On the heels of improved iCloud integration in Mountain Lion, Microsoft made things a little more official today for its upcoming updated SkyDrive cloud service for Windows 8 and possibly OS X. The new service will include improved file management and synchronization, secure two-factor authentication for remote access to files not yet uploaded to Skydrive, and support for file uploads of 2GB. What makes things interesting are rumors of paid storage options and a Mac client originating from Gemind.com.br who posted (via ArsTechnica) screenshots from Windows Live of SkyDrive advertising clients for “PC or Mac”…
As for storage, the screenshots show options to add an extra 20 GB, 50 GB, or 100 GB to the default 25 GB for $10, $25, or $50 yearly. That’s compared to the 10 GB, 20 GB, or 50 GB of additional iCloud storage for $20, $40, or $100/year. Of course, purchased music, apps, books, and TV shows from iTunes, as well as images in Photo Stream, do not count toward iCloud’s free 5GB. A Mac client for the new SkyDrive that is rolling out in the next few months will not be a huge stretch, because Microsoft already released an iPhone client for the service in December.
