MS hints at SkyDrive tweaks

Microsoft's SkyDrive is an adequate cloud storage service (and one that boasts 17 million customers to boot), but it's not something that the folks at Redmond can afford to leave in its current state, Tech Crunch reports.

With Apple playing up its iCloud integration in its forthcoming OS X Mountain Lion update, SkyDrive programme managers Mike Torres and Omar Shahine took to the Building Windows 8 blog to outline what's next for their own cloud service.

At first glance, the changes seem incremental. SkyDrive will look prettier than it has before thanks to a handsome new Metro-styled app for Windows 8. It's exactly what you would expect - users can swipe through their remotely stored files, while third-party applications are able to access those SkyDrive files without any extra work needed from their developers. Expect to see this launch right alongside the Windows 8 consumer preview next week.

Microsoft has already confirmed a Metro-style SkyDrive app and a desktop app for Internet Explorer slated for Windows 8, CNET reveals.

The new apps will integrate SkyDrive, letting users access their cloud-based content from any PC. But Microsoft did not say if or how the new integration would work with prior versions of Windows or Mac.

Asked about the rumoured new features, a Microsoft spokeswoman said the company had nothing more to share at this time. But she did point to a Microsoft blog from last November as an idea of what the SkyDrive team envisions for the cloud service.

One major concern is that corporate data could more easily find its way into personal clouds as uploading becomes almost automatic on Microsoft and Apple platforms, InformationWeek notes.

"I'd like to suggest to all of you in enterprise IT organisations that changing to adapt to a world of what I call DTTU (that's 'direct to the user') has become absolutely unavoidable," noted Gartner VP Brian Prentice in a blog post.

Prentice was referring specifically to iCloud, but Microsoft's plans for SkyDrive on Windows 8 will also bear watching by security managers.