According to several reports, citing official as well as unofficial sources, the SkyDrive cloud storage service from Microsoft will apparently get a few notable upgrades in 2012, including a Metro-style app with Windows 8.

Going by a recent post on Microsoft's Building Windows 8 blog, SkyDrive will get a desktop app for Internet Explorer, along with the capability of fetching remote files from the Web.

While Microsoft has already demonstrated SkyDrive's file synchronization, secure remote access, and Windows 8 integration; new rumors have it that the other enhancements set to come aboard the product will include paid storage upgrades, a new Mac client, secure storage of BitLocker keys, and support for OpenDocument (ODF) files.

Noting that Microsoft is aiming to see SkyDrive "evolve with Windows 8 from a website today into a true device cloud for Windows customers," Mike Torres and Omar Shahine - SkyDrive's group program managers - said in a post that the company wanted to ensure that Windows 8 would facilitate the instantly availability of `up-to-date' files as users switch from one PCs to another, without configuring add-ons or using a USB drive.

Further adding that such a move would help Microsoft bring "a file cloud to every Metro style app," Torres and Shahine said that the mentioned advancement would enable users to "open files in your SkyDrive and save them right back to your SkyDrive just like you would on your local hard drive."