Google Drive users, beware: The company has started the process of winding down the file-synchronizing app, and will stick the last knife in it by March 12.
As of yesterday, Google Drive for both Mac and PC is “officially deprecated,” the company noted in a blog post detailing its transition plan for the file-syncing service.
Google will stop supporting Drive on Dec. 11 — meaning users won’t be able to update the app after that — with the final shutdown date set for March 12, 2018.
Google Drive will be replaced with something called Backup and Sync, which does exactly what its name suggests: It backs up and synchronizes files stored locally on your computer to the cloud, making them available on all your devices.
You don’t have to wait until Google Drive is completely dead, as Backup and Sync is already available.
Thursday’s announcement was aimed at IT administrators at companies that offer Google’s G Suite tools — Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Calendar — to employees. Those administrators will be replacing Drive soon with Drive File Stream. So if you’ve been using Drive at work, you could soon be switching to the new file syncing system in the near future: Drive File Stream becomes generally available on Sept. 26.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist