Google has unveiled Google Drive, a cloud storage service for storing your files on-line and sharing them between various computers and devices, every Google user get  5GB of storage for free.

Google Drive is the next generation of Google Docs, just like before you can access all of your files in one place and easily share with others. You can still create new documents, presentation and spreadsheets, but now you can add other applications too.

Google Drive comes with a desktop application for Mac and PC that adds a Drive folder on your computer. Any file you drag into this folder syncs automatically, with Google Drive on the web, and across your devices. There are two small issues with the desktop application, first you can only use one account per computer; otherwise you have to sign out and delete the entire Google Drive folder from your computer. The second issue is that Google Docs will only open in a web browser; making a strange disconnection between desktop and browser.

Everyone gets  5GB of storage for free, but if you need more 25GB costs $2.5 per month, 100GB cost $5 per month, with storage plans going up to a whooping 16TB!

Drive allows you to use the Google search box to quickly find your file, and filter by file type or owner; very handy when you have hundred of documents to search through. Another feature that makes finding files easier is a new grid view so you can see your files at a glance. Drive’s best feature is the ability to search for text within scanned documents and even image files with no text at all. For example, searching for “Mount Everest” will show all your photos of Mount Everest and any documents that contain text about Mount Everest.

All of these features give Google Drive, a massive advantage over competitors like Dropbox and Microsoft’s SkyDrive. To get Google Drive go to drive.google.com and click Get started with 5 GB free.

For a comparison of different Cloud Storage Services check out The Verge‘s report: Google Drive vs. Dropbox, SkyDrive, SugarSync, and others: a cloud sync storage face-off