Well, that didn't take long. Just three weeks after Microsoft announced it would changing the name of its cloud storage service from SkyDrive to OneDrive, the switch has taken effect. Here are the upsides and downsides of the move.

Microsoft is changing the name of its SkyDrive cloud storage service to OneDrive. That's going to create an issue for developers who have integrated SkyDrive saving into their Windows applications.

It's hard to say no to free cloud storage and Microsoft appears to be in a giving mood, seeing as it's near Christmas and all. If you're in the possession of a device running Windows Phone, you should probably check your inbox -- you might find 20GB of free SkyDrive space waiting for you, courtesy of the company.

When Microsoft officially announced the details this morning of the Xbox One's SkyDrive app, I enjoyed a brief reverie imagining this might constitute an excuse for pretending an Xbox One was an office productivity tool. Unfortunately, the app seems too limited for that.

Windows 8.1 is here, and it offers some handy new features for both the mobile and desktop crowd, including some clever SkyDrive integration. If you don't use SkyDrive and feel that it's in the way, you can easily get rid of it with a simple registry tweak.

Dear Lifehacker, When I'm on the road sometimes I need to access files from my computer. I have a remote desktop app, which is handy when i want to do some work from my phone, but is there a service where I can just look through my file tree and download or send a link to the file?

Windows: Using Libraries in Windows to collect folders in one place is handy, but it would be even nicer if you could reach your Libraries from any computer. With a little bit of trickery, you can do that with Microsoft's SkyDrive service.

The Web version of Excel does a fairly good job of imitating the desktop version's main features. Promised enhancements in the near future? Proper support for Android tablets and a wider range of keyboard shortcuts.

Free cloud storage is easy to come by these day, but the best cloud storage providers give you more than just storage. They offer high availability, multi-platform support, security options and app integration. This week we're going to look at five of the best cloud storage providers on the market today, thanks to your nominations.

If you want to save a file from the internet to Dropbox, Google Drive or Skydrive, you usually have to download it to your computer before you can upload it into cloud storage. Save Web Files is a simple web app that cuts out that middle step.

The cloud storage wars are heating up and there are a lot of reasons to look at the alternatives. One big question is: "Which service is the fastest at syncing files?" Unsurprisingly, that title goes to reigning incumbent, Dropbox.

Windows: Like other online storage and syncing tools, SkyDrive is great for convenient access to the files you have in its sync folder(s). But it also has a killer feature: The ability to grab a file from a remote computer even if it hasn't been synced or is stored outside of the sync folder.

The ability to sync files stored on SkyDrive with your computer can be very useful, especially given the generous space allocation (7GB for everyone, up to 25GB for early adopters). However, one Lifehacker reader has noticed that keeping a large SkyDrive collection in sync can use a lot of bandwidth, potentially trigging shaping or an excess usage bill.

Android: Microsoft promised a SkyDrive Android app and today it has delivered. If you've wanted to access all the files in your SkyDrive account, you now can from your Android smartphone or tablet.

Great news for SkyDrive users: Microsoft has revamped SkyDrive with a more modern Windows 8 design, added a bunch of new features, and finally announced plans for a dedicated Android SkyDrive app.

Along with the recent launch of Office 2013 and Office 365, Microsoft unveiled a new, free version of its Office Web Apps. To enable it, you just have to log in through a particular SkyDrive link.

There's no shortage of online storage and file syncing services these days, which is great -- but can make picking just one to use confusing, especially if you need to pay for more space. Luckily Ars Technica has collected details on the most popular services in handy comparison charts.

The offer of 25GB of free space has always been one of the most attractive features of Microsoft's SkyDrive, but surprisingly it's never been particularly easy to integrate that space with a Windows machine. While Windows 8 promises a much tighter level of SkyDrive integration, a newly-released tool from Microsoft makes files in your SkyDrive easily accessible from any Windows 7 or Vista machine. The one catch? If you haven't already used SkyDrive, you now only get 7GB, not 25GB.

iOS/Windows Phone 7: Microsoft has released two mobile apps for its SkyDrive cloud storage service, allowing you to access, share and store files from your iPhone or Windows Phone 7 device.