Windows Live

Microsoft has decided to reorganize its once highly touted Live Labs--a nearly five-year-old development effort headed by former Yahoo executive Gary Flake, who now plans to leave the company.

The company noted the changes in a posting on the Live Labs Web site, while Flake tweeted about his departure earlier today.

"After nearly five years as a lab within Microsoft, the Live Labs team is transitioning to Bing, where we'll play a more direct role in future Bing innovations," the team wrote in the post. "We're looking forward to contributing our Web UX and … Read more

Microsoft today is releasing the final version of its new set of Windows Live apps, including updates to its photo- and video-editing programs, as well as synching and blogging tools.

The Windows Live Essentials 2011 apps have been in testing since June and are available for download from Microsoft's site. The collection includes Windows Live Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Messenger, and Mail, along with Windows Live Mesh, Family Safety, and Writer.

Microsoft also plans to announce that Dell will be the first global PC maker to start including the programs preloaded on its PCs.

Of note, the updated programs … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Microsoft said today that it is scrapping its aging Windows Live Spaces blogging technology and will instead make WordPress the default blogging option for Windows Live.

It's the latest move by Microsoft to use Windows Live to connect to other leading Web services, rather than rely on its own, less popular options. For example, Microsoft has shuttered its not-so-widely-used Soapbox video-sharing site and now gives users of Windows Live Movie Maker the option of posting to Facebook or YouTube. Within Windows Live Photo Gallery, people can post to Windows Live, but can also share photos directly to Facebook … Read more

Aiming to continue having its Windows Live services play nice with others, Microsoft today said it is adding LinkedIn and Facebook chat ties to Hotmail and Messenger.

In a blog post, Microsoft said that the LinkedIn connection will allow users of both services to more easily keep tabs on their activities.

Among the added features are auto-contact linking, being able to use Messenger to get updates on what LinkedIn contacts are doing, and making it easy to use Messenger to share updates with one's LinkedIn network. Hotmail is also getting the ability to chat with Facebook friends, a feature … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Although he wasn't on stage for the launch of the Internet Explorer 9 beta yesterday, Windows unit president Steven Sinofsky was paying close attention to the product's release and to initial public reaction.

It's a sign of just how important the browser has become to the overall success of Windows. By any measure--and Microsoft does plenty of research--Web browsing is one of the main things that people do with their computers. Although Internet Explorer still is the most used browser, it has been ceding share in recent years to Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers.

In a … Read more

Microsoft has beefed up its Windows Live Messenger iPhone app with a few new features.

Launched on Monday, Live Messenger 1.1 now lets you incorporate your Facebook account directly into Messenger. You can view updates from and chat with your Facebook friends and update your own profile. Through your Windows Live Service account page, Microsoft gives you some control over the Facebook integration, so you can limit who sees what.

Also new to Live Messenger is a filter for your friends list. You can choose to view all your friends, only those in certain groups, or only those currently … Read more

Microsoft has decided to make a series of changes to its Live Sync service including changing the name to the Windows Live Mesh before it is released in final form this fall.

Live Sync, as the product being tested is currently known, is actually a combination of two existing sync services, Windows Live Sync and Live Mesh. Though both services were aimed at making files and settings available across multiple devices, each took a somewhat different approach.

In merging the two services, Microsoft is hoping to make things simpler, though naming has been a challenge. With either name, Microsoft has … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--One of the features promised as part of the latest update to Hotmail will arrive next week, CNET has learned.

In an interview here on Thursday, Microsoft's Dharmesh Mehta told CNET that Exchange ActiveSync, which will let Hotmail users get push e-mail on cell phones and other devices, will become available on Monday.

While many phones support ActiveSync for connecting to an Exchange server, the feature will be most useful on a relatively small number of phones that support dual ActiveSync accounts, including the Palm Pre, the latest iPhone, and the forthcoming Windows Phone 7-based devices. Phone … Read more

As of Tuesday, Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger users will now be able to send instant messages to Facebook friends who are logged into the social-networking service.

Microsoft is the first of the major instant-messaging services to connect directly to Facebook Chat. It's part of an effort by the folks in Redmond to evolve Messenger from purely an instant-messaging program to a social hub with activity feeds, video chat, and other connection options.

The addition of the Facebook Chat connection comes as part of an update to the test versions of the next generation of Windows Live programs. Not … Read more