The SharePoint Conference 2014 in March announced some exciting changes to OneDrive for Business in Office 365, part of the entire SharePoint experience. Those changes are beginning to take shape now, and innovations such as Simple Controls, Site Folders, Smarter Search, and more have users buzzing.
Most of these changes are designed to make common tasks simpler. There are new buttons for many tasks that are more intuitive than in previous versions, and site folders help you organize your files. Smarter Search also assists in finding items quickly.
The goal of the new changes, according to Microsoft, is to make the user experience clean, neat, simple and intuitive while maintaining high storage and syncing capabilities. Here is a closer look at some of the changes Microsoft has implement as part of the whole SharePoint improvement.
- Simple Controls. OneDrive now has even simpler controls that appear above personal work document folders. This change was made in response to user input on the intuitive qualities of some other programs when compared to SharePoint. Now, users can do most jobs with a single click such as share files, sync, and create documents.
- Site Folders. If you follow a SharePoint Online site, you will find new Site Folders that link the main OneDrive for Business directly to document libraries. This allows you to find your documents and access them quickly from OneDrive. Users can now manage both personal and shared documents from the same location.
- Smarter Search. The search feature has been expanded to look for files in more places, making a search much more thorough and simpler than in the past.
- Profile Picture Icon. As part of the overall facelift of OneDrive, Microsoft has changed the user interface where the profile picture appears. Users searching for you will now be taken directly to your About Me page, which has been improved to highlight commonalities with those who search for you.
- The Recycle Bin is now easier to find and use.
Changes are currently being rolled out worldwide, so expect to see them soon. Not all programs will update simultaneously, so some users in a business may have changes before others. The improvements apply to all Office 365 business plans. However, Office 365 dedicated plans will not be affected since they operate in a unique infrastructure that is not affected by updates.
Enjoy the new Office 365 changes and updates!