Microsoft to OneDrive users: We're sorry, click the magic link to keep your free storage Microsoft has apologized to OneDrive users upset by the unexpected removal of their 30GB free storage – and is offering existing users a chance to keep their free storage if they click a special link. "In November we made a business decision to reduce storage limits for OneDrive. Since then, we've heard clearly from our …
The free services have been dropping like flies lately, and some of the pay-for services have closed down. Wuala shut down last month, Golden Frog's Dump Truck shuts down on Saturday. Even the big boys like Dropbox are shuttering ancillary services, and Microsoft are resorting to stupid tactics to keep their costs under control.
At the end of the day, you're putting your data on someone else's computers and storage, and sometimes those computers/storage can cease to be available for any number of reasons. If you're relying on a free service, someone else pays the piper and you don't get to choose the tunes.
Meanwhile over at the Chocolate Factory…
I was helping set up a tablet for a friend's mum at the weekend and Google was offering a "free" 100 GB for Google Drive. Hard to see people sticking with even Microsoft's paid service with such competition.
"I was helping set up a tablet for a friend's mum at the weekend and Google was offering a "free" 100 GB for Google Drive. Hard to see people sticking with even Microsoft's paid service with such competition."
It's only free for a time limited period. Therefore not really free. If you use it, chances are you will be stuck with paying for it rather than incur the hassle of moving elsewhere when your free time runs out...
You are a good company, you produce some decent software, but you make yourself hard to like with this kind of give/take away thing. It shows a lack of proper long term strategy, and that makes people twitchy.
Windows 10 free upgrade for a year, but then what? Signpost your intentions clearly, then stick to your statements - people will like you a whole lot more.
On top of this, I only noticed this because of this article. No E-mail, no warning, nothing. They seem to have publicised the removal of the storage, but not the return of it. Perhaps not to look like a climbdown, however this way they look like skinflints for taking away the service, return it quietly so that they *still* look like skinflints. Not a clever way of doing PR really.
Ledswinger, I totally get why you'd say that. Companies themselves are neither good nor bad, and the employees and directors do some subjectively good stuff and some bad stuff, sometimes even for the right reasons.
And I agree that their software isn't all good, but a lot of it is good enough that lots of people want to use it. Excel is, for a very narrow set of cases, genuinely better than OOo, some things I do, it does well. SQL Server is actually a great database engine, Visual Studio is a compelling IDE. Some of the research projects in Cambridge are actually very impressive. Windows 10 seems to be working well enough. You get the idea.
We probably agree on a bunch of that stuff too, TBH. If nothing else, their willingness to gouge has provided a great antagonist for the FOSS software movement, and that has to be a good thing ;-)
I suspect Roq D Kasba is a US based Microsoft apologist.
Companies are good and bad, as evidenced by their actions, culture and habitual behaviour.
I would say Microsoft's actions to towards quite a large number of companies over the last 35 years would suggest they habitually fall into the category of "the unacceptable face of capitalism" behaviour.
Seattle Computer Products (QDOS), Lotus123 (DOS ain't done till Lotus won't run), Sybase (SQLServer), Novell (Netware Lite), Google ("Scroogled" campaign) would probably agree with me.
"I suspect Roq D Kasba is a US based Microsoft apologist."
205 posts would make me suspect that you are a cockwomble, AC. Grow some yarbles and post under your Forum Name so that we can check out YOUR posting history. If you have any yarbles, you eunuch jelly thou!
If you need to do power user stuff in a spreadsheet, Excel is usable, OO falls down under the strain too easily. It is slow to load complex workbooks, it's very slow at calculating lots (thousands) of lookups, OO crashes once you start doing more complex lookup-focussed models... we tried it, and had to stick with Excel. OO is only good for the basic spreadsheet use case (at this time, though as that's 99% of users, hard to see that they'll invest lots of time/effort getting it to compare to Excel for that tiny proportion of userbase).
