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Microsoft to Offer Free Online Storage

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the the-first-500-megs-are-free dept.

athloi writes "Microsoft Corp. is giving computer users up to 500 megabytes of online storage for their documents, music, photos and video. They're offering it to a select 5,000 test users for now, but will make it widely available later this summer. This move is the latest in a series by the previous large corporation we all loved to hate to compete with the newest large corporation we might hate and fear, Google."

5 of 290 comments (clear)

  1. You've Got To Be Kidding... by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Would that all my "stolen" music and "pirated" movies would fit in 500MB.

    Frankly, MS, that's smaller than my current USB drive, and that drive isn't actually very large by today's standards. And it has faster access, too.

    It's easier, when I want to store something, to GMail it to myself. They have over 5X this amount of storage -- and aren't Microsoft!

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  2. Hate what? by jshriverWVU · · Score: 4, Insightful
    This move is the latest in a series by the previous large corporation we all loved to hate to compete with the newest large corporation we might hate and fear, Google.

    Wait what? We hate who... I can guess we all dislike MS, but I dont think fear or hate should be in the same sentence with Google.

  3. Admiral Akbar: "It's a Trap!" by CheeseburgerBrown · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is an obvious honeypot ploy to draw unsuspecting, God-fearing users everywhere to upload their copywrong material and thereby indict themselves for extraordinary rendering by a nefarious acronym.

    Run away! Run away!

    --
    These stories are free but worth money.
  4. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  5. 500 megs. by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Now, call me ungrateful, but 500 megs? Let's see what such a service could be good for.

    1. Offsite backup.
    2. Making your data "mobile", by making it available wherever you are.
    3. Transfering your data to another machine (local or remote).
    4. Distributing data

    Should anyone have other ideas, please share them.

    Well, for 1, I'd choose pretty much anything BUT Microsoft. They aren't really the company that comes to my mind when it comes to data security.

    For 2, there are USB sticks. Now, you may argue that they cost money while this service is free, but c'mon, 500 megs? I just gave away a 1GB USB stick 'cause it was too small for my needs, and sticks in the 500m region don't cost a fortune.

    For transfer, locally I'd suggest USB as well and for remote, connect the machines directly.

    And for distribution, especially of ... erh ... content whose copyright I cannot claim legally, I'd again choose anything BUT Microsoft.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.