October 12, 2007

Windows Live SkyDrive Doubles Storage to 1GB, Still Can’t Keep Up With Gmail

Erick Schonfeld

94 comments »

picture-227.pngpicture-231.pngMicrosoft doubled the online storage consumers can get for free in Windows Live SkyDrive. It’s hard to get excited about that when Gmail is already giving me 2.9 GB of storage, with more on the way—4GB by the end of the month, and 6GB by early January, according to one estimate.

Keep that free storage coming. We’ll use it.

Update: Since there’s been such a curiously strong reaction to this post (some of which I suspect is concerted), I’ll just clarify a few things. First of all, the original post—barely more than a paragraph long—is not meant as an in-depth review or article. It is an off-hand observation. Nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes blog posts are like that.

The observation is that on the same day that SkyDrive doubled its storage to 1GB, Google also announced that the 2.9 GB of storage available on Gmail is going to continue to climb significantly (two days after the original post, for instance, it’s at 3.1 GB). Yes, I understand that Web-based file storage and Web-based e-mail are two different things. But as a consumer, that 2.9 GB (now 3.1 GB) of storage on Gmail is my point of reference, and it makes me wonder why SkyDrive is being so stingy. If I were a Hotmail (er, Windows Live Mail) user, I might have noted that SkyDrive cannot even keep up with its own sister e-mail service, which offers 5GB of storage.

Obviously, these are not apples-to-apples comparisons. There may be good reasons why an online file storage system cannot offer as much storage as an online e-mail system (other than the fact that it may be an orphan project starved of resources inside a large corporation). So it would be more fair to compare SkyDrive to other online file-storage services, like Xdrive (which offers 5GB of free storage) or MediaMax (which offers a whopping 25GB of free storage). Any way you slice it, SkyDrive still comes up lacking.

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Comments

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  1. scott

    Yahoo Mail is unlimited!

  2. Permeate

    But Gmail is still way better than Yahoo Mail! Yahoo mail is too heavy - you can almost feel the clunky UI spinning it’s wheel behind the scenes.

  3. Zeus

    Dude!!! What are you comparing skydrive with, Are you Nuts? windows Live Mail provides 5 GB.

    Its very unfortunate that Techcrunch is going in drains..

  4. Don

    Your comparison makes no sense. If you want to bash Microsoft and carry Google around on a golden platter at least come up with an apple to apple comparison. Google has enough products that are better than or equal to Microsoft’s that you should not need to write deceiving articles like this to get your opinion across.

    You should be comparing Windows Live SkyDrive to Google Drive. At this point Windows Live SkyDrive is ahead of Google Drive because anyone can sign up for SkyDrive while Google Drive is currently only offering a limited number invitations.

  5. dualsub2006

    Yeah Zeus, 5 GB. With a 10 MB file size limit for emails I think Gmail still wins for me. I use the “storage” for file backups all the time and the 10 MB thing would be a problem for me.

    And to Scott, you apparently didn’t read the Wall Street Journal article where they interviewed one of the Yahoo Mail guys. In it he said that unlimited did not mean UNLIMITED, it means that it is unlimited until they determine that you are abusing the unlimited package. You can Google (or Yahoo if you prefer) the article or search for it at the WSJ website. Gmail still wins. At least they tell me how close I am getting to the limit. Yahoo could cut you off without notice.

  6. Darren Stuart

    Its hard to get excited when you have much better consumer storage solutions out there at pretty low rates. I use Amazon s3 and the firefox s3 organizer and thats much better than the MS offering (ok I have to pay but for a gig its nothing and at least I won’t hit a celling).

    This product is disappointing, I am a developer that uses MS tools all day long and this just does not live up to what they could deliver. I am waiting for a silverlight interface that can do multi file uploads and a decent webservice also.

  7. Tim

    SkyDrive should have been compared to something like Box.net which has offered 1 GB free for ages and is much better in my opinion

  8. Lewis Salem

    Many of us are still hungover from Hotmail.

