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.

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.

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