Microsoft revamped its SkyDrive online file storage and collaboration platform, burying the No Downloads sign deeper into the cloud and adding other enhancements to the cloud-based service.

SkyDrive’s UI has been improved to make the whole process of organizing files and folders more efficient and less clumsy so to speak, addressing on-going users ‘complaints. On top of that, drag-and-drop functionality has been added to make file uploads more interactive for browsers, with support for the HTML5 File API.  Microsoft is still working out some support issues with IE 10, but overall the update has been optimized to work across all platforms.

Beyond interface improvements, another addition to SkyDrive is the ability to post documents to social networking sites and share them via links, which lead to a web-based version of the file with some similarities to Google Docs.  Microsoft also extended file support to include raw camera footage and tweaked the ability to view PDF files.

“In the name of making SkyDrive a better platform for documents, Microsoft has crafted it so PDFs will load in whatever the user’s browser supports; for example, those with Chrome will see PDFs opened via SkyDrive in Chrome’s native PDF viewer,” according to reports.

This update is Microsoft’s latest push into the cloud, as the company tries to catch up with competitors by hurling its offerings forward.  They’ve has been particularly successful on the personal cloud front with the Xbox 360’s gradual transformation to a household entertainment console, and now it may even spin off Kinect to support other devices.

Competition is intensifying, and not just from Microsoft’s direction.  Apple may have gotten itself an edge over other music locker services, keeping rivals like Google and Amazon at bay with iTunes Match. This latest iCloud tool doesn’t require users to manually upload whole playlists to the locker, but instead compares individual songs with the 20 million or so Apple owns the label rights for, and automatically transfers those from Apple’s servers to the locker.  The rest needs to be uploaded by the user.