  9. Jay

    “Ipod sells 200 millionth unit, still can’t keep up with the population of China”

    You hate microsoft without reason, and you love google without reason. We get it. Stop insulting yourself with articles that make you appear retarded.

  10. Don

    I was going to right a short rant about the current quality of articles on TechCrunch but I think this comment by Zeus:

    “Its very unfortunate that Techcrunch is going in drains..”

    and this one by Jay:

    “You hate microsoft without reason, and you love google without reason. We get it. Stop insulting yourself with articles that make you appear retarded.”

    sum up my feelings exactly. TechCrunch, stop trying to be the next Slashdot. If I want to read articles that are biased, deceiving, and spread lies about Microsoft I will just go to their website.

  11. Biff

    When are google going to open up GMAIL for the UK?

  12. chimaera

    My question is - when is Gmail going to come out of Beta?!

  13. Aurelius Tjin

    Gmail really had some ample space and you never have problems with mails not getting sent, and its a plus, that you’ll never gonna have the need to delete an email just to save space.

  14. scott

    @dualsub2006 pls post link to WSJ article, can’t find, thx.

  15. DAVE

    I think SkyDrive has an advantage because you can make a folder public, so if I need to share a file with someone I can, without giving them access to my email.

  16. Liam

    How can Windows Live SkyDrive be compared to Gmail?

    Gmail is email, SkyDrive is online storage. Sure there is unofficial programs to use Gmail as storage but it is not the same.

    @biff isnt Gmail open up in UK already? I am sure you can just go to their websites and sign up for an account. May be wrong…

  17. Sidharth

    if you are not going to stop this kind of comparison then i guess people will not take interest in reading the topics anymore…

  18. Liam

    I also agree… TechCrunch hates Microsoft not sure why, they seem to love Google… they are far too bias. Windows Live SkyDrive is a great service, once it is finished I am sure it will be fantastic. If you want to compare Microsoft’s Windows Live SkyDrive why don’t you compare it to Google’s G-Drive… oh wait…

  19. xxdesmus

    Gee, lets see here…

    Gmail - mail application.
    SkyDrive - not a mail application.

    Why the hell are you comparing these two things again?

    Oh right, because you don’t want to compare Gmail’s 2.9GB to Windows Live Mail’s 10GB …right, that’s the reason.

    Did Microsoft steal your girlfriend or something? You clearly can’t write an article that actually makes a fair comparison. This is completely ignoring Yahoo’s unlimited storage…

  20. Tom

    So dumb I dugg it…

  21. techcrunchie

    Just the other day someone had commented that they prefer Techcrunch over the ridiculously-biased Gigaom Uh-oh!

    What the fuck Erick?! Are you outta your freakin’ mind? The blogosphere and your readers sure expect to come out, comment and clarify. This is ridiculous!!

    An email-service’s storage comparison being made with online storage comparison? How about Gmail giving me only 3GB while my Hard drive has 80GB — uh-oh Gmail still can’t catch up with my hard disk size?! Bullocks!!

    Go lick and suck Google’s .. you know what I mean and spare us such posts, alrighty?

  22. Dileepa

    Will you please correct the article? What are you trying to compare here? And, are you crazy?

  23. tarch

    Articles like this really lead me to look elsewhere for informed information. Techcrunch needs to stop being Google’s little b*tch!!!

  24. Richard

    Glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t understand the comparison that is trying to be made ???!!!

  25. jon

    Come on boys - this is sloppy journalism - we’re comparing apples and oranges …

  26. Steve Ballmer

    Eric, your ignorance is showing again!
    There is no such thing as Google, what there actually is is just a bunch of kids running arround doing whatever they want to do and not cleaning up behind themselves!

    http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com

  27. Nick

    Disappointing, sloppy journalism. Get it together.

  28. xxdesmus

    You guys are spreading this FUD all over the web… Mashable copied your BS, and BetaNews just copied your BS as well. This is pathetic guys, absolutely pathetic.

