After years of rumors, Google Drive, the search company's long-awaited entry into the cloud storage wars, is finally here. With an interface that evokes Google Docs, Drive functions much like Dropbox, allowing users to drag-and-drop files they want to store in the cloud onto a desktop folder. Users get 5 GB of free space, and can add an additional 25 GB for $30 each year. Google, however, is late to the race — Dropbox already fulfills the file-storing needs of well over 50 million users, and consumers using competitors like Microsoft's SkyDrive, Apple's iCloud, Box, and SugarSync may also be hesitant to move their files. How does Google Drive stack up to its rivals?
Its integrating features make it worthwhile: "Google Drive hits a sweet spot between value and flexibility," says Adrian Covert at Gizmodo. Dropbox may be available on more mobile platforms (as yet, Google Drive lacks iPhone or iPad apps), but Drive is integrated with Google's other offerings: You can edit your documents via Google Docs, for instance. "It's not the cheapest or most comprehensive" of the available services, but the versatile Google Drive "appears to cover the widest swath of features people want."
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