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Dropbox is the one service that I just can't replace. Nothing comes close to the ease of revisions/version control, restore, and sync. I sound like a bot but I'

Dropbox is the one service that I just can't replace. Nothing comes close to the ease of revisions/version control, restore, and sync. I sound like a bot but I've tried everything to find a replacement and I just keep coming back. It worries me because I don't like it when there is only one game in town.

Cyph0n 10y ago
OneDrive is an absolutely solid alternative. I've been using it for a few years and haven't looked back. With Office 365, it's a steal.
- robbiep 10y ago
  One drive doesn't offer near the convenience or integration. I've used various incantations over the year from the initial skydrive through to its relaunch and then the latest version but each time I have been let down by unusual syncing behaviour or some level of strange complexity (the worst requiring re-syncing everything)
  - Cyph0n 10y ago
    I've never had that issue to be frank. I use it on my laptop, my desktop, and my phone, and sync has been instantaneous and problem-free. I did face some issues with files blocking the sync operation, but that was fixed a while back. One of the best features you get with OneDrive is full Office integration. You can either access your documents using Office Online, which are full-blown browser versions of Office apps, or you can open your files in Office on your computer. Changes you make to the document are live synced and versioned, so it's great for collaboration.
- chj 10y ago
  I used both Dropbox and OneDrive SDK, and from engineering perspective, Dropbox wins BIG. OneDrive sucks.
- RussianCow 10y ago
  My one issue with OneDrive when I tried it (late last year) was that it was very CPU-heavy compared to Dropbox. It noticeably slowed boot times, and syncing large changes slowed the whole system down for the duration. There might have been other factors at play here, but I've since disabled it on my Windows install and only use Dropbox, and I don't ever notice it's there.
- colemickens 10y ago
  I'm sorry, I really can't take a service seriously that can't even show me my file extensions in the web client. That combined with the horrible idea to release a Sharepoint client branded as "OneDrive for Business", the buggy clients integration in Windows 10, and the number of times they've changed messaging around "unlimited" storage... I don't see any reason to trust OneDrive with my data. Oh and there's the nonsense "magic" it does with OneNote notebooks. In fact, I'm pretty sure I accidentally deleted a OneNote notebook earlier today when scrolling through my OD account with the Mac client.
  - tacos 10y ago
    The web client is the only reason I still use the damn thing -- it's really quite great. Full text search includes text contained within image files, FAXes, and wonky old PDFs. It shows file extensions for me.
    - colemickens 10y ago
      >It shows file extensions for me. Wow, this is a new development in the last 4-6 weeks. A very welcome one and I'm happy to have been wrong. Thanks for the heads up.
- dingle_thunk 10y ago
  I switched from OneDrive to Dropbox this year - was loyal to OneDrive since it was WL Mesh. Dropbox made a world of difference. No more duplicates, and so much easier to reorganize files.
rodgerd 10y ago
I thought that, but I've been tempted over to Office Home, simply because for the same cost as Dropbox, I can get a family of four sync accounts (so I've saved 75%) and effectively get Office for free for the people who want/need it. OneDrive is a bit rougher on a couple of edge cases, but it works well enough. Well enough, at any rate, that I'm not prepared to quadruple my spend for the difference. (On edit) The point being, not that I think that Dropbox will stand or fall on my opinion of their services, but for Joe and Jane average "I can get OneDrive and Word and Excel and Powerpoint on my Windows laptop and my Xperia phone and my iPad for the whole family same price as Dropbox on its own is a pretty compelling choice. The missing features like Linux support aren't really going to factor in for most people.
- boundlessdreamz 10y ago
  The problem with OneDrive is that it is pretty shitty on Mac (at least for me). In my experience Dropbox > Google Drive > OneDrive
  - rodgerd 10y ago
    Sure, but that's only a competitive advantage with, what, 10% of the market at most?
hunvreus 10y ago
I switched to Google Drive a while ago; if you use it in multiple contexts (professional and personal), it's a much saner setup. And if you use Google Docs and Gmail, the integrations make it worth it. I'm curious: what did you think of Google Drive vs. Dropbox? I precisely felt that Dropbox was doomed when I switched to Google Drive last year because I couldn't see any competitive advantage to it anymore.
- erikb 10y ago
  Do they have reasonable clients by now? Last time I checked they were horrible, especially the Linux client.

Cyph0n 10y ago

OneDrive is an absolutely solid alternative. I've been using it for a few years and haven't looked back. With Office 365, it's a steal.

robbiep 10y ago
One drive doesn't offer near the convenience or integration. I've used various incantations over the year from the initial skydrive through to its relaunch and then the latest version but each time I have been let down by unusual syncing behaviour or some level of strange complexity (the worst requiring re-syncing everything)
- Cyph0n 10y ago
  I've never had that issue to be frank. I use it on my laptop, my desktop, and my phone, and sync has been instantaneous and problem-free. I did face some issues with files blocking the sync operation, but that was fixed a while back. One of the best features you get with OneDrive is full Office integration. You can either access your documents using Office Online, which are full-blown browser versions of Office apps, or you can open your files in Office on your computer. Changes you make to the document are live synced and versioned, so it's great for collaboration.
chj 10y ago
I used both Dropbox and OneDrive SDK, and from engineering perspective, Dropbox wins BIG. OneDrive sucks.
RussianCow 10y ago
My one issue with OneDrive when I tried it (late last year) was that it was very CPU-heavy compared to Dropbox. It noticeably slowed boot times, and syncing large changes slowed the whole system down for the duration. There might have been other factors at play here, but I've since disabled it on my Windows install and only use Dropbox, and I don't ever notice it's there.
colemickens 10y ago
I'm sorry, I really can't take a service seriously that can't even show me my file extensions in the web client. That combined with the horrible idea to release a Sharepoint client branded as "OneDrive for Business", the buggy clients integration in Windows 10, and the number of times they've changed messaging around "unlimited" storage... I don't see any reason to trust OneDrive with my data. Oh and there's the nonsense "magic" it does with OneNote notebooks. In fact, I'm pretty sure I accidentally deleted a OneNote notebook earlier today when scrolling through my OD account with the Mac client.
- tacos 10y ago
  The web client is the only reason I still use the damn thing -- it's really quite great. Full text search includes text contained within image files, FAXes, and wonky old PDFs. It shows file extensions for me.
  - colemickens 10y ago
    >It shows file extensions for me. Wow, this is a new development in the last 4-6 weeks. A very welcome one and I'm happy to have been wrong. Thanks for the heads up.
dingle_thunk 10y ago
I switched from OneDrive to Dropbox this year - was loyal to OneDrive since it was WL Mesh. Dropbox made a world of difference. No more duplicates, and so much easier to reorganize files.

rodgerd 10y ago

I thought that, but I've been tempted over to Office Home, simply because for the same cost as Dropbox, I can get a family of four sync accounts (so I've saved 75%) and effectively get Office for free for the people who want/need it. OneDrive is a bit rougher on a couple of edge cases, but it works well enough. Well enough, at any rate, that I'm not prepared to quadruple my spend for the difference. (On edit) The point being, not that I think that Dropbox will stand or fall on my opinion of their services, but for Joe and Jane average "I can get OneDrive and Word and Excel and Powerpoint on my Windows laptop and my Xperia phone and my iPad for the whole family same price as Dropbox on its own is a pretty compelling choice. The missing features like Linux support aren't really going to factor in for most people.

boundlessdreamz 10y ago
The problem with OneDrive is that it is pretty shitty on Mac (at least for me). In my experience Dropbox > Google Drive > OneDrive
- rodgerd 10y ago
  Sure, but that's only a competitive advantage with, what, 10% of the market at most?

hunvreus 10y ago

I switched to Google Drive a while ago; if you use it in multiple contexts (professional and personal), it's a much saner setup. And if you use Google Docs and Gmail, the integrations make it worth it. I'm curious: what did you think of Google Drive vs. Dropbox? I precisely felt that Dropbox was doomed when I switched to Google Drive last year because I couldn't see any competitive advantage to it anymore.

erikb 10y ago
Do they have reasonable clients by now? Last time I checked they were horrible, especially the Linux client.