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Last night, Microsoft rolled out 3 new Windows Live betas as Nick White reports at Microsoft’s Windows Vista Team Blog:
Today our Windows Live team is releasing new betas for several Windows Live applications: Windows Live Messenger 8.5, Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Writer. All three are now available for download.
White provides many more details on what is new, but in a nutshell:
As anticipated, Microsoft today launched Windows Live Hotmail worldwide with a spiffy new AJAX interface and the intent of retiring its venerable MSN Hotmail which has over 280 million users. Some key aspects:
There are more new features and aside from the nomenclature madness, this all seems worthwhile, but now begins the long transition of existing users which Major anticipates will be complete by November. I can’t help but observe that the transition would be faster if they had the Outlook Connector and the new Live Mail client ready now.
Update: Ina Fried has an interesting Hotmail background story that reveals that the new AJAX interface was deemed too slow, particularly on dial-up lines, and that was the reason that an updated “classic” interface was reintroduced to the final product at some delay.
Microsoft today formally announced at 3GSM07 a full fledged Windows Live for Windows Mobile (that certainly trips off the tongue) client as well as two separate Windows Live Search options for mobile phones:
Today at 3GSM World Congress 2007, Microsoft Corp. announced three new Windows Live™ for mobile services that provide search and communications capabilities to help people access their world of relationships, information and interests from their mobile device. Now available in the United States and the United Kingdom, Live Search for Windows Mobile® and Live Search for Java provide customers with advanced local search and mapping capabilities on their mobile device. In conjunction with the availability of Windows Mobile 6, Microsoft also introduced Windows Live for Windows Mobile — a rich set of Windows Live services including e-mail, instant messaging and search — uniquely designed to work with Windows Mobile powered devices.
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Live Search for Windows Mobile and Live Search for JavaLive Search is now available as a software client application on Windows Mobile and Java devices. These Live Search applications represent the latest innovation in mobile search from Microsoft, providing customers with fast, easy-way access to local listings and maps. New capabilities include a unique, category-based search, which virtually eliminates the need to type text into the phone; an option to “map all results” so several listings appear on the same map; aerial imagery; and local traffic status in selected U.S. cities. Live Search for Windows Mobile provides additional new capabilities including satellite imagery, GPS integration and the ability to send search results to a friend.
The new Live Search applications will be available in the United States and the United Kingdom to customers using Windows Mobile powered devices, Nokia Series 40 and Series 60 devices, the Motorola RAZR/SLVR family, and assorted LG and Samsung devices.
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Customers interested in the Live Search for Windows Mobile and Live Search for Java applications can go to http://mobile.search.live.com to view a complete list of device availability and download the software for their device at no cost. Users can easily download the Live Search client directly to their mobile phone by going to http://wls.live.com on their phone’s browser.
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Windows Live for Windows MobileWindows Live for Windows Mobile will provide customers with a rich set of Windows Live services, including Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger, Live Search and Windows Live Spaces, uniquely designed to work with Windows Mobile software. Windows Mobile powered devices, with their advanced software, processing power and memory, make ideal platforms for the delivery of Windows Live services. Windows Live for Windows Mobile offers one of the first industry examples of a single integrated and presence-enabled contact list on a mobile device. One consolidated list provides customers with easy access to all their Windows Live, Microsoft Office Outlook® and other contacts, as well as relevant presence information.
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The Windows Live Developer Program for Mobile now supports the development tools for independent software vendors (ISVs) to create applications such as Windows Live for Windows Mobile. The developer program provides software development kits, testing guidelines and support to ISVs to develop Windows Live for mobile solutions for Windows Mobile, Java, Symbian and Palm devices, and deploy them with mobile operators. Developers who are interested in joining the Windows Live Developer Program for Mobile should contact bizdesk@microsoft.com.
More details by following the link, but except for the Java variant these seem like predictable mappings of Windows Live services to the Windows Mobile form factor and infrastructure. The outreach to other platforms including actually building a Java version of Live Search is reasonably prompted by the desire to not exclude any possible ciustomers and after all that is the point of a Web based service.
Microsoft unveils OneCare beta for Vista:
Microsoft on Monday released a new beta for its Windows Live OneCare security service, marking the first time that the anti-virus software runs on Windows Vista.
Windows Live OneCare Beta 1.5, which can be downloaded and used free of charge, is available in 17 localized editions for countries that include the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.K. Earlier editions were for U.S. customers only.
Other improvements and additions to 1.5, said a company spokesman, include tighter integration with Microsoft’s Windows Defender anti-spyware software, more back-up options (to USB-connected hardware and PCs on the local network), and support for Windows Vista RC1 (build 5500 or later, specifically).
