Google Drive and Photos on PC and Mac, beware that both apps are being eliminated starting December 11, 2017, and shut off entirely in March next year. Don’t mourn their loss too much, though. Both have already been replaced by a single app called Google Backup and Sync, which handles photos and data simultaneously. Business and enterprise users, meanwhile, are being shuffled to Drive File Stream, which is now in wide release after a limited launch in March.
Google Drive for Mac/PC App Is Going Away Soon
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Google Drive Mac and Windows PC {New Copy} Free Download 2023
Google Drive for Mac/PC App: you may be using it on your Mac, and the PC is going away soon. But Google has a new alternative that lets you quickly access all your files from the cloud. It’s called Drive File Stream, and it’s what you should be using in the future. The regular Google Drive app will be shut down by next March, so the faster you move to Drive File Stream, the better for yourself and your business.
Google explained in a blog post that Drive users would see settings for the Drive File Stream app appear in the Admin console starting Thursday. The settings won’t go into effect until September 26, when the app becomes available, and links will be shown in the Drive interface only if you see them in Backup and Sync or Google Drive for Mac and PC.
Google Drive on PC/Mac is dead; long live Backup and Sync.
Backup and Sync lets you backup and sync photos and files from PC folders, USB keys and SD cards to the cloud, so they’re available anywhere. The original Google Drive was not so convenient, requiring you to use two separate apps for files and photos. That could affect your storage space dramatically — if you upload images to Drive, it counts against your space, but if you upload them to Photos (using the “high,” not “original” setting), it doesn’t. At the same time, PC backups are now a more automated process.
If you’re a G Suite admin managing Google products for a company, then you’d better get acquainted with the new Drive File Stream and use it instead of Google Drive and Backup and Sync.
Regular Google users will be better off getting the consumer sync client announced a few weeks ago. The Backup and Sync tool is already available to download. Businesses can also use Backup and Sync, though they should pick just one solution to manage their files — the Drive File Stream app is optimized for enterprise use and may be the better choice. You should pick one or the other soon, as Google Drive is going away for good, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
So what is this application?
According to PC World magazine, Google is not making changes to the cloud service called Google Drive but rather to the app you may have installed on your computer so that your files reside on your computer and in the cloud. This app, called Google Drive for Mac/PC, will cease to exist on March 12, 2018. However, it is being replaced by Drive File Stream.
Drive File Stream is a new app that allows you to (kind of) share a hard drive between teams and organizations. All files will be kept in the cloud and available from anywhere. Your computer will appear to have a folder of all your files in your Drive. This will allow you to edit non-Google files without downloading them from the cloud.
An example would be if you had an Adobe Photoshop file (.psd extension) in your Drive and wanted to edit it; you don’t have to download or upload it. Now you can edit while it remains in the cloud.
Drive File Stream is a G-Suite app and thus is only available with your school Google account. If you have used Google Drive for Mac/PC with your personal Gmail account, you have another option called Backup and Sync. Backup and Sync are available to all Google users (i.e., you can use this with your Winchester PC account, too). This works more similarly to the app that is disappearing. With this option, your files will be stored physically on your PC or Mac hard drive.
The Google Drive App is Going Away. But Relax — There’s a Better Solution
That’s right. The old Google Drive app is going away, but that doesn’t mean you’ll have to migrate off the popular cloud storage app or move to a different service.
The replacement app will depend on whether you are a business or a consumer user. Right now, both groups are using the same Google Drive app. However, they are splitting into separate desktop apps.
Business users (using the full suite of apps) should click to install Drive File Stream. This allows the same functionality as before but with much-needed bandwidth and storage improvements. Support has been added for the syncing of Team Drives. Files are accessed on demand to use less storage space on hard drives.
The app is available for both Windows and Mac users. However, the location of Drive has changed. For Mac users, Drive is found in Finder under Devices. In Windows, users can find their files as a mounted drive in My Computer.
Consumer users of free Google products (such as Drive, Gmail, Calendar, etc.) will be directed to download Google Backup and Sync. This makes it easy to access, Sync and backup files and photos from external SD cards, such as digital cameras, GoPros and drones.
You’ll still be using the same Google Drive interface on the web, and those synced photos will be there. Previously consumers needed two separate apps, one for Google Drive and one for Photos. This new single app replaces both of those.
Google Backup and Sync is available for both Windows and Mac users. The mobile apps you use for Google Drive will stay the same as the web version of Drive. The only change is the desktop sync apps. If you’ve been unsure or hesitating, it’s perfectly OK to download these replacement apps. It’s a positive change; both apps contain new features that save time and hard drive space.
What is Drive File Stream for G Suite Users?
According to the G Suite blog post, Drive File Stream will be a new application that G Suite for Education domain users can install on their laptops or desktop computers. This will not be something available for regular consumer Google accounts.
The Drive File Stream will
- allow access to Google Drive files on demand on your computer
- allow view access to Team Drive files on demand on your computer
- spend less time waiting for files to sync!
Drive File Stream does not replace Backup & Sync. A G Suite for Education user can use both Backup & Sync and Drive File Stream simultaneously on their computer. Still, there are some things to understand and consider between the two separate applications. Here is an explanation of what users can do when they have both applications installed and running simultaneously. But here’s the gist:
- Drive File Stream can access and sync Google Drive files to your computer.
- Backup & Sync can be used to back up & sync your photos and other folders on your computer to Google Drive.
- It is recommended that you turn off Google Drive sync in Backup & Sync (because Drive File Stream will do this for you already, and it will save hard drive space on your computer)
- When you set up Drive File Stream, you will be prompted to turn off Google Dive sync on Backup & Sync (this is the recommendation)
So why does everyone think Google Drive is going away?
The G Suite blog post mentions that “With this launch, Google Drive for Mac/PC is officially deprecated. It will no longer be supported starting on December 11, 2017, and it will shut down completely on March 12, 2018.” So what does this mean?
- If you haven’t updated the Drive for Mac/PC application to the new Backup & Sync computer application, you will need to do so by March 12, 2018. (the Drive for Mac/PC application on your computer will no longer work)
- In October, if you haven’t updated yet, you will see warning messages about Drive for Mac/PC going away.
That’s all this fuss means! See, it’s not that big of a deal! And in fact, the new Backup & Sync and Drive File Stream will work better and faster for you!
Conclusion
Google also fully launched Drive File Stream, an app that performs roughly the same chores as Backup and Sync but for enterprise and business users. It has more team-oriented features, like on-demand film streaming and access to Team Drives.
The loss of Drive on the desktop wouldn’t affect your life much unless you liked the old Drive logo, which has been changed to something that resembles Microsoft’s OneDrive icon. Google also points out that you may soon see messages notifying you that “Drive for Mac/PC is going away,” presumably to join Google Reader and others in the great App Graveyard.
Author’s Opinion regarding the Google Drive For Mac
Google Drive For Mac has powerful features while considering the security purpose; the priority is very high. No VPN or RDP is required for the said purpose. In some cases, the emulator also works fine, and middleware software also has a vital role in smooth functioning. Therefore, the author recommended Google Drive For Mac for your personal use and has no issue regarding the installation on PC (Windows and Mac). I hope you also use it without any trouble. If you have any issues, please mention them in the email, and we will provide you with proper solutions. Please like and share with others; we made a lot of effort while collecting the software for your download.
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