When Microsoft announced in November it would stop offering unlimited storage for OneDrive users, replacing it with 1TB of storage, the decision didn't sit well with people. The company also reduced the storage for users of OneDrive's free version from 15GB to 5GB. The changes were necessary, Microsoft reasoned, due to a small number of users who were using too much storage -- in some cases, more than 75TB per user.
More than 72,000 users signed an online petition requesting that Microsoft reverse its decision, claiming it was unfair to make everyone to suffer because of a small subset of users who abused the service.
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The company finally gave in last week. In a note to users, Douglas Pearce, group program manager, wrote that Microsoft was sorry for the "frustration and disappointment" the decision caused.
"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," he wrote.
While Microsoft stood firm on its decision to kill unlimited OneDrive storage, it did present a new offer to users: Any subscriber to Microsoft's Office 365 home, personal or university programs who received more than 1TB of storage in the past would be able to keep it for at least 12 months.
Those who used OneDrive's free service to store more than 5GB of content will receive one free year of Office 365 Personal, which includes 1TB of storage.
The company will let the service's "biggest fans," as Microsoft put it, keep their 15GB of free storage and 15GB of camera roll bonus, even when the new changes go into effect early next year. To take advantage of the offer, which is good until the end of January, visit the OneDrive site and click on "keep your free storage."
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