  29. Giorgio

    It seems that SkyDrive doesn’t accept users from every country (at least not from Italy).

  30. Fake Richard

    Why bother so much, use Yahoo it has unlimited storage.

    http://vidsonly.blogspot.com

  31. Phil G

    So tired of the sloppiness and MS hate. Google has one profitable product — wow.

  32. Tom Stone

    Dumbest-article-ever. Let’s see who can beat Techcrunch’s ‘comparison’…

    “Ford Fusion has better gas mileage than Boeing Dreamliner.”

  33. Mauricio Freitas

    You should compare GMAIL with Mail Live. Mail Live is already offering 5 GB space.

    Skydrive is *storage* not e-mail. You can copy files to your Skydrive, and make them private or shared.

    Completely different stuff - apples and oranges…

  34. Tomek

    Hmmm … Google and 2.9GB - are You refering here to this number on GMail welcome page?? Or do You have other number - because this number on a front page is simple time function:

    http://nhw.pl/wp/2006/10/30/go.....r-of-doom/

  35. Pranjal

    You can always use Gmail drive http://www.viksoe.dk/code/gmail.htm to use a safe and secure online backup solution..

  36. Marco

    @Pranjal

    just that it is not officially supported. When you have bad luck G. will block your account. As far as I remember using the Gmail drive is even against their TOS… thats at least what some people reported.. anyone can confirm?

  37. ashwin

    Yes.Its gr8 to go with gmail when it is going to extend its functionality “Memory Storage”.

  38. Marco

    @Erick

    WLM = 5 GB
    Gmail = less than 3 GB

    WL SkyDrive = 1 GB
    Google = no product available

    Microsoft and Yahoo are getting better… when Microsoft has some real Office application online, I sure will switch and say goodbye to Google because Google offers just the BASICS …

  39. Marco

    @Pranjal

    by the way, do you TRUST this third party company that much that you give away your personal data (user name and password)???? i’ve never seen a source code of this application before…

  40. josh

    so, are we saying we shouldnt compare the two?

  41. Joshua

    Wow, 1GB!!! They still don’t offer POP!

  42. Marco

    @42, Joshua

    1 GB is not email space, it’s space for photos, documents, music, etc.
    5 GB is email space, so 2 GB more than Gmail.

    POP is coming next year, Microsoft says… but who is still POP3ing in 2007?

    :-O

  43. Techy

    No wonder why business 2.0 has to close their doors. Trashy article! You moron….

  44. dualsub2006

    @ Scott

    I’m not doing your research for you. I read the article a month or so ago in the paper version that the nice man leaves in my driveway. It has been talked about here and other places.

    If you want to read the article find it for yourself.

  45. Erick Schonfeld

    It is a valid comparison. Storage space is storage space. The two announcements came out the same day, and Microsoft’s SkyDrive has less storage than Gmail. That seems not very competitive to me.

    There are other, better storage options out there as well, btw. AOL’s X-drive offers 5GB. But they didn’t announce anything today. So that’s not news.

    Don’t be haters. Have a good weekend.

  46. broepke

    The group said it all!!!! Enough is enough!! Geeze - Why not just compare it to the new iPods….

  47. David Mackey

    Ummm…I’ll start using it when they offer 25.

  48. Anand

    I had to reply to this and this my first post on Techcrunch. I have restrained from replying in your previous posts. But you are just wasting our time and degrading the standard of Techcrunch. Comparing skydrive with gmail. Does it make any sense??? And you justify it with a crazy reason . “Storage space is storage space”. Dude then why don’t you write an article comparing GMail to Seagate 1TB harddisk?? Still it is storage space vs storage space comparison. Don’t be a fanboy and accept your mistake.

    To Arington: Either ask your writers to keep aside their fanboy mentality while writing articles or kick them out before its too late.

