I use OneDrive for files that I need to have available to me on all my devices (Windows and Android; home and mobile). I've got 1.82 GB in 1512 files. The only problems I ever have with it are:I have been trying to back up my files to Outlook One Drive with very poor results. Supposedly, I get 15 GB of free cloud storage; I only need about 5 GB of that. I have a fast (up to 75 mbps) upload speed with Verizon FIOS. Still, the upload keeps hanging or glitching.
[a] Occasionally, on my desktop, even when connected to the Internet, Microsoft Word will open the local copy rather than checking the cloud for an update. It warns me about a "problem", and offers me a button to fix the problem, which has always worked.
Occasionally, when I open a file, in Microsoft Word again, and then close it quickly (perhaps I just needed to check something in the file quickly), the synchronization gets "wonky". I'm warned by OneDrive about it, reopen the file in Microsoft Word, wait a few seconds, and then close Microsoft Word, and all works itself out.
[c] Occasionally, my Android devices have trouble connecting to OneDrive. However, that's almost surely a problem with the Internet connection itself, rather than anything related to OneDrive.
[d] In that case, I sometimes have a problem opening a file I have designated to store on my tablet from within the Outlook.com OneDrive tab. Instead, I have to open it from the OneDrive app directly. The Outlook.com app is definitely a work-in-progress, so living without the dedicated OneDrive app, for now, is not an option.
I use Google Drive for a few, specific needs. Right now there is 1.09 MB in 7 files. Generally, what's there are files I need to share with others, rather than just between my own devices. It's not that OneDrive cannot do that - it's just that practically everyone I know has a Google account, and a fewer number of people have an Outlook.com (Hotmail, Live, etc.) account. Reflexively, I could use Google Drive for everything I use OneDrive for, but I find OneDrive to be more reliable and feature-packed given that most of what I store are Microsoft Office files. As a matter of fact, with one exception, six of those seven files currently in Google Drive are either Google Docs or Google Sheets, rather than Microsoft Word or Excel files - again, given that the former are more easily share-able with others.I'm aware of other file storage utilities, such as Google Drive, and wondered if anyone is having good results with them.
From a broader perspective, other than those minor differences I noted above, the two services are quite comparable to each other. They have to be. If one gets to be substantially better than the other, they're sunk. So far, I have seen absolutely no indication that either company is willing to cede this space to the other. That's good for us, the users.
I use Carbonite for cloud backup - which is quite different from cloud storage, of course. However, the mechanism is not all that different in the context of how a lot of people use cloud storage. If OneDrive and Google Drive weren't free, then I could make use of Carbonite for about half of what I use OneDrive for (but not for anything I use Google Drive for, as per what I wrote above).
I have a DropBox account. I haven't found it to be especially useful. It seems to me to be more of a techie's tool, and while I'm a techie I prefer that the tools I use treat me more like a regular user.
Last edited: