Chapter 5. Cloud and Social Networking Hacks

Windows 8 is the first version of Windows written from the ground up to take advantage of the cloud and of social media like Facebook and Twitter. Unlike in previous versions of Windows, you don’t have to retrofit those capabilities—they’re built right in.

That’s not to say that you can’t hack them, because you can. You can especially juice up Windows 8’s cloud features, especially the way it works with the cloud-based storage service SkyDrive. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to do all that, plus get more out of Windows 8’s other cloud capabilities and its social networking features.

Hack #44. Use SkyDrive to Sync Your Files Everywhere

Microsoft claims that Windows 8 is built for the cloud, pointing to its SkyDrive cloud-based service. But there’s a whole lot more SkyDrive can do for you than is first obvious.

Windows 8 is the first Microsoft operating system built with the cloud in mind, and there are plenty of cloud-based features built into its guts; for example, its integration with social media services like Facebook and Twitter, and the way it can sync your settings across Windows 8 devices.

Then, of course, there’s SkyDrive, Microsoft’s cloud-based storage service. It’s got a big fat tile on the Start screen, so it’s only a click (or, on tablets, a tap) away. But the SkyDrive built into Windows 8 isn’t particularly useful. It’s little more than a pretty interface to the SkyDrive service.

If you really want to get the most out of SkyDrive ...

Get Windows 8 Hacks now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.