I followed the link and got a screen saying: "Let this app access your info? OneDrivePreview needs your permission to: sign in automatically; view your profile info and contact list, access your email addresses; add or remove bonus storage." This is followed by Yes | No buttons.
Clicked 'No' and I got an "Ooops, something went wrong screen".
So MS are lying: you can only get the storage back by bending giving over your private information.
MondoMan, it does indeed say that. As a result I decided to go ahead with keeping the storage, then I would go and disable the app.
Unfortunately it was lying. I have searched for about 5 minutes now. I can find no option to change this. You'd think it would be in the "Options" section, but I assume that somewhere via some other menu I have to find the "Account Settings" screen.
They have either lied, or made it very difficult to find.
EDIT: Found it, it's not in the one drive options, you need to click your profile picture, go to edit profile, then click your picture again and there's an option for "Account Settings".
EDIT: Found it, it's not in the one drive options, you need to click your profile picture, go to edit profile, then click your picture again and there's an option for "Account Settings".
I'm afraid I got only that far, i.e. "Account settings". I can't see WHERE, from the account settings page, you can change permissions which I HAD TO give them to keep the free storage. I have searched all tabs (Account, Your info, Service... Security & Privacy.. you'd think it's the in at least 4 tabs out of 7, eh? No luck! :(
So, I gave something away for "free" storage, and I don't know how to get it back.
Edit too. Yes, it is doable. From the "Account settings" menu (tabs), I went to the LAST tab, i.e. "Security & privacy", then BOTTOM of the page:
If you want to manage your "Ad preferences" - out of luck, lol:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=513297
This page can’t be displayed
but if you go to second tab (from the left), i.e. Apps & Services (manage permissions) you are shown the "OneDrive" with the key link - Edit. You click on it and - BINGO! - several clicks away is what you gave away, and at the bottom is the button:
Remove these permissions.
But hey, like the poster before said, if you want to keep your "free" storage, one of the "permission" you remove, is to "Add or remove bonus storage". So, I bet, you remove the permissions - and you "free" is takenth away. Oh, fuck them, I don't use this shit much anyway...
It's not a problem you don't have to bend over.
Just agree to give them the permission to view contact list and email addresses, but just don't keep any contact list or email addresses anywhere they can get at them. So, remove any Outlook, and don't use an MS email service.
Just an idea to test. Delete some stuff and after number of days delete other files and immediately restore files deleted in 1st purge. Keep rocking it back and forth - effectively multiplying storage space and causing "financial pain" on MS (at a slight inconvenience to oneself). Obviously one has to check for duration of time the files are kept in the "Recycle Bin" (and if it counted towards storage quota).
Also, it isn't free. YOU are the product: targeted advertising and data mining. Google also has very intimate relations with the NSA. This is an irrefutable, documented fact.
Also, it isn't free. YOU are the product: targeted advertising and data mining. Apple also has very intimate relations with the NSA. This is an irrefutable, documented fact.
Also, it isn't free. YOU are the product: targeted advertising and data mining. Oracle also has very intimate relations with the NSA. This is an irrefutable, documented fact.
Also, it isn't free. YOU are the product: targeted advertising and data mining. Unilever also has very intimate relations with the NSA. This is an irrefutable, documented fact.
What is your point?
I support my olds IT (like many here) and while windows 7 made my 80 something get into the use of OneDrive, there is nothing at any point (maybe in the EULA, page 765) that says its a free or otherwise service.
It is so integrated with Windows, it is practically impossible to not use it.
Apple is not much better, but if i never sign into iCloud when i start up.
I still have a local user password setup there... not a system that requires online verification to log into a laptop.
"It is so integrated with Windows, it is practically impossible to not use it."
Bullshit. Just don't use it and you......erm.......not use it.
I have used Windows 7 for yeeears and Windows 10 for a couple of months, and there is nothing which enforces use of OneDrive. Please explain your nebulous assertion.
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