  49. confusionx

    wow. you’re very consistent idiotic erick! very good comparison, no? compare skydrive which is a storage space with gmail which is an email address… wow. why dont you compare gmail with windows live hotmailk with 5g. why cant you? stupid oaf! where do you get ideas for your articles here in techcrunch? since you started writing here at techcrunch the quality of the articles have gone way down. i was just a lurker before because i just read the articles and i thought most of them were really good and well written. and now it’s my 2nd time to post here and my first time to post a comment in your article because this is a very crappy one.

    now i know why business 2.0 closed. im pretty sure it was YOUR fault. the advertisers saw through your idiotic sensibilities and decided to pull their support. and i dont even know why techcrunch hired you, they were so doing well when you weren’t here.

  50. Erick Schonfeld

    An iPod or hard disk is not the same thing. We’re talking about storage space in the cloud, for those who need it spelled out. And in that case, it does not cost MSFT any more to offer storage for emails than for files. Storage (in the cloud) is storage (in the cloud).

  51. Erick Schonfeld

    I agree that the 5GB on windows live mail is a good point. It shows that the SkyDrive group cannot even keep up with other parts of MSFT.

    And why the personal attacks on a one-paragraph post? Grow up guys.

  52. Jorge

    Here’s the reason for the personal attacks:
    WLM “cloud space” = 1GB (SD) + 5GB (Hotmail) + 1GB (Spaces) = 7GB
    Google “cloud space” = 2.9 GB
    7GB> 2.9GB

    By your own definition, Windows Live kicks the hell out of Google in terms of “cloud space”. Indeed, Google doesn’t even have anything similar to SkyDrives to begin with. Limited Beta products don’t count.

  53. Anand

    I wonder what reason you are going to give for not comparing either gmail or skydrive with the yahoo “cloud”?? Your reasoning is just going down hill. Probably time for a vacation??

  54. D Coiner

    I will have to agree that the comparison is not a the same at all. Also the the rebuttals given are extremely weak and still make no sense what soever. And even if not intended it looks like a dig at MS because you have to stretch the imagination to make the comparisons and it also had to bring up a service that is not terribly new, I believe it has even been reported on here.

  55. tarch

    @Erick

    Your rebuttals are horribly weak. If you don’t understand the difference between email storage and online file storage, you really need to find another line of work. Would you ever compare Box.net with Gmail?? Two completely different types of storage. I think you need to leave it alone and accept the fact that this article should never have been written.

    This furthers my belief that Techcrunch is going downhill. Time to find another source for information. Any recommendations??

  56. Marco

    @all

    One thing Erick is right: No need for personal attacks. That’s kinda stupid.

    Anyway, the comparisons are not very professional. It’s just like you would compare MAIL.com to BOX.net. Doesn’t make sense…

    For Erick storage is all the same. But then Erick needs to compare 7 GB (MS) to 2.9 GB (Google) … why not putting Yahoo into the comparison?

    Unlimited Space vs. 7 GB vs. 2.9 GB… :-o The more comparison… the more Google is losing… :-o

  57. Jamie T

    Schonfeld, you just get worse and worse don’t you?

    Arrington, sack this biased fool before TC goes even further downhill.

  58. techcrunchie

    Comeon Erick, write such insane posts which stink of fanboyism, you are bound to be burnt with personal attacks. Be professional and don’t bring in your fanboyism in your reporting.

    EVEN IF (and that’s a big IF) you were to consider storage space is storage space, given that MS offers 7GB, why could you not go in for a better title? Can’t beat Gmail?! WTF! That’s sensationalism, ridiculous fanboyism and yes it DOES indeed call for personal attacks to get you to respect the Techcrunch readers!

    Why personal attacks over a paragraph? That’s taking it even further. Do you know anything about blogging ethics? Jesus, I just lost ALL respect for you!

    Defending your original post and then defending the personal attacks are so mind-numbingly stupid, that I don’t even care from now as to what you are gonna write! Please continue this way and I hope you get kicked out from Techcrunch rather soon — which for the record is (or rather WAS, without you) the FAIREST blog I regularly visit. Please go join the super AAPL/GOOG *** licker Gigaom and his team if you wanna show your fanboyism!

