Microsoft gives further details of Live Drive

Microsoft has confirmed further details of its forthcoming Live Drive service, which will offer free online storage that can be mapped directly from PCs running the forthcoming Vista operating system.

Speaking at a blogger's breakfast prior to the opening of Tech Ed in Sydney, Microsoft Australia technical specialist John Hodgson said that the basic Live Drive was likely to include around 2G of storage for free. Additional storage capacity would be available for purchase, though pricing schemes and final release dates haven't been announced.

While the service has been rumoured in the blogosphere, to date Microsoft has been cagey about confirming those plans officially.

The service forms part of Microsoft's increasing push for Live, a series of services designed to complement the much-delayed Vista, as well as keeping Microsoft competitive with online rivals such as Google. Google is also said to be working on a Google Drive service.

Both companies already effectively offer free storage via their respective Web mail platforms, but such storage can't easily be mapped to an existing PC.