files

While Skydrive is web based, you can easily access it on your Windows desktop with Gladinet. Having a 25GB of online storage for backing up of files is definitely much better than a 2GB Dropbox account.

On thing though, for uploading of any file, you will need to make sure the size of the file is at most 50MB.

Alternatively, you also can sync up to 5GB using Live Mesh.

2. Docs backup and edit docs online

If you are using Microsoft Office 2010, you can easily upload/sync your documents to Skydrive. No addons required. The best thing is, Skydrive is also integrated with Microsoft Web Office, so you can access and edit your documents anywhere with a computer and Internet access.

3. Picture storage

If you are a Picasa user, you know 1GB is not a lot of storage for all of your precious moments. Having 25GB would be a whole lot better wouldn’t it? Loading all of your images on your Skydrive gives you a lot of room and the option to share your pictures with friends. Make sure the permissions allow others to see your albums.

Uploading images is super easy. Simply drag and drop into the upload window.

Once you have all of your images uploades and into folders, you can share them several ways.

4. Links to your favorite sites

Skydrive has other social aspects too. You can store and share links to your favorite sites. You can create a link with description easily accessable and ready to share from anywhere.

At first this may seem like a waste of time since there are other methods to sync and share sites with people. However, if you start a folder for each grouping of favorites, you can share the link to the entire folder with a friend or client. This way, you won’t need to keep sending them emails with links to add to their bookmarks.

5. Accessing Your Photo Gallery From Windows Live Writer

If you use other Live services such as Windows Live Writer, you have access to your photo albums. This means if you have a blog and have an album full of pictures from your latest trip or conference, you can add the album directly to the post you are writing with Live Writer.

Conclusion

These are a few basic uses for the extra space you have to use compared to the 2GB Dropbox and others offer. Skydrive is a really good option for those users who fully embrace the Live services because of the way Skydrive is a common storage and accessable from most of them.

What will you use the extra 23gb for?

Image credit: viagallery.com

To solve this dilemma, a company called Gladinet came up with a way to back up and sync your Google Docs. If you want to compare it to other services, think of it like Dropbox or Mozy for your Google Docs.

Set up

Setting up Gladinet is pretty easy. Go to http://www.gladinet.com/p/download_starter_direct.htm and download the installer for your Windows computer. You can choose between 32 and 64 bit.

Gladinet is compatible with XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 2003.

1. When you have the setup file downloaded, double click on it and the follow the steps.

2. Once the basic install is done, you have a few more steps. The first is to register with Gladinet. By registering, you get free tech support and updates.

3. Next comes a little configuring. All you will need to do for this part is select what you would like to back up. In this case, we are going to use standard Google Docs. As you can see, there are many other options to choose from. If you use any of the other services now or plan to in the future, you can always add them in later.

4. Once you you have selected the web service and clicked next, you are brought to a screen with some settings. If you would like to change the proxy settings, drive label letter (default is Z) or the name of the drive, do that now. Simply click [edit] or [change] next to the item you want to modify. Click Finish.

5. You will see something like this for the next page. Click on the top icon that says [Click to mount].

6. You should be whisked away to a log in screen. Put in your Google account email and password here. Click next.

7. During the sign in authentication process, a pop up will ask for the okay to download a Google Docs plug-in; Click ok and continue the setup.

8. When it is finished setting up, you will be presented with the option to back up other folders on your computer. If you want to go forward with this, do so now. If not, you can always go back to it later.

Congratulations, you have just set everything up and now you have a virtual back up of all of your Google Docs.

How to Access

Accessing your documents can be done in a few ways. If you installed a desktop or Start menu shortcut, you can click there to open a window. If you did not choose to install these shortcuts, you can access the drive in {My Computer] under the [Network Drives].

Another way to access the folder containing your virtual docs is to click on the icon in the task bar (assuming Gladinet is running).

Virtual Drive

The window you see when you click on the virtual drive icon looks similar to the one from earlier. However, this time you can click on the [Google Docs] folder.

When you do, you will see all of your folders and docs here. If you have an app like Word you will be able to view and edit the docs just like they were on your computer.

Backing Up

Making a back up is super easy. When you sign into your Google Docs account, you will notice a couple of new folders. These are your back up folders. To keep your documents backed up, drag them into the [Backup From] folder

To sync the virtual drive and Google Docs, right click on the icon in the task bar. Select [Backup My Files Online] then [Create Google Docs Backup Task]. Any files you have dragged into your back up folder in your Google Docs page will be backed up automatically.

Uploading

By dragging and dropping a document into the window, you will automatically upload it to your Google Docs account. What you will see is a FTP style window showing the progress of the upload.

To see if it worked, log into your Google Docs account and see the newest edition.

Overall this is a pretty great way to add an extra measure of security and convenience for those of us who use cloud based office suites and document storage.

How do you backup your cloud based documents?

While there are plenty of cloud OS out there that you can sign up and use for free, there might be instances where you want to have your own dedicated cloud OS. First of all, signing up a free account with third-party cloud OS often means that you have limited file storage space and all your data are stored in other people’s server. Next, the connection speed is dependent on the number of active users at any time. The more popular the site is, the slower it will get when you are using it.

If what you want is your own dedicated Web OS that you can use to manage your online stuff, and also to provide an environment to collaborate with your colleagues/partners, then eyeOS is the software for you.

EyeOS is a free and open source cloud OS software that you can install on your own Web server.

One thing that I like about eyeOS is its small file size and ease of installation. The whole package is only 2.5MB in size, and the installation required almost zero configuration (well, there are still several steps involved) and anyone who know how to use a FTP program can get it up and running in no time.