  59. Tom Stone

    Erick, it’s the way people *use* the storage that makes the difference.

    It’s easy to dump a GB on box.net or iDisk or Skydrive but it’s harder to consume ‘email’ space because emails are microscopic in comparison to a typcial Office document, JPG or MP3. That means Google can more easily predict usage over time for emails compared to file storage.

    I imagine the actual storage system itself is different - email is text, file storage is typically binary. Indexing issues, compressability, disks and disk controllers - storage systems are optimized for the /type/ of data stored on them.

    And, as others have pointed out, your argument that storage=storage means that Google are at the bottom of the pile for free space, not the top. So your article needs reversing based on your own argument.

    storage != storage

    Now your use of the ‘cloud’ is misleading too, you mean the ‘Web’. Skydrive, Gmail etc are all walled gardens and specialised systems, I can’t use my Skydrive space to storage Gmail emails. If you want to talk clouds you need to be talking about general purpose systems like S3.

  60. damn it ! i hate google

    i hate google just bcos so many ppl are biased *so much* abt google for no good reason. damn

  61. Dev

    Google reader needs a author filter.
    Filter out keyword: Erick Schonfeld

  62. Dev

    *an author

    Btw Eric you sound stupid even trying to defend yourself. Just accept it and move on!

  63. Richard

    I’m still waiting for Michael as a director of Omnidrive (online storage company) to explain the difference between online storage and an email service to Erick.

    C’mon Erick take it on the chin, its just not a well written article and it demonstrates both by the original article and follow on comments that you do understand the not so subtle differences in the services offered by gmail and Skydrive.

  64. xxdesmus

    @Erick

    While you have a point (personal attacks are not necessary), you did also fail miserably at this article. You come off as nothing more than a Google fanboy. You didn’t even bother to include Yahoo because it would have made Google look even worse.

    Don’t treat us like morons. We understand that this is all just “storage in the cloud”, but that doesn’t make up for the fact that you’re attempting to compare 2 different classes of products only for the sake of trying to bash Microsoft.

    This is a half-assed article, plain and simple. Michael should really consider looking over the articles his website publishes. This article just looks very embarrassing for TechCrunch.

  65. Richard Tsai

    SkyDrive is better than GMail. Yahoo! Mail sucks. It can’t recognize Chinese characters properly.

  66. techcrunchie

    @comment #s 60, 61, 62: Excellent points all. Erick has fallen to new lows and he doesn’t have the professionalism to come out accept it — only making himself look MORE stupid and MORE unprofessional with ridiculous and dumb explanations and logic.

    Grow up Erick, get professional and THEN write! Until then, you are off my readers’ list.

  67. Atomic1fire

    the only webmail host that I know of that officially offers storage for other files is inbox.com
    of course in comparison to email their spam filter is not that pleasing but they use an approved email system (which means you have to give mail addresses permission first instead of attempting to find emails based on context (such as certain enhancement drugs)
    (of course I could be wrong

  68. George Appiah

    @Erick Schonfeld: What arrogance!

    Let go of your ego and update this article. We’re not fools here.

  69. Mike Torres

    “I agree that the 5GB on windows live mail is a good point. It shows that the SkyDrive group cannot even keep up with other parts of MSFT.”

    You may want to consider the usage and access patterns, bandwidth and monetization considerations, abuse scenarios, geolocation and caching concerns, and two dozen other factors when comparing reading email with storing/sharing files “in the cloud”. It isn’t nearly as simple as you think it is when you’re *building* the software you’re writing about ;)

  70. joker

    poor Erick,

    Can’t you see you would do better in a different type of job?

  71. mint question

    techcrotch!

  72. idiot

    Arrogance, arrogance makes you look even more stupid, even more of a mindless ass-licking fart-smelling fanboy Erick. Say you were wrong, say sorry and we are back with you. Fuck fanboyism in every shape and form for any god-damn company!

