With the launch of Google Drive, the new cloud storage service unveiled today by Google, mainstream tech users will soon find themselves engaging in cloud storage and file synchronization among mobile, laptop and desktop systems.

And that will likely change the way we use the Internet, analysts say.

"Personal cloud is far more than just storage; it's synchronization, it's streaming, it's sharing files. Those ultimately become more important to the consumer than things like the personal computer," said Gartner Research Director Michael Gartenberg. "The age of the personal cloud becomes far more important than the personal computer."

After years of rumors and speculation, Google officially launched its cloud storage and file sharing service, Google Drive, offering users 5GB of free storage space. More importantly, Google Drive is tied into all of Google's other services.


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Google is jumping into the cloud-based file storage and syncing business, offering a service called Google Drive, by offering lower prices and different features. It works on multiple operating systems, browsers, and mobile devices. WSJ's personal technology columnist, Walt Mossberg takes it for a drive.

What is Google Drive?

Google Drive is a way to store your files on Google's servers, or in the cloud. If you run the free Google Drive application, then you get a folder on your computer (Windows or OSX) that looks just like a directory on your hard disk that you can drag your files in to. Anything stored in that folder is kept on your hard disk and also copied to your account in the cloud. You can access those files from drive.google.com or from other computers, including mobile devices.

Google Drive is also the new name for Google Docs, which is Google's suite of Web-based productivity tools -- its word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation app. Documents you create using these tools now show up in your Google Drive. Sort of.

What do you mean, "sort of?"

For the time being, while you can see documents created or shared with you using the Google Docs tools in your Google Drive on your computers, the data in those files is not stored or copied to your computers. Rather, what you see in your Google Drive are links to your files. If you open one, it'll open in the browser-based Google app.

Files that you drag into your Drive from your hard disk are actually copied to the cloud. They're also synchronized to your other computers that use Google Drive.

What is synchronization?

One of the coolest things ever. When you use a synchronizing storage product, like Google Drive, any file you put in the drive, and anything you change that's stored in the drive, is automatically updated not just in the cloud but on all the other devices that you have connected to the Drive. So you can start working on a file on one computer, close it, and then open it on a second computer, and what you'll see is the version you closed on the first one.


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