But while antivirus software is somewhat redundant on modern machines (built-in solutions like Windows Security are good enough for many people!), cloud storage is so useful and so in-demand that more users will be caught in a lurch if they use it for a period of time and aren’t ready to pay up. After a year or so, the freebies disappear unless you open up your wallet. This concept will be familiar to anyone who’s ever accepted a free trial for something like Norton Antivirus after booting up a new laptop for the first time. Unlike the soupçon of free storage given away with new accounts at places like OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive, the larger freebies associated with a new laptop purchase have a time limit. But exercise a smidgen of caution before you load up a hundred gigs or so of cloud space with essential documents or precious memories. So it makes sense that “free” cloud storage is being given away with the purchase of new PCs.
Cloud storage is a big business, and it’s being made by sold of the same corporations that make components of the laptops being sold on store shelves all over the world.