Like most dad and mom, the quantity of digital pictures I took exploded when my daughter was born. By the point her umbilical wire was lower I’d already had emails from Google – to not congratulate me (thanks Google), however to let me know my Google Drive was filling up quick.
As my daughter turned from a gray and slimy new child into an cute child, and began really doing attention-grabbing and cute issues, somewhat than simply being a screaming potato, my Google Drive capability got here beneath even better pressure due to the deluge of pictures I used to be taking. Google’s emails grew to become extra alarming as I reached my storage quota.
As a dirty Android person, Google Photos and Google Drive had been my default companies for cloud storage, and I hadn’t felt the necessity to look elsewhere. As an proprietor of an authentic Google Pixel smartphone, it really made sense to stay with Google Photos, as the corporate was as soon as providing limitless storage to your snaps. Sadly, not solely had Google since stopped offering that incentive to get people to buy its smartphones, however by the point my daughter was born, I’d switched to a Samsung smartphone.
Having the pictures I tackle my smartphone get mechanically backed up in full high quality was extraordinarily essential for me – these had been pictures I’d be devastated to lose if my telephone bought misplaced or damaged. So, with the risk that my pictures would now not get backed up, I wanted to behave quick.
The obvious step was to extend my Google Drive storage quantity. Nonetheless, I used to be already paying $2.99 monthly for 200GB. The one bigger choice was for 2TB for $9.99 – an enormous improve within the month-to-month value – and even with my trigger-happy snapping, I didn’t suppose I would want that a lot. As a brand new dad or mum, I wanted to observe my outgoings. So, I made a decision to buy about – and it didn’t finish properly for Google.
Placing apart my prejudices
When searching for a alternative cloud storage solution for my quickly rising picture assortment, there was one service I had already made up my thoughts about not utilizing – OneDrive.
This was Microsoft’s cloud storage answer, and in basic Microsoft fashion, it had been pushing it onerous in Windows 11. To an nearly obnoxious extent. Each time I examined out a brand new laptop computer or PC – which resulting from my job, may be very typically – I used to be being begged to activate OneDrive to sync all my gadgets.
I wasn’t a fan, and more often than not, I had been pleased with Google Drive, so I didn’t need one other cloud storage service – and I resented continually being requested about it.
However as I used to be now not content material with Google Drive, I believed I’d look into what Microsoft was providing. Whereas, like Google, Microsoft presents a free tier for OneDrive, it’s simply 5GB, which isn’t sufficient for my pictures.
Nonetheless, the Microsoft 365 Private tier presents 1TB of storage – much more than the 200GB I used to be utilizing, however with out being greater than I would want – for $6.99 a month (and it’s cheaper should you pay yearly). Together with 1TB of storage, it additionally consists of licenses for Microsoft Phrase, Excel and PowerPoint. This was one other massive promoting level for me, as even within the age of Google Docs, I’m a type of weirdos who nonetheless prefers to make use of workplace apps, particularly phrase processors, which were put in regionally.
For longer-form articles, they provide me a way of safety and management I simply don’t really feel with Google Docs, so I used to be pondering of investing in Microsoft Workplace anyway (or utilizing the free different LibreOffice). Having bodily information on my PC additionally meant I might again them as much as a NAS system, whereas additionally utilizing cloud storage (paranoid? Maybe).
One factor I do like about Google Docs is that it’s continually saving within the background, so in case your PC crashes, you’re unlikely to lose a lot work, and you may log in and entry the paperwork from different machines as properly.
Even when your PC utterly breaks, your paperwork will likely be accessible by way of the web from one other machine. So, I used to be fairly completely happy to see that Phrase (and the opposite Workplace purposes) provide related performance. For those who save a doc to your OneDrive folder in your PC, you’ll be able to choose it to auto save continually (somewhat than saving each 5 minutes or so), after which entry these information by way of the online. It additionally has model historical past as properly, and you may edit paperwork inside an online browser, so that you don’t even want Phrase or Excel put in.
That made my thoughts up – and I subscribed. Up to now I’ve been very pleased with OneDrive, and really feel a bit unhealthy about ignoring it for thus lengthy. There’s an Android app accessible that mechanically uploads the pictures I tackle my telephone, and likewise helps me save house on my handset by safely deleting uploaded photos as soon as they’re backed up. It’s not as seamless as utilizing the Photographs app and Google Drive on an Android telephone, but it surely’s additionally not the nightmare I had feared.
Up to now, the 1TB of cupboard space has been greater than sufficient for all my pictures. I have never felt the necessity (nor been bugged) to improve my storage. In actual fact, I now use OneDrive for storing music initiatives I’ve created in Ableton Reside. These could be fairly giant information, however I nonetheless have loads of house, and it means I can open up these initiatives on my desktop PC – in addition to my MacBook. Yep, there’s a OneDrive app for Macs, and it integrates fairly properly into macOS.
After all, Windows 11 integration is the place it shines – even when I nonetheless get irritated by Windows 11 attempting to make every part default to my OneDrive storage, and having to scroll previous all my OneDrive folders in File Explorer simply to get to my native storage (, generally Microsoft I’ll wish to go into my Downloads folder).
It’s additionally helped when reviewing new Home windows 11 gadgets. As a substitute of getting offended in regards to the suggestion of signing up for OneDrive, now once I arrange a brand new Home windows 11 laptop computer or PC, I take advantage of my Microsoft Account and allow OneDrive – and all of my information and folders seem with out me having to put in any third social gathering purposes.
So I’m completely happy to confess that I used to be fallacious about OneDrive – it’s a genuinely helpful and good worth service. Maybe if Microsoft hadn’t been so pushy about me attempting it, I’d have given it a go sooner.
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