Quick re-cap of Microsoft CES keynote.

I’m not going to say too much until I watch the On-Demand version but they did show some pretty cool stuff.

*Video Background: They showed Vista Ultimate with a video as a back ground.

*Picture Editing: They edited a picture with another version of the picture. They patched together a better version using the best stuff in both pictures.

*Live anywhere: They showed two people playing UNO online. One person with Vista and one with a 360.

*Xbox 360 IPTV: They showed IPTV on the 360. I don’t think they said if you have to get a new version of the 360 or not. It will be out holiday season 2007.

*Cooking with Bill Gates: Well not exactly but they showed something that reads RF-ID tags and gives you recipes the involve that product(s).

They showed more but I’ll wait until I see the keynote again. I might have some pictures and video clips later.

[EDIT: I would give you info on Windows Home Server but Microsoft cut off the demo because of intellectual property. Go figure.]

Links to view the Microsoft CES webcast!

Time:
The web cast starts at 6:30 Pacific but you should reserve your spot as the webcast may have a limit on users.

View it:
500k | 220k | 100k

Interoperability between Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger is now live!

Microsoft and Yahoo have enabled interoperability between there two messengers. No downloads are needed! (unless you don’t have the newer versions of the messengers) You do how ever have to sign up for the beta from Microsoft and Yahoo!. After you sign up all you have to do is restart your messenger!

Here is a test that I did….

Links:
Sign up for Live Messenger to Yahoo! Messenger interoperability
Sign up for Yahoo! Messenger to Live Messenger interoperability
Microsoft press release
Inside WLM blog post

Windows Live Messenger is out of beta!

Windows Live Messenger is now out of beta! There is no Yahoo chatting YET but its coming soon. Here is a overview of some of the things Windows Live Messenger can do!

 

• Call their phones. Call their PCs.

  Call your friends' mobile or landline phones. It's affordable both within the US and internationally. And calling someone's PC is always free.

• See them on the screen

  Show and tell: Grab a webcam and start a video conversation within minutes.

• Share stuff

  Set up a Sharing Folder with a friend. Drop in photos and other stuff, as many as your computer can handle. See it even when one of you is offline.

• Soon: talk to your Yahoo! friends, too

  Soon you'll be able to use Windows Live Messenger to talk to your friends who use Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. The world's largest IM network is getting even bigger.

So what are you waiting for? Join the worlds largest IM network today!

Posted by Aj Collins 

Protected: Pulled:Signup For The New @live.com Live ID Before Official Launch At June 20!!

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Live Mail gets rolled back to M5

The Windows Live Mail has rolled back to M5 due to some kinks in M6. Here is there blog entry….

You may have noticed that some of the new features in Windows Live Mail Beta have gone missing! Well, you’re right. We hit a couple of bumps with M6, our most recent release, but we’re working hard (and very late on a Friday) to bring back the great new features. In the meantime, we’ve restored the service to the prior release so that you can access your mail quickly and reliably without hitting any of those bumps. This is all new stuff we’re doing so we appreciate your patience while we work the kinks out.

For all you FireFox users out there, this means that you’re getting our Classic Hotmail experience for the time being. Don’t worry – we’ll get your new Windows Live experience working as soon as we can. And if you’ve been enjoying your Russian language version of Windows Live Mail, we’ll bring that right back, too.

Ben Poon

Windows Live Mail Beta Program Manager

Source: Live Mail Blog

By Aj Collins

Released: Windows Live Messenger 8.0689

There is a new build of Live Messenger out now! The build number is 8.0689! Here is what Leah posted in the Live Messenger blog………..
"

May 02       Released: Windows Live Messenger 8.0689    posted by Leah Spring was supposed to bring all kinds of wonderful things including  and  , the birthday of our very own Test-master Marty , and the first full non-beta release of Windows Live Messenger 8. Well, Spring fulfilled almost ALL of it's promises…   For two Betas now, we've been paddling down a steady stream of beta tester feedback, the good, the bad, & the ugly, er, aesthetically-challenged.   We've been trying new things out, experimenting, and attempting to answer the question "what IS Windows Live Messenger?"   Originally, we'd planned for springtime to mark the end of the Beta, but like your mom’s* home cooking, good things take time. So we’d like to run one more version by you.   Go to www.ideas.live.com to get the third version of Windows Live Messenger Beta 8.0.689 and send your feedback our way.   FYI: This version is like a final draft – a last chance to make any crucial changes/bug fixes. You won’t see many changes between this version and the final release. Feel free to keep making feature requests, though – we’ll add them to the list for the next versions.         What’s New in Windows Live Messenger Beta 8.0689?   Signing In: Login window shows the default color, sign-in info & display picture of the current users’ passport account. This is all possible because of rad integration with the Live ID team. Read more about how the new Sign-in Assistant on their blog.      It’s no Jitterbug or Macarena, but check out the new dancing buddies during sign-in. Can’t see a difference? Besides better-looking icons, they’re actually spinning the other direction (we didn’t want them to get dizzy). Also – the dance is shorter because Login time is WAY faster than in the previous Betas.     Hey Good-Lookin:  Sweet Colorization Of the Main Window    Eye-catching Eye-cons.   Totally new look for Windows Live Call, Computer to Phone Calling (brought to you by Verizon, now the MCI is no more)    “To: Line” moved locations, check it out:    For you minimalists, you: Hiding Display Pictures in one conversation window now hides them in every conversation window    More fun for the minimalists – now you can keep your windows small, but still get at all the functionality thanks to scrolling toolbar on the conversation window….      …And the main window.   New default display picture (actually, I think it’s a little strange – Jasmine thinks "spooky" i think "sad & cold"…maybe it will encourage people to get a real display picture)      Features & Functionality:   Overall Performance Improvements. EVERYTHING is faster than it was in 7.5   Return of the Today Page, known in a previous life as MSN Today. I wonder if the Today Page team somehow made it sunny in Seattle…   My personal favorite feature: No more “so-and-so says:” separating consecutive IMs from the same person. (Turn this on in the Options Menu)   Copy & paste your friends’ personal messages – especially good if your friend puts a URL as their message.   Rhapsody Integration, US only…more on this later this week.   Answer a Call straight from a toast (until you get a handset, that is)   New Sounds Management – turn on exactly which sounds you want to play when. Upload your own sounds to personalize the music of messenger. Go! Now! Download! And don’t forget to come back and tell me what you think.   *success! I've been trying to work "your mom" into a post for a while now.

