OneDrive in Windows 8.1 is integrated much more deeply with Windows. And this deeper integration can be noticed right from the Windows 8.1 installation itself when it asks if you want to use OneDrive/SkyDrive as default storage (mobile grab of the screen during installation).
OneDrive in Windows 8.1
You can’t uninstall the OneDrive app. The app comes with Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 and can’t be uninstalled. You can browse your OneDrive using the OneDrive app or File Explorer in the desktop. Well, you can also browse your local files using the OneDrive app, by the way! In File Explorer, yourOneDrive appears in the left pane. You can expand it to view your folders on OneDrive. The OneDrive desktop app has been replaced by new features that are built into Windows.
When you sign in to a PC with your Microsoft account, you’ll be automatically signed in to OneDrive with that account. To access OneDrive files from different account, you have to go to OneDrive.com.
Now OneDrive has an option in PC Settings. (Charms >Settings>Change PC Settings)
View & buy OneDrive Storage Space –
From OneDrive settings you can see the Storage space on OneDrive, how much is available and used. And you can access ‘Buy more storage’ from with in Windows itself.
Save document to OneDrive by default –
The OneDrive Documents folder is the default save location for documents. In some apps, you can save files directly to OneDrive as now you can set to save documents to OneDrive by default. And you have the link there itself to see the files on OneDrive.
Save your Photos and Videos to Camera Roll Folder –
Your camera roll is automatically backed up to OneDrive. You have the option not to upload photos. These can be set from ‘Files’ as shown. You can upload photos in good or best quality. Camera Roll folder in Pictures folder.
More settings to Sync –
Now you have many more settings available to Sync. Now you even have Start Screen tiles and layout that can be synced across all your devices using OneDrive. You can backup settings that aren’t synced. Colors, background, lock screen, an account picture, themes, taskbar and more, all can be Synced now.
Other settings to Sync relates to Browser favorites, open tabs, the home page, history and settings. Apart from that passwords, sign-in info for some apps, sites, language preference, mouse pointers and many more settings can be synced. So you always have a comfortable feeling of working on your machine.
Some more points to note are: With Windows 8.1 of OneDrive, Files on your PC can’t be fetched. You can’t fetch files that are on a PC running Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8., even if you install the OneDrive desktop app. You can still go to OneDrive.com to fetch files on other PCs that have the OneDrive desktop app installed. Also, the desktop app settings and status info are no longer available from the notification area. If you try to install the desktop app, the desktop app features won’t be reinstalled.
With Windows 8.1, Microsoft has really gone the way to integrate OneDrive into Windows.
