Dropbox does what it does exceptionally well, and it is relentless in its keep-it-simple focus. New additions to the feature set make it much easier to view and share photo galleries on line. I've expressed concerns over Dropbox security before, but there's no question about their commitment to ease of use. If you don't mind the pressure to convert all your friends into Dropbox users and you're willing to upload lots of photos, you can get up to 16 GB of additional useful online storage. #Promotion price @ http://www.freepromonow.com SkyDrive (Microsoft)Default storage: 7 GB (25 GB free as a "loyalty reward" for current users) Additional storage: Extra storage available in 20/50/100 GB increments, at $10/$25/$50 per year, respectively Online document editing: Yes, with Office Web Apps Private/public sharing: Yes Photo features: Yes Native clients: Windows, iOS, Windows Phone, Mac; Android apps via third parties It used to be Windows Live SkyDrive. Now it's just SkyDrive. SkyDrive has been radically redesigned in the same way Windows 8 has been reimagined. Your online storage maps to a single folder on your PC, Mac, or mobile device. Whatever you put in there can be accessed online via any browser and optionally synced to other PCs using a Windows utility that Microsoft finally released last week. A unique SkyDrive feature allows you to remotely connect to a PC where you've installed the SkyDrive PC client and "fetch" files that aren't in the SkyDrive folder. By Microsoft's standards, SkyDrive has an extremely clean interface. If you're used to the minimalist Dropbox UI, though, you might be overwhelmed, at least initially. Office Web Apps are an especially good match for the new sync utility, and SkyDrive's photo gallery features are exceptional as well. SkyDrive's fatal flaw until now has been a disconnect from Windows itself. The fact that it finally syncs with Windows (and other platforms) makes it practically a brand-new service and worth a strong look. Default storage: 5 GB Additional storage: Extra storage available in tiers from 25 GB ($30/year) and 100 GB ($60/year) all the way up to 16 TB ($9,600 per year) Online document editing: Yes, with Google Docs Private/public sharing: Yes Photo features: No (photo sharing is through Picasa and Google+) Native clients: Windows, Mac, Android Google Drive is brand new. So new, in fact, that Google is still restricting access to it. You have to click a request to get your Google Drive, and—for now—you have to wait a day or more before you can actually sign in. You don't have to look very hard to see that Google Drive is Google Docs, repackaged. Collections are replaced by folders, and there's a new My Drive link that lets you browse the contents of files. But otherwise everything looks the same. With the new Windows app installed, you can sync your files with Windows Explorer. But that's about it. In fact, the Drive part of Google Drive is as bare-bones as it gets. It's ideal for backup, but it has no photo capabilities and only rudimentary sharing outside of Google Docs. And, naturally, it doesn't allow Facebook connections, as both Dropbox and SkyDrive do. If you're already a devoted Google Docs fan, Google Drive is a convenient way to add backup and sync features to a service you already use. But if you've resisted the urge to go Google headfirst, you'll do better elsewhere. There are, of course, other online storage options besides these three. In a follow-up post, I'll examine Box, Office 365, and other business-class services. | 