Windows Live Contacts Control v0.2 Released:
We’ve released an updated version of our Contacts Control (formerly known as the Windows Live Contacts Gadget), with improved performance and functionality. Danny Thorpe explains what’s new in more detail on his blog, but I’ve summarized below. Additionally, we’ve updated the Contacts Map and Party Start sample apps to use the new version of the control.
Also refreshed was Windows Live Mail Desktop (now back to its old name after a brief digression as Windows Live Mail Center) which got a new beta build 1083:
We have another Beta refresh build available for you to download today! I am always excited to give the news that we’re releasing an update, but this one is especially exciting for me because I think you’re going to be incredibly pleased with some of the new features that have been added since the last build.
Finally, there were apparently two more stealth Live product launches - Local and Safety Scanner come out of beta:
Just in from http://ideas.live.com , although no official announcement as yet, but Live Local and Safety Scanner have dropped the beta tag and graduated to full blown Windows Live Services. This brings the list of released products to 10, according to ideas.live.com
I note that at one point it was Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner (among other names), but that the OneCare seems to have been dropped recently.
Microsoft’s Alex Heaton explains about the updates:
Windows Vista is the first major Microsoft product release that will be serviced with security updates throughout the beta process. We are committed to release Windows Vista updates for all MSRC critical class issues that may arise during the beta testing period. We strive to release any Windows Vista updates as soon as possible, but our priority will be to release the updates for Windows products that have been released to manufacturing.
We have received multiple inquires from Windows Vista beta testers asking if their systems are affected by the security bulletins released last week. Of the seven critical Windows updates released in August, only 2 (MS06-042 and MS06-051) also affect Windows Vista Beta 2 or later. Windows Vista (Beta 2 or later) is not one of the operating systems affected by Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-040.
Updates for the 2 issues mentioned above have been released to Windows Update and are available in the Microsoft Download Center.
Not everyone was happy about the late notice. Support for Vista Beta 2 will end when RC1 appears and support for all pre-release versions will end when Vista is released to manufacturing.
The Seattle Times‘ Brier Dudley notes that things are looking up for Vista uptake according to a Merrill Lynch survey of CIOs:
The survey found 15 percent plan to upgrade to Vista in 2007, up from 8 percent in the April survey. Only 39 percent are waiting for clarity about the product, down from 75 percent in the previous survey.
This seems to be business as usual for a new operating system, at least at companies big enough to have a CIO.
Finally, Mary Jo Foley at Microsoft Watch reports that a new test build (rumored to be build 5506) of Vista has some newly embedded Windows Live links on the Welcome screen (Bink.nu has a screenshot):
Microsoft is poised to release a new pre-RC1 test build of Windows Vista any day now to a select group of testers. The latest builds include links to Windows Live Messenger, Toolbar, OneCare and Desktop Mail.
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Windows Live Messenger is the successor to MSN Messenger, Microsoft’s free instant-messaging service. Windows Live OneCare is the paid, subscription-based backup and security service the company launched in late May. Windows Live Toolbar is a collection of Windows Live search, antivirus, mapping and other utilities similar to the Google Toolbar. Windows Live Desktop Mail is a program that allows users to view mail from all of their various e-mail accounts in a single pane.
Live Messenger can be viewed as a replacement for Windows Messenger which shipped with Windows XP and similarly Live Mail Desktop (I thought it was now Live Mail Center?) can be viewed as a replacement for Outlook Express which also shipped with XP. I’m almost surprised they aren’t pre-installed, but there are likely good reasons:
Company watchers have been wondering whether Microsoft would bundle any Windows Live services directly into Windows, given the ongoing antitrust scrutiny to which the company has been subject in recent years, in the U.S. and abroad. The European Commission required Microsoft to offer alongside its standard Windows XP software a separate version of Windows XP that did not include Windows Media Player as an embedded component. In South Korea, Microsoft has faced legal challenges for integrating Windows Media Player and Windows Messenger in Windows XP.
Microsoft’s decision whether to integrate Windows Live services into Vista or not “probably has more to do with Microsoft’s interpretation of assorted global government restrictions than it does assessments of real-world customer value,” said Peter O’Kelly, an analyst with the Burton Group.
In any case, this Welcome screen appears to be the one that OEMs can customize according to their whims and own business deals, so it remains to be seen what will actually appear on any given new Vista PC. Of course, since this is a beta build, the vanilla Microsoft version could still change a lot before RTM.
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