Microsoft has pointed out that there may be some fairly seismic changes to the way file sharing and collaboration is handled through the OneDrive cloud storage solution, but its cryptic messages leave a lot to be answered.
The company regularly updates and adds new features to its entire range by posting about them on a dedicated roadmap page. Latest (opens in a new tab) OneDrive’s update series reads: “Sharing Experience – Simplifying External Sharing.”
Its summary includes little more detail: “We want to simplify the release process when a customer wants to collaborate with someone outside of the organization.”
OneDrive file sharing
We know that the update will come first in the web version of OneDrive and may be available later this month. We also know that it is at the testing stage.
There is now Microsoft’s annual conference for developers and IT professionals – Ignite – which provided some juicy tidbits about OneDrive.
In the post on the OneDrive blog (opens in a new tab), author irfanshahdad explains that the OneDrive home page has been “redesigned”. The changes are more subtle than direct, and revolve around some background work that reveals recently opened files and new filters to sort by file type.
There are also sharing management updates, with new tabs shared by you, shared with you, people, and meetings (the last two do a good job of categorizing shared files by owner or event). The company’s blog demo shows that they work in conjunction with other filters, such as sorting by file type.
The company is also working on an offline mode for its OneDrive web app, similar to “Files On Demand” for desktop customers. The so-called Project Nucleus allows changes to be made, and edits are uploaded when the internet connection is restored.