Since Google forced me to abandon their Google Drive by pooling my storage with other users in my domain Workgroup, I’ve had to quickly jump ship and try out something new: OneDrive.

I don’t know why I’ve avoided using MicroSoft’s OneDrive for so long! Now that I’ve been using OneDrive for weeks now, I have realized what a mistake it was by staying with Google Drive for so long.

One of the cool things is that all Windows devices already have OneDrive integrated into Windows, so there are no issues accessing or updating my files across my various computers.

Previously, most of my storage usage is automatically backing up my photos to my Google Photos. This is because Google used to offer free unlimited storage. I was happy to see that OneDrive will automatically back up my photos… and they automatically organized it in folders! See example of photos organized by year in folders (and automatically tagged with what device the photos came from). This is amazing! Previously, I had to access my Google Photos through their website and it wasn’t organized.

Also, my workflow has improved with OneDrive. Example, if I want to read a PDF file on my iPad, I used to manually plug in my iPad into my PC and transfer the file through a USB cable. Now, all I do is drop the PDF in my OneDrive and it’ll automatically appear on my iPad, like magic.

So, if you pay for Personal, not only does it include 1TB of storage, but you have access to MicroSoft Office for free. If you don’t want to pay for Personal, you can still use Office for free if your device is 10 inches or less… So, basically you can use Office on your iPhone.

I like using OneDrive so much that I upgraded from Basic to Microsoft 365 Family. The $99 a year fee gives you 6TB of storage (1TB per person – up to six users). If you do the math, this is the best deal if you can find six people to share the account… it works out to be about $17 a year per person. Everyone in the Family will have access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, advanced Microsoft Defender, ad-free Outlook,
Clipchamp video editor with premium filters and effects, and more.

Here are some highlights:

Pricing: OneDrive offers three reasonable pricing, Basic (100GB for $20 a year), Personal (1TB for $70 a year), and Family (6TB for $100 a year).
Access: If you have a Windows device, OneDrive is integrated into Windows, meaning easier access. OneDrive is also available on iOS and Android, and any computer that has secure web browsing.
Speed: It’s fast! I’ll work on a document and it’s automatically updated on another computer by syncing quickly. Previously with Google Drive, I would have to launch drive on that other computer and wait for that computer to load up the updated file.
Bedtime Backup: This is OneDrive’s turbo mode, basically you put this one before you go to bed and tomorrow, everything is uploaded. I was able to upload 20GB overnight with this feature.
Personal Vault: This is the “secure vault”, which cannot be viewed unless you put in your password and automatically locks after a certain amount of time. I accidentally turned it on, but quickly realized with all the security in place, it wasn’t worth having to put in my password every few hours… so I turned it off. You can only do this via their OneDrive website, you cannot turn off this feature on the app.

Right now, all my photos are backed up on OneDrive, it’s taking up a large chunk of storage. I also have a folder to share some television show so I can watch it on my iPad.

My entire George Perez website is also backed up on OneDrive. Previously, if I had to edit my website, I had to sit at my desktop PC. Now, the website is available to me on any computer that has OneDrive. I’m not worried about it taking up so much storage, as my 1TB is more than enough for my usage.

Based in the direction Google is heading, making users pay for everything, such as forcing small business to pay for custom domain, removing need-features (unless you pay), forcing you to remove Adblock on YouTube, etc… if you can’t see the writing on the wall, you need to open your eyes. This company wants people to pay (in my opinion, it won’t be long until you have to pay for Gmail).

I have to say that it’s just impossible to leave Google. Their search is much better than Bing. Bing isn’t timely, and they don’t index enough websites and what they serve up is not good. The silver lining is that I discovered I had built up so many Bing Points over the years that I had enough to get $10 in Amazon Gift Card! It was basically free money, and the more you use Bing, you can earn money!