Considering Windows Phone 8, Lumia 925

[Rising Mos]

Yes, an improvement but not the best solution. it is now similar to IOS where you can attach 1 file into new emails. You can attach more than 1 file for pictures.

 

[MDak280]

About the Microsoft account thing. When you log into your Microsoft account, it doesn't change/hide files on your computer, it's just that when you're on SkyDrive, you will see your SkyDrive files, not your wife's. You will see your emails when you're on outlook, not your wife's. Your contacts, your calendar. But when you go to the windows file explorer all the files on your computer are still there.

Are you on Windows 7 or 8? On Windows 7 I downloaded the SkyDrive "app" from Microsoft which basically makes it so that you can see you SkyDrive account as a folder on your computer's file explorer. It's very handy and you can drag and drop files in there and it will sync and show you the sync status with a little symbol. I am not sure if you can use this app to have two separate SkyDrive folders show up in the file explorer (yours and your wife's) but if you can that might be a nice solution. It should also be available on W8 in the desktop mode.

 

[tpapictures]

Well I was told that any user generated data would be different. So game saves, MS Office docs would be different and that will be problematic because we share these things.

 

[Chris_Kez]

I wish I knew all of this stuff inside and out so I could give you a 100% complete answer and you could get on with things; but I don't, and I can't. Hopefully you're compiling notes as everyone tosses out little scraps of information (and raises more questions for every one that is answered).

I can perhaps clarify and re-state some things about your 6th concern (Accounts (SkyDrive, Office Docs, etc.). Everything I'm about to say is based on my use of Windows Phone 8 and Windows 7. Let me say straight away that you CAN share documents, and both you and your wife can access them on your respective phones/devices as well as any shared pc's. Having a Windows Phone and an associated MS account has no real impact on the use of Windows 7. Either of you can log into the computer with your usual profile or as an admin and have all the usual access and controls. Since you don't use your phone for music or video, the only reason to connect your phone to the computer would be to move/sync photos or documents. You can connect via USB and just drag/drop these things back and forth. Take note of which file types are supported by WP8, lest you get an unpleasant surprise. You can also use the "Windows Phone app for desktop" to sync photos. Lastly, you can use SkyDrive- and that's what this post is all about.

Now, if you're using Windows 7 you've only been concerned with your user profiles on that machine. If you get a Windows Phone, you will need to create a Microsoft Account (if you don't already have one). This MS account is for you and you alone, and it has nothing to do with the user profiles on a Windows 7 machine. If you have Windows 8, you will likely log into the computer with this account as well (though it is possible to create an "offline" profile). This MS account links to three core areas (and maybe a few things I'm not thinking of):

• Xbox services: your gamertag and achievements; Xbox Music & Video; Xbox Live; associated points, features, services
• App Stores: separate stores for Windows 8 and Windows Phone where you buy apps and games
• MS Online Services: a single, unified web portal for Outlook.com Mail, Calendar, People/Contacts, SkyDrive.
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You can share SkyDrive folders, documents, files and photos with other people. All of the other stuff is linked to your unique account and is managed in the cloud; no pc syncing option the way there is with iOS/iTunes. This means no app sharing. Back to SkyDrive; you can make the contents Public or send a link to others that will allow either Read-Only access or Read/Edit access. The documents you create will "live" in your SkyDrive account (7GB free), in whatever folder you assign them to. SkyDrive also has a Shared tab/view that shows all the things you share with others or that others have shared with you. So even though a document is "your's" and resides in your SkyDrive folder, other people who have access to it can see it in the Shared view within their own SkyDrive account. They can open it from there and make changes- these sync across and the file remains attached to your account. The other person could theoretically download any items to another device or computer then re-upload them to their SkyDrive account (but I believe this creates a new, separate version). So in this way documents, etc. are tied to your account (and count against your cloud storage) but can be accessed and edited by others. What your wife will not have is what I would call a "native" or "first-person" view of your SkyDrive account. You could make everything in there shared, but she would need to log into the cloud service with your account in order to have the kind of admin access you do. With your credentials, she could access your account from the desktop client, from the web portal or from a mobile app. What she cannot do is use your account with the integrated services on her phone. The Office hub and Photo hub are linked to the MS account associated with the phone. Contacts, messages, apps, the store, etc. are also linked to the MS account associated with the phone.

Back on the Windows 7 pc, the SkyDrive desktop client works the same way. You log into it with your MS account (just as would do with say the desktop Skype client), and it will sync the cloud and the local versions of your SkyDrive folders. Again, this has nothing to do with your user profile on the computer. Once up and running (and you can just leave it running) SkyDrive essentially looks like just another drive in your file structure. Your wife could also maintain a local version of her SkyDrive account. I think it is a little tricky, but it can be done without much difficulty. However, the desktop client can only actively sync and manage one account at a time. Again, you still have access to anything that has been shared with you, but I don't believe you can navigate through file structure of the other person's SkyDrive account. To do that you need to sign out of the desktop client then sign back in with the other person's account. I think the computer may need to re-sync everything at that point, but I have never actually done this so I'm not 100% certain. Of course you could always copy anything directly to the computer's C: drive and create a unique local version. Or you could just use the web portal to access the other account and keep the desktop client logged into your account.

Long story short, there are some wrinkles but ultimately it is not that difficult to share documents, photos or other files regardless of who creates it.

As mentioned, game saves and apps are a different story. Those are tied to your respective accounts. If you both use Netflix, each of you needs to download the app from the store with your own MS account. Obviously you can use the same Netflix account within the app to watch stuff. If you wanted to sync contacts and calendars I'm sure there is a way to do that but I've never tried.

If you're talking about using a Windows 8 pc, there is a whole different set of issues related to profiles and accounts. I don't have Windows 8 so I can't help you there. I know it is possible to "share" Windows 8 apps so you only have to purchase once, but I think you actually have to download twice and they live as separate and distinct instances. I really have no idea how different accounts access and work with shared documents but I'm sure it's possible. It's probably worth searching other threads or creating a new one specifically focused on sharing a Windows 8 computer with multiple users.

Sorry this was so long, but hopefully it had a few helpful nuggets.

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Cheers, Chris

 

[MDak280]

Well I was told that any user generated data would be different. So game saves, MS Office docs would be different and that will be problematic because we share these things.

I think that you should make a Microsoft account online along with your wife, and see if you can answer the question by testing it yourself. I don't understand what you mean, so doing that could work. You don't need a Windows Phone to make a Microsoft account and use SkyDrive.