Free Storage

For those who don’t plan on storing a tremendous amount of data in Microsoft’s SkyDrive, the company offers 7GB of free storage. The only requirement for a SkyDrive account is to create or have a Microsoft account. For those who have had a SkyDrive account prior to April 22, 2012, the free storage space is grandfathered in at 25GB.

Purchasing Storage

Microsoft offers various storage packages for its SkyDrive service. You start off with 7GB of space, but for an additional $10 you will receive 20GB of cloud storage. Higher storage capacities include 50GB or 100GB of space, for $25 or $50 per billing cycle, respectively. To keep these higher banks of space in SkyDrive, Microsoft will ask for an annual payment.

Compatible Platforms

SkyDrive might be a Windows-based service, but it can be used on operating systems outside of Microsoft’s pantry. For instance, SkyDrive can be accessed on Apple computers with the OS X Lion operating system (or later versions). For the iPhone, iPad and iPod, Apple's App Store offers a SkyDrive app as well. Android devices such as tablets and smartphones can access SkyDrive by downloading it from the Google Play store.

Limitations

While you can typically access SkyDrive via a Web browser, the SkyDrive desktop app won't be available for all systems. For instance, SkyDrive compatibility with Linux systems limits you to using Microsoft's SkyDrive website. Older versions of Windows like XP will not be natively compatible with SkyDrive’s desktop app, but third-party applications offer solutions to this. Also, Windows RT, a mobile OS, can’t use the desktop app either. When uploading files to SkyDrive, a 2GB limit caps uploads from the desktop app, while accessing SkyDrive from a browser will put a 300MB ceiling on uploads.