"
[Via Live Messenger Blog]
Restarting build 8.0566 will not auto update yet! To download Click Here!

Windows Live OneCare is out of beta!

Yes that's right,
The baby I helped test is out of beta and the discounted price of $19.95 is over. You now have a 90 day free trial and a buy price of $49.95 . The price of $49.95 isn't a bad price since OneCare doesn't hog up your process speed and memory like Norton. Also for $49.95 you can install OneCare on 3 computers.

Here are some of the things Live OneCare offers

"

• • The Windows Live OneCare health meter gives you a clear, continuous indication of your computer's overall level of protection and performance. If Windows Live OneCare detects anything that you can do to improve the health of your computer, the service will automatically show you what action to take and give you a one-click solution.
  • Antivirus, Antispyware, and Firewall help protect your computer from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, hackers, and other threats.
  • With a click of the mouse, you can directly scan individual files and folders for viruses. You can even check attachments that you receive through MSN Messenger for viruses or worms.
  • Windows Live OneCare Backup allows you to copy your important files and settings to CDs, DVDs, or to an external hard disk. Regular backups can help you protect your important data from loss due to accidental deletion, viruses, or hardware or software failure.
  • If you use an external hard disk, you can configure Windows Live OneCare to perform an automatic backup of your important data as part of your regular Tune-up.
  • Tune-up takes care of routine maintenance and helps improve your computer's performance. This automated service performs the following functions:
    • Automatically scans your computer for viruses.
    • Defragments your hard disk to help improve computer efficiency.
    • Removes unnecessary files from your computer to increase available hard disk space.
    • Helps make sure that important security updates from Microsoft are installed efficiently and on time.
    • Checks for changes to your important files as well as new files, then sends you a reminder when it's time to run Backup.
    • Automatically backs up your files for you if you use an external hard disk.
  • Windows Live OneCare updates itself automatically to counteract new viruses and other threats, and also works with Microsoft Update to help ensure that your computer is up-to-date with the latest critical security updates from Microsoft.
  • Windows Live OneCare continually updates its firewall policy to keep ahead of hackers and make sure that your legitimate programs have the Internet access they need.
  • Windows Live OneCare provides continuous feature updates to subscribers, providing you with the latest technologies to help protect you from emerging threats. If you're worried about a new virus or other threat, you can check for updates yourself with a single click."

There are some more stuff coming out soon. Microsoft has a team of people from the early alpha testing to test new versions and features. This is US only! Windows Vista is NOT supported yet!

Links
Live OneCare site
Try/Buy OneCare
System Requirements
Live OneCare Blog

By Aj Collins

Windows Live Mail Desktop gets new UI

The Windows Live Mail Desktop team has posted a new blog entree with two pictures of there new UI!
"
Yikes! When was the last time we had a post? Has it been 2 weeks? We have a perfectly good reason… I promise! We're working towards our May release and for the past 2 weeks, everyone here has been working extra hours towards ZBB. So what's ZBB? According the Microsoft Acronym dictionary, ZBB stands for "The point when development catches up to testing and there are no active bugs that require a fix or resolution." This mean the team decided on a ship date months ago and that date is just right around the corner. We're at point where we have to decide if a bug must be fixed in this release or if can be fixed for the next release. At the end of this week, no developer can have ANY bugs to fix for the release. This means, the important bugs that cause major issues are lined up neatly for the developers to crunch away, one by one. Those bugs that are less important and won't dramatically affect your experience with the product will be moved to our next release. Everyday, the number of bugs that are assigned to a developer has to go down, eventually reaching 0. If the developer does not have the time or resources to fix a bug, the triage team comes in and decides if the bug must be fixed now or if it can be moved. This is incredibly stressful for everyone involved because we want to deliver the highest quality product before our deadline.

What else is new? We've polished up the interface. Our old boring white interface is gone! The Windows Live design team really came through and gave us a much more colorful and polished window. Check it out:

Change the color if you want to feel a different experience:

This work brings us closer to the design of Messenger and just makes the entire experience that much nicer. What do you think?

We've also taken feedback from a lot of our first wave of beta testers and addressed some of the concerns. We've fixed hundreds of bugs since our last release and tried to improve on areas that have come up short in the past.

In other news, Vlada, your faithful Q&A guru and Program Manager has just departed the team for a 4 month trip around Europe. The team gave her a proper send off over lunch last week and then again later that night in Seattle. We'll miss you Vlada… and send us some Photo Emails!

Your diligent worker bee,

-Lei Gong
"
Source: Windows Live Mail Desktop Blog

By Aj Collins