RSSMicrosoft Commits to Windows Live
By Ed Oswald | Published June 19, 2006, 5:19 PM
Microsoft said Monday that it was committing fully to Windows Live, with 20 new services currently in various stages of testing. The company says it is making "tremendous progress," mainly due to its engagement of consumers in the beta development process.
Windows Live Messenger is the first global product from the lineup to come out of beta, and the company says others would soon follow. The instant messaging client was selected as the first to exit beta because of its importance in tying other Live services together.
"In many ways Windows Live Messenger is one of the main hubs of Windows Live," Windows Live and MSN corporate vice president Martin Taylor said. "Windows Live Messenger also is the first core service that incorporates the sleek user interface and look-and-feel that will be used across all of the Windows Live services."
The company additionally plans to extend more invitations to Hotmail users to invite them to try the Windows Live Mail beta. Taylor said that Microsoft is focused on making the transition as smooth as possible.
"We're committed to delivering a set of services that puts all users firmly in control of their individual experiences on the Web and enables them to more easily stay connected, informed and protected," he said of future services. Microsoft believes that online communication is changing, and quickly becoming a part of their daily life.
The company also plans to open up the Windows Live platform eventually to allow advertisers, developers and businesses to build their services on top of Windows Live. An SDK is currently in beta testing.
"Windows Live is a huge growth opportunity for Microsoft," Taylor said. As such, the company plans to dedicate $1.1 billion of the company's $6.2 billion 2007 research budget to Windows Live services. "This doesn't mean that Microsoft is backing away from our other core businesses," he added.
Taylor elaborated on future Windows Live launch plans as well. Windows Live Custom Domains will officially launch in the coming weeks, while Windows Live Spaces, Friends-of-Friends Social Networking, and Windows Live Expo will launch during the summer. More innovations in search and live.com are coming soon.
"This is an exciting time for services as well as for Microsoft, and there's more to come," Taylor said.
UMMM, i wonder when all of the live products will finally all be out!
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|It would be nice if once, just once, Microsoft supported industry standards instead of comming up with it's own incompatible variation. It's starting to look like incompatibility is their primary design objective.
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|uhh? What are you talking about? Isn't standard is when a product capture the majority of the market shares? Most products MS put out capture most market shares in their respected field. Now that is standard.
An example of non-standard is SONY MD.
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|so many give Microsoft a bad time but having been working with the windows live items for past 9 months or so this is one of the best things they have come up with
a bata tester
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|...
The PC Rat predicts not much more will
come of this than, say, Windows Passport
or Microsoft's 'big commitment' a few
years ago to voice recognition technology.
Microsoft is the quinessential Yuppie:
They get entirely devoted and fanatical
about something ...for a few weeks.
We'd be much more impressed if they
announced success ~after~ accomplishing
something rather than before.
...
The Computer Rodent
...
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|you are possibly still running windows 3.1 or did you make it to W95????????
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|...
"you are possibly still
running windows 3.1 or
did you make it to W95?"
...
Two machines here are WinXP Pro, our third is
WinXP Home.
But the PC Rat has experience through Win 3.1
and, indeed, back through MS-DOS 4.0 !
Thank you for inquiring.
...
The Computer Rodent
...
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|Why are you referring to yourself in 3rd person, that's a sign of insanity you know..
But, I kinda agree Microsoft have often got some great ideas that they just can't do. But I'm assured that great changes are happening at MS.
One thing MS haven't grasped properly is good design, Vista is very nice, but all these little icons and such are over the top, I look at tiny dialogs sometimes and think, these should be a lot simpler, perhaps even Typography playing more an important part in to styling the visual aspect of Windows (kinda like OS X).
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|...
"Why are you referring
to yourself in 3rd person,
that's a sign of insanity
you know"
...
No.
Wasting time with some of the people here is
the sign of insanity !
...
The Computer Rodent
...
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|You might wanna think about investing in whats known as 'life'... :s
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|Could I please open a new account using Windows Live Mail Beta? I do want to try it. Please. Thank you!!!
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|yeh you can the live messenger is damn cool
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