Microsoft's move to reduce its free OneDrive storage offering from a hefty 15GB to a paltry 5GB have irked its user base. While Redmond also has its plans to remove its unlimited storage offering, the plans to reduce the free storage was the reason behind the bigger backlash from its users. A petition has began to have Microsoft return its free storage to its users, and the software giant took it upon themselves to resolve the matter.
"We've heard clearly from our Windows and OneDrive fans about the frustration and disappointment we have caused," a Microsoft spokesperson said. "We realize the announcement came across as blaming customers for using our product. For this, we are truly sorry and would like to apologize to the community."
Although Microsoft will be keeping its move to remove its unlimited storage offering, the software giant will be allowing users of OneDrive to keep their existing 15GB of free storage. It also includes the 15GB camera roll bonus on top of it, giving them a total of 30GB storage for free.
However, it is important to note that the feature isn't automatic. It requires a OneDrive user to opt-in in order for them to keep their free OneDrive space, which would likely mean that OneDrive users who aren't aware of the changes might be left out of the free storage retainment if they aren't able to opt-in until Jan. 31 of next year.
Furthermore, Microsoft isn't planning to let down its bigger plans ahead to discontinue its unlimited storage offering. The decision is final. It is due to the fact that Microsoft discovered a small number of OneDrive users are backing up multiple PCs, movie collections and DVR recordings, which exceed the 75TB mark per user or 14,000 times the average. Redmond is also dropping the 100GB and 200GB OneDrive paid plans, and instead will roll out a 50GB plan for the same US$1.99 per month by next year.
