Microsoft Corp. is giving computer users up to 500 megabytes of online storage for their documents, music, photos and video.
Microsoft made an early, "beta" version of the Web-based file storage system available to 5,000 people Tuesday night in its latest effort to bulk up its online offerings and fend off challenges from Google Inc. The beta will be widely available later this summer.
The service gives users who e-mail documents between home and work computers an alternative way to access their files on the go. Users can keep files private or share them with people they know or with anyone on the Web.
Rumors and leaked details have circulated for more than a year that "Live Drive" was in the works. Microsoft, however, is calling its new service "Windows Live Folders" - and it'll get another name change when the final version launches.
Time Warner Inc.'s AOL already offers 5 gigabytes of free online storage - 10 times more than Microsoft's offering - through its Xdrive unit.
The proliferation of digital media such as photos and music has increased the demand for storage, while server-space costs have been declining.
Yahoo Inc. recently began offering unlimited storage for e-mail, while Google's Gmail offers nearly 3 GB and Microsoft gives 2 GB for e-mail.
Google also has launched free, Web-based word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software to compete with Microsoft's flagship Office suite.
Brian Hall, general manager of Windows Live, said Microsoft is working on making its offerings more coherent and interconnected. But he made no commitments on a Web version of Microsoft Word or other desktop programs targeted by Google.
"We have nothing to announce right now - but we are the productivity leaders today and certainly will continue to keep providing the best solutions for people," Hall said. "If that's a scenario people are excited about, we're going to (do it)."
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