What makes any given cloud storage tool useful is its integration with the OS. On nearly every platform I can think of, Dropbox has achieved a brilliant level of OS integration so it works just like any other folder on your hard drive. (To the extent that such a thing is possible, anyway.) By itself, Microsoft's SkyDrive is mostly a web-based kludge, requiring you to work through a browser to manage your files. So even though it gives you 12.5 times more free storage than Dropbox, it requires additional tools to make it work well. Fortunately, there are a couple of good options to help you take advantage of SkyDrive.

Windows Live Mesh

Part of Microsoft's pack, Windows Live Mesh lets you share and sync folders via SkyDrive on Windows and Mac OS X in much the same way as you would with Dropbox. Unfortunately, the Live Essentials version only lets you sync 5GB of your total SkyDrive capacity, which detracts somewhat from its allure.

SDExplorer

Another tool, , simplifies SkyDrive dramatically, and gives you full access to all of your SkyDrive capacity. SDExplorer comes in two versions: a feature-limited freebie and a robust premium version. The free version imposes limits on the size of files you can upload (50MB or less per file), won't let you move files and folders around within SkyDrive, and won't let you manage folder sharing within the app. The premium version, which runs $14 for a single-PC license and $20 for a multi-PC, single-user license, lifts all these restrictions and adds support for shared managing shared documents in . The drawback to SDExplorer is that it doesn't actually sync your SkyDrive folders to your PC. It just gives you access to them over a live Internet connection.