You know, if you have read my articles in the past, that I like the Google system. I like gmail.com, Google Docs, Google Search and many other Google features. However, you also know that I do not completely trust them keeping features and apps going. They have gotten us dependent on different applications they created in the past. Then they sometimes do away with them after some people grow to love them. Today has nothing to do with them doing away with anything but changing a biggie. By-the-way, I do not believe they will ever get rid of Google Drive, which includes basic applications similar to Microsoft Office.
Today I will talk about Google Drive. “Google Drive for Desktop” has basically been a cloud storage area for nine years, according to Wikipedia for you history buffs. It worked very well. You downloaded Google Drive from Drive.Google.com. You downloaded it, assigned folders you wanted Google to back up/save to the cloud. You also could choose to load all of your photos in high quality with no limit to the number of photos you could have.
It then backed up all of those chosen files to your Google Drive and left copies on your computer’s hard drive. When you edited a local file on your computer, it immediately copied up to the Google Drive in the cloud. Very efficient backup. As a matter-of-fact Google made a few changes to their system and renamed it “Google Backup and Sync” in 2017. Still an excellent system with a few changes.
Then on June 1, 2021, another changed, not to the name, but a major feature. Before that date, all of your photos stored on a Google Drive did not count toward your 15GB of maximum free storage. After that date, you could have no more in photo storage than you had before that time. So, if over 15GB us old timer users of GD were fine. However, new accounts are limited to 15GB on all data stored data/files, including photos, email, etc.
Now, several weeks ago, another name change almost back to the original name, “Google Drive” without the “for Desktop.” It is Google Drive Version: 50.x.xx.x to be specific. That version number may have changed by the time you read this, as they are always advancing, fine tuning, and updating. You may still get it at Drive.Google.com, if you wish to try it out or update your version.
The way I see it, at this time, these are the principal changes.
- You may now store your files in the cloud and not on your local hard drive. Just as Microsoft’s OneDrive has done for a while now. Your files are in the cloud only. You see them listed with a cloud icon next to them. You double click it to open it. It is downloaded, letting you edit the file(s). Once you save them back to the cloud, they go.
- With Backup and Sync, you could set up three (3) unique Google Drive accounts. I found, quite by chance, that you can now have four (4) Accounts of Google Drive. I like this as I have several.
- It also creates a drive for each account and not a folder (similar in use). I set up four accounts and I now have a G, H, I, and J drive on my computer.
If you have one computer that is relatively new, meaning large hard drive, you probably do not really need cloud storage. If you are like me and have a couple of different computers and an iPad (yes, you can add Google Drive to those too) then it may come in really handy with multiple devices.
What do you think?