OneDrive users will probably remember the "placeholders" feature, which allowed synchronizing and opening a file in the cloud with just a double-click. Microsoft made the terrible decision to remove that feature in Windows 10, but the folks at Dropbox decided to pick up the gauntlet with their new Project Infinite. It is currently in private beta, although its goal is very similar to the old OneDrive: sync and open files in a single move, across all your platforms.
Why Microsoft Abandoned It
Why did Microsoft decide to remove what many users considered the best OneDrive feature? According to the Redmond giant, dynamic synchronization caused confusion and presented several compatibility problems with a good number of programs. The technical issues are not hard to understand, but what never made sense for OneDrive users is that Microsoft preferred not to face those issues. What do we have today? The same total and/or selective synchronization as always. Everything must be decided in advance, when what we want is, in essence, a cloud hard drive.
How Dropbox Infinite Works
Dropbox Infinite points in that direction. No matter if the files have been synced or are in the cloud, Infinite will allow all of them to appear on the desktop at the same time. Want to edit one? Double-click, dynamic sync, and open. Dropbox will continue using its classic green check to identify content that was synced locally, but with Infinite, files stored in their service will have a small cloud icon. Dynamic syncing not only takes a weight off the user, but also proves very useful on devices with limited internal storage. There are too many hybrids on the market with 16 or 32 GB, and without the help of services like Dropbox, it becomes very hard to work with them.
Demo and Future
The Project Infinite demo was presented at the Dropbox Open conference a couple of days ago, and it will continue in private beta for a while, but basically what Dropbox achieves is covering a demand. Its cross-platform support and backward compatibility are two very powerful details that play in favor of Infinite, and with a little luck, it will force the hand of its competitors.
