Skydrive, Microsoft's cloud storage service, has recently undergone a major overhaul to its looks.

The most notable change is the service's homepage, SkyDrive.com. The new design has the look and feel of Microsoft's Windows 8 user interface. Everything on the homepage has the UI's default tile look, and SkyDrive's folders operate much like a live tile in Windows 8. If a folder contains multiple images, some of these images will cycle through display much like the People's Hub tile on Windows Phone.

"We've updated nearly 100% of the SkyDrive UI to provide a fast and fluid Web experience on all browsers and devices," said SkyDrive group program managers Omar Shahine and Mike Torres in a blog post on Tuesday. 

"We focused on minimizing CPU time while looking for changes, which has significantly reduced the total work that we do on every scan--meaning a much faster sync experience and more time for your CPU to tackle its other tasks," said Shahine and Torres. 

The main functional features of the overhaul are a new web front, faster uploading of documents and files, new tools for developers, and an upcoming application for Google Android devices. Currently, the only SkyDrive app available is for Windows Phone and the Apple iPhone, along with software for Windows desktop and Mac OSX. 

With SkyDrive's revamp, restrictions on photo resolution have been lifted. HD photos will no longer be compressed when uploaded to SkyDrive.

SkyDrive offers users 7GB of free storage; those who have been grandfathered in from the service's early days keep their free 25GB worth of space. Additional storage will cost from $10 per year for 20GB to $50 per year for 100GB.