Installing eyeOS

1) Download eyeOS.

2) Extract the zipped file. You should see a eyeOS folder with all the files inside.

3) Open your FTP program. If you want to install eyeOS on a top-level domain (for example, http://your-site.com) upload all the files and folders within the eyeOS folder to your Web server (do not upload the eyeOS folder, but just the files and folders within). If instead, you want your cloud OS to reside at a sub-level domain (such as http://your-site.com/eyeos), then upload the whole eyeOS folder.

4) On your browser, go to http://your-site.com/installer (or http://your-site.com/eyeOS/installer if you have uploaded the whole folder instead). You should see a screen that prompts you to enter your root password and the hostname.

5) In the next screen, you will be able to login to your cloud OS. (Didn’t I say it is easy?)

The first time you log in, you will see a nice and clean desktop with all its items nicely arranged in the four side of the screen. n the left is where all the shortcut icons are and the right is the application widget. The top of the screen lies a dock and the bottom is the eyeOS system bar where you can access the system administration and log out from the session.

Office suite

By default, there is a simple WYSIWYG text editor, spreadsheet and a presentation viewer (no presentation creation yet) that you can use. For those who are in need of a complete Office suite, you can follow the instructions here to get Open Office installed.

PIM

There is a Calendar, Contact, and an internal messaging module in the default setting of eyeOS. You can easily install the eyeMail via the Package Manager to access to your POP3 account. The Contact module allows you to import/export all your contacts in .vcf format.

Games

With so many websites that provide free flash games for you to play during your free time, I wonder how many people will want to spend their time on simple games within eyeOS. Nevertheless, Chess and Tetravex are two good additions to the software.

FTP

This is useful if you need a file from a remote site. You can now easily access it via the FTP module.

Package Manager

This is the applications installer for eyeOS. It allows you to install plenty of useful modules for you cloud OS. I am pretty impressed with the number of applications it supported and the speed at which it downloads and installs the application. The package manager can be accessed at the top of the Application menu.

Lastly,

If you are comparing eyeOS to the real physical desktop on your computer, it is definitely not up to mark, but if you are just looking at a dedicated platform that allows you to access to the various applications and your own files at anytime, anywhere and also a place for collaboration, then eyeOS has done a great job.

EyeOS is extensible via the installer modules in the System Preferences, and if you install the eyeSync, you can also sync a local folder on your computer with your dedicated eyeOS, which is a great way to backup your files (just like Dropbox).

For its ease of use, great functionality and at a price of FREE, this is definitely a software that I would strongly recommend.

Have you tried it? If not, better grab it now.

Just like your desktop in your PC, there will be a standard suite of software such as the email client, office suite, IM, contact available in your online desktop. The idea behind it is to promote mobility and enable users to share and access their files easily. If you are always on the move and hate the feeling of lugging your laptop around, then syncing your local desktop with an online desktop might be a good idea for you.

DesktopTwo

DesktopTwo is one of the earliest player in the online desktop arena. It is also one of the more popular one around. I also find it to be the most stable among the rest.

Some of its features include:

• Web IM
• MP3 player
• Adress book
• Open Office and PDF reader
• RSS reader
• Access to desktoptwo forum where you can post for instant help
• Live chat
• Mail client
• Your own blog account hosted with desktoptwo and a blog publisher that support tags, full or partial RSS feeds, blog templates and the ability to edit the CSS.
• WYSIWYG web page editor

The free account comes with a 1GB storage. You can also upgrade your storage to 5GB for $25, 10GB for $45, 25GB for $95 and 50GB for $185.

myGOYA

myGOYA is an online desktop with nice interface. The navigation is easy as there is only a few buttons for you to choose.

Some of its features include:

• File manager
• mail client
• Calendar
• Flickr search
• Zoho Office
• contact
• chat
• bookmark manager
• online album, media manager
• some useful widget such as calculator, kitchen clock, web search bar etc

At this moment, myGOYA is still in testing stage and many of the things are not completed yet. Some of the applications (such as integration with zoho office) are still not ready. Nevertheless, it shows great promise and have the potential to be another great online desktop.

Online Operating system

Online Operating Systme (OOS) gives you a very simple interface, too simple that makes you feel like you are in the Windows 95 era.

While its interface is simple, it does has an advantage: speed. OOS takes very little resource on your browser and PC. In fact, among all the other online desktop, OOS loads and runs the fastest. You can find basic desktop features such as email client, contact, file manger, except for the lack of an office suite. The closest alternative is a writer that is akin to Windows Wordpad. Some other features include Youtube downloader and mini games. It also has a web browser included, which makes me wonder is that really necessary. (Is there really a need for a web browser in an online desktop when you are already surfing in a browser that could probably run and load faster than the one inside the online desktop?)

AJAX windows

AJAXWindows did one thing different from the rest. Instead of providing online storage, it uses your Gmail account to store all your documents, files, music. Though I am not really confident of its security, I do like the idea of using Gmail as storage. This is better than being bounded to the 1GB restriction set by most online desktops. You could just upload files without worry about storage space.

Inside the desktop, there are links to all the various Google sites (Google docs, calendar, images, news etc), ZOHO office and meebo. Clicking on the links will open the sites in a new browser window (or tab). I would prefer it to integrate these features into the desktop rather than opening a link to the site, which somehow defy the purpose of using an online desktop.

In general – nice AJAX interface, good storage concept, useful links, but of little functionality.