Among all of the cloud storage providers, Dropbox has become known for being one of the best in the business. Like many cloud storage options, Dropbox allows for a desktop or device client to store their files on both the device and the cloud. In a major advancement with Project Infinite, files stored in the cloud will no longer take up space on devices until they are used, freeing up many GBs of space.
Right now, in order for a file to show up within the local Dropbox client, the file would have to be synced and take up local storage space. This is especially troublesome for phones and tablets which often are very space constrained. With the new system, cloud files can be visible within the client, but will only be fetched from the cloud once the user interacts and requires the use of the file.
This feature was something Microsoft once implemented with OneDrive/SkyDrive with Windows 8.1. Unfortunately, the feature was stripped out with Windows 10, leaving others to fill the void. Microsoft claimed compatibility and user confusion as their major hurdles but it seems Dropbox has solved any issues with such a system working within Windows. Perhaps now that Dropbox has beaten them, Microsoft may reconsider their approach with OneDrive. Project Infinite is in private beta for now but expect it to arrive shortly once all the bugs are ironed out.
