Microsoft Windows Live Web-based storage gets limited beta nod

Aiming to catch up to rivals that provide users with free online storage to handle the growing amounts of videos, photo albums, documents and music files quickly filling up storage space on their PCs, Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday released its Windows Live Folders service as part of a tightly controlled software beta test phase.

Windows Live Folders, which features up to 500MB of free Web-based storage in its current iteration, will initially be offered to about 5,000 preselected U.S. users as part of a "managed" beta test release rolled out this week, according to Microsoft officials.

The new storage service is designed to enable users to back up data and share and access their files online with ease. However, there is a caveat: Anyone who receives an invitation to access files from a shared folder must first register for -- or already have -- a Windows Live ID for proper authentication.

Users hoping to kick the tires of Windows Live Folders as part of a larger beta release shouldn't expect to get their hands on the software for at least a few more months.

Despite the company's attempts to stand toe-to-toe with the likes of Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and AOL LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., in the online file access storage arena, Windows Live Folders' capacity limits puts Microsoft behind similar offerings from competitors.

For example, AOL's Xdrive offering provides 5GB of free Web-based storage. Google's Gmail service features nearly 3GB of free storage for its e-mail subscribers, while Yahoo recently rolled out unlimited storage capacity for its e-mail platform.
Source :http://www.computerworld.com