Microsoft OneDrive

Microsoft OneDrive
OneDrive-Logo2019.png
Onedriveonexplorer.png
TypeCloud storage provider
Developer(s)Microsoft
Operating systemWindows 10
Windows 11
Android
macOS
iOS
Supported platformsx86
x64
arm64
Apple Silicon
Initial release version17.3.6378.0329
Initial release date2016-03-30
Latest release version22.227.1030.0001
Latest release date2022-11-11
Latest pre-release version22.248.1127.0001
Latest pre-release date2022-12-06
Other namesWindows Live Folders
Windows Live SkyDrive
SkyDrive
LicenseMicrosoft EULA
Websiteonedrive.live.com
Succeeds
Successor

Microsoft OneDrive is a cloud storage service by Microsoft, which was introduced in August 2007 as SkyDrive.

It was renamed to OneDrive in February 2014 due to legal reasons. The media company British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB, now known as Sky UK) sued Microsoft for the usage of "Sky" inside of SkyDrive. Microsoft lost this trademark infringement lawsuit, and agreed to change the name to avoid confusion with Sky.[1][2][3][4]

Availability[edit | edit source]

The desktop client was first available as part of the Windows Live Essentials suite. After the discontinuation of it, it became standalone and was also made available for macOS.

Currently, OneDrive is accessible over a cross-platform web service, desktop clients for Windows and macOS, a UWP app for Windows 10 and Windows 11, as well as apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

The web version of OneDrive is available since 2021 as an installable PWA, which can be installed by using a Chromium-based browser. The OneDrive desktop client for Windows is available as a native 64-bit version for x64 processors, also since 2021, after only being available for x86. It was earlier available as 64-bit for macOS. Starting in December 2021, Microsoft started to roll out a native ARM64 version of OneDrive for Windows and a version for Apple Silicon on macOS.[5]

Microsoft ended support for the OneDrive desktop app on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 on 1 January 2022 with sync functionality being disabled on 1 March 2022.[6]

Inclusion in Windows[edit | edit source]

The Metro app of SkyDrive is included in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 as well as their phone counterparts. It was renamed to Microsoft Drive (when enabled in Registry in certain builds in Windows 8.1) and OneDrive (Windows 8.1 Update 1) due to aforementioned reasons.

The Metro app was replaced with the OneDrive desktop client in Windows 10.

Gallery[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]