  73. Erick is a dumbass

    What a dumbass that Erick is…He writes a horrible article based on no facts and then follows up with an even worse reply.

  74. Sridhar Katakam

    Poor article coming from TechCrunch. Expected some sensible comparison, not this.

  75. Shams

    Please stop singing for gmail. It`s a rubbish trash although I use it sometimes. What is really good from google??? Sorry for Techcrunch. I like your site, please don`t stop me coming here again.

  76. darkxiiindp

    The most laughable article I’ve ever read.

    Even Gmail has 100 GB. People still hardly use over 100 MB. And they don’t download attachment much.

    Service like Skydrive, Box.net, Esnips… cost more money on storage (1 GB) and bandwidth than your Gmail (4 GB or unlimited storage like Yahoo! Mail)

  77. Marco

    >>
    If I were a Hotmail (er, Windows Live Mail) user, I might have noted that SkyDrive cannot even keep up with its own sister e-mail service, which offers 5GB of storage.
    > But as a consumer, that 2.9 GB of storage on Gmail is my point of
    >> reference, and it makes me wonder why SkyDrive is being so stingy.

    OK, we all understand you are a Google fan, Erick. But you should compare
    Gmail to Hotmail… 2.9 GB vs. 5 GB… yeah, who is the winner? Rite, Microsoft!

    You just can’t be serious….

  78. Zam

    Erick,
    You titled the blog entry” Windows Live SkyDrive Doubles Storage to 1GB, Still Can’t Keep Up With Gmail,” and wrote your short paragraph. To directly compare these two services was just silly, and you were called out for doing so.

    Now, to continue to defend that critique is moronic. Seriously, it really is. Writing what you did then defending it, makes you appear to lack journalisitic integrity.

    Blame it on bad sushi, sun spots or even temporary insanity, but make this go away dude.

  79. third

    You keep on messing up, Erick. Your arrogance is taxing your job and, worst, your credibility.

    [i]First of all, the original post—barely more than a paragraph long—is not meant as an in-depth review or article. It is an off-hand observation. Nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes blog posts are like that. [/i]

    First, this is not your personal blog where you can post some blog “posts”. You should be creating credible, informative and unbiased article since this site is visited by hundreds of thousands people. If yours is just like any other blog, what’s the point of posting it here in TC?

    In the article, you positioned Gmail in such a way that it will look better over SkyDrive. If Skydrive indeed falls short compared to other online storage (XDrive and MediaMax) then why didn’t you compared it to them. Why pick Gmail instead of the other which, as you pointed, is far superior online storage.

    It just shows that you are favoring Gmail. [b]This is not about us defending Skydrive. THIS IS ABOUT YOU DOING A RESPOSIBLE ARTICLE.[/b] If Skydrive is indeed a weaker product compared to XDrive or Mediamax, then we would have no problem about it.

  80. Richard

    @ Erick - ridiculous, arrogant update.

    What is so hard about saying “sorry actually I got it wrong” ?……..

    I don’t believe there’s anything concerted about the responses at all just alot of people who recognise a poorly written article when they see one. Even if it is only a couple of lines long.

  81. Don

    Erick, I will try not to make this to personal, I just thing - starting with the title of your article that you are intentionally decieving the reader by not comparing Google email to Microsoft email and Google email to Google email. It is very clear to me, even with your update that you have a personal bias against Microsoft. If this is not true, then why did you not mention in your update that Google Drive has not even launched to the general public (it is invite only at this point) so they are really behind the ball. In my eyes this is a deliberate omission of Google’s product.

    I do not think there was a concerted effort to attack your article, rather I think people just want the truth.

  82. Marco

    it’s really doubtable that gdrive will ever start… google is already a year too late… box.net, yahoo briefcase since YEARS and finally microsoft… i doubt google will ever start gdrive. google is concentrating more and more on mobile …

  83. Fresh Mexican Food Fan

    Let’s not give this article any more credibility than we already did. Let my comment be the last one and let’s not comment on other pointless comparisons we read here.