Assuming you blinked this weekend, you probably missed an inadvertantly short sneak peak of what could be the next big services showdown between Microsoft and Google: online storage.
Microsoft's Live Drive cum Windows Live Folders -- which will offer subscribers 500MB of free online storage -- was caught in the screen-capture sights of LiveSide.net on Saturday before shutting down hours later. The much-anticipated service will someday lock horns with the rumored Google GDrive, which may in fact push the bounds of plausibility by allowing users to store an unlimited amount of files on the Web.
Not yet in beta, Microsoft's Windows Live Folders will allow users to upload files to the Web via Internet Explorer or Firefox and organize them into personal, shared, and public folders. The service -- in part fueled by Microsoft's 2005 acquisition of ByteTaxi FolderShare -- will tap Microsoft Live ID to enable users to restrict access to files, share documents with designated users, or open access to their files to the public at large as they see fit.