Microsoft details plan to combine all three separate OneDrive sync engines, into one that will work across platforms and different levels of services. The new sync experience will combine the foundation of the engines on Windows 7 and Windows 8, and it will allow the company to add new features in the future as needed.
The software giant explains that previously, OneDrive had two sync engines: One that worked on Windows 7/8/Mac to connect to the consumer service, and a second engine for OneDrive for Business.
Windows 8.1 introduced a third sync engine that included support for placeholders, a mechanism that allows to store all the OneDrive data on a local storage using a fraction of the space. Although, this feature is extremely useful, many users found this a bit confusing, as it was not clear what was and what was not accessible offline.
In the future, the OneDrive client will have one sync engine and it will enable access to the consumer and business levels of the service.
Placeholders will be back, but the experience will be transformed to be more reliable and comprehensive, Microsoft says.
All efforts are to make the cloud storage service the best tool to store, share, and collaborate with friends, family, and co-workers. New features will include the ability to sync shared folders and selective sync, but across all platforms.
Microsoft will bring the changes later this year, some will make by the release of Windows 10, like shared folders and support for the consumer and business service. However, other updates will come before the year ends, such as capability of placeholders.
Source Microsoft
