Live.com = Vista Homepage

Niall Kennedy, that will join Microsoft's Windows Live division, found out what will be Internet Explorer 7's homepage.

Live.com is the new default home page for users of the Internet Explorer 7 and the Windows Vista operating system. Live.com will be the first feed syndication experience for hundreds of millions of users who would love to add more content to their page, connect with friends, and take control of the flow of information in ways geeks have for years.

So the new major competitor for google.com will be live.com. Microsoft will try to boost its search market share, bring RSS feeds to mainstream and market everything as Windows Live. Including desktop software.

Related:
Windows Live is a big bet
Windows Live Toolbar Review
Windows Live Messenger Review

Windows Live Mail Review

Ok, this is not a joke. No more April Fool's Day pranks. This a serious review for Windows Live Mail Beta, an innovative webmail system from Microsoft, that wants to replace the good old Hotmail.

But how can you be serious when you get this? Look closely, click on the image to enlarge it. This is Microsoft's Gmail-killer.



Ok, so the interface is messed up, the navigation system is not built with text links, or images, there's just some text that has onclick events, so when you go to the mouse over the text, the cursor doesn't change.

You can barely see your mail, the advertising is very close to the scrollbar (like the new Yahoo Mail) and sometimes comes on top of your content, the mail search doesn't work, the rich-text editor has flaws (you can't change the font size).

Of course, you have 2 GB mail space and a Ajax-based interface. But who cares when you actually can't work with this pre-alpha mail client. Fortunately, you have the option to switch to the classic interface and keep the 2 GB.

I tested Windows Live Mail on Windows XP with Internet Explorer SP2. If you try to open it with Firefox, you'll get an unfriendly message and then you'll have to select the classic view, because, as you know, Firefox is not powerful enough to render Windows Live Mail correctly.




To see for yourself, get an invitation from ideas.live.com.

Let's see my ratings:
Yahoo Mail Beta: 7/10
Gmail rating: 8.5/10
Windows Live Mail Beta: 4/10

Related:
Yahoo Mail Beta Review
The new Yahoo Mail will have obtrusive ads
5 fast ways to check your Gmail account

Update: I refreshed IE a couple of times and the interface seemed better, but what if I resize the page?

Windows Live Toolbar Shines

I think this blog will become Google Operating System vs Windows Live. This year is crucial for Microsoft, they'll launch a new operating system, a new office suite, they'll finish Windows Live project, they'll try to improve their search engine and they'll launch MSN adCenter. Maybe they try too much.

Windows Live Toolbar (if you want to visit the page, you should first sign in) is, of course, a replacement for MSN Search Toolbar.



What features does it have:
• Search using Windows Live Search
• Phishing Filter (will be built-in in IE 7)
• Collect, organize and share the info you find online
• Auto-detect a site's RSS feeds, and have them automatically sent to your personalized Live.com home page
• Access your favorites from any PC
• Tabbed browsing (will be built-in in IE 7)

It's nice that the installer is just 800 KB and includes only the basic features. If you want more (desktop search, RSS feeds detector) you can select them from a list.

The cool thing about this toolbar is that it includes Onfolio, a technology recently acquired by Microsoft, that lets you capture sites (recursively, with advanced restrictions), manage collections of sites, read RSS news feeds, and share content in emails, blogs and documents. It's useful for research, blogging and it looks pretty impressive. You can create a collection of sites, pages, snippets and organize them in folders, search them or include in your blog.

Windows Live Search is slow, but nice - it uses Ajax to create an "infinte" stream of results so you never click Next. Feed Search lets you preview RSS feeds and add them to Live homepage, while Image Search enlargers images when hovering them. Just cosmetic changes.

Live Favorites didn't seem to work for me: I couldn't add any site to the list.

Except for the custom buttons and the spell-checking that are very nice implemented in Google Toolbar, Windows Live Toolbar has almost everything and will definitely be a success.

Windows Live Messenger Beta Review

Windows Live Messenger (or MSN Messenger 8.0 if you don't give a damn about the Live brand) is an invite-only beta. You can get an invitation from http://ideas.live.com.

After you download the whooping 13.5MB, you get the translucent dialog from the right. There aren't many changes in Windows Live Messenger.

Sharing Folders - new and simple way to share personal photos, documents, and files with your Messenger contacts. You will be able to create a Sharing Folder by simply dragging files onto a contact name in Messenger. This will create an exact copy of the files on both you and your contact's computers, and create a Sharing Folder that can be accessed from Messenger, and on the desktop.

Live Call - using Windows Live Call in Messenger, you’ll be able to start making calls within minutes to your friends across the country or around the world by signing up for MCI Web Calling. You will be able to purchase minutes upfront from MCI and then add minutes when your balance runs low. This feature is not included yet.



If you still wonder what's the Live thing, here's a semi-official explanation: "After a few successful years, the creators of the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer split the cast and concept in half and created a new and almost equally successful show, Angel. Buffy focused on the human experience, while Angel catered to the sci-fi-action-loving crowd. Think of MSN like Buffy and Windows Live like the Angel spin-off: same people and same missions, but divided in the interest of better focus. MSN now means content, like MSN.com and MSNBC. While Windows Live means services like Live.com, Mail, and of course, Instant Messaging."

Windows Live Local

Microsoft launched Windows Live Local, a new version of its Virtual Earth aerial image service. Using images and technology from Pictometry International Corp., a specialist in this area that signed a licensing deal with Microsoft earlier this year, Windows Live Local will give users images of a much higher resolution and quality than Virtual Earth. Users will be able to zoom in much closer and also tilt the view to see buildings and streets from different angles, and not just directly from above. Virtual Earth is able to do this, but Windows Live Local's ability is more sophisticated and extensive.

Features like Birds Eye imagery and User pushpins are pretty nice. Right now that only covers about 25 percent of the market (U.S. metro areas). But eventually it will be national and international.

Try Windows Live Local.

What more to expect from Windows Live in the future?

• Windows Live Mail - a new, global Web e-mail service, built from the ground up to be faster, safer and simpler.
  


• Windows Live Messenger will help individuals deepen their connections with the people they care about through instant messaging, file and photo sharing, PC-based calling, and more.
  


• Windows Live Safety Center - a Web site where users can scan for and remove viruses from their PC on demand.
  


• Windows Live Favorites - a service that enables individuals to access their Microsoft Internet Explorer and MSN Explorer favorites from any PC that’s online.

Enjoy some pictures from Windows Live launch.

Windows Live on Live.com

Bill Gates announced Windows Live and Office Live. Windows Live homepage looks underwhelming in Internet Explorer, and is broken in Firefox.

So now on Live.com we have weather forecasts, stock quotes, email, horoscopes, an RSS reader. You can drag & drop and expand & collapse sections to your liking, and if you’re logged in, you can also see your new Hotmail messages right on the front-page .

As soon as we see MS Word, MS Excel, and MS PowerPoint as actual working (D)HTML pages (Q1 of 2006), this could become interesting.







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