Microsoft SkyDrive Tutorial for beginners

This is a beginners Tutorial for Microsoft SkyDrive. Before we begin, lets define what is Microsoft SkyDrive.

What is Microsoft SkyDrive - A cloud based Drive(drive as in space, like your local C or D drive) where you can store files (documents, notes, photos, and videos that matter to you) that will be automatically available from your trusted devices with any syncing or cables needed.

Top Features -

* You get 7 GB of free storage space.

* With SkyDrive you can access files across Windows, Mac, iPad, and mobile - With SkyDrive installed on all your computers, you'll have automatic access to the latest version of your files wherever you are.

* Simple sharing with anyone - Share even large files and photos with your friends. All they need is a web browser—no worrying about attachment limits or what software they have.

* Mobile access - Photos and files in the SkyDrive folder on your PC are automatically available on your phone.

Lets look at the Price plans first -
Storage plans

SkyDrive Free	Free	7 GB total storage
SkyDrive +20	$10.00/year	Add 20 GB to your free storage
SkyDrive +50	$25.00/year	Add 50 GB to your free storage
SkyDrive +100	$50.00/year	Add 100 GB to your free storage

The plans are awesome and would be useful to anyone who needs stuff on web or I should say on cloud storage. Next, lets look at how to get started -

Sign Up or Login - Firstly to use SkyDrive you need a Windows Live id. If you dont have that you can create one while installing SkyDrive.

Install - You can either access your SkyDrive through web browser or from a local drive (like a mapped drive). Lets look at both options to get started. First Lets get you started by login into SkyDrive website.

• SkyDrive on Web - Open the URL -> Live.in or SkyDrive Login and create a Live id if you dont have one. Once you login with the Live id you can access skydrive using "SkyDrive" option at the top. Well you now have a hotmail mail box available to you as well. So in the SkyDrive you would see something like below -

This is the web view of your skydrive. Here you can Add files (See 4 below), Create Files(Free Word, Excel, Power Point and OneNote is available to you - See 1 below), Share Files (See 3 below) and perform a bunch of other stuff like Delete Files, Move Files and even See the past Versions of the File (See 2 Below. Below is a little view of what you can do. We will go over the main functionalities in detail later -

Next Lets look at Microsoft SkyDrive Tutorial for beginners - Part 2 >> for installing Skydrive onlocal.