Windows Live Wire: Announcements

We won! 2008 Webware 100 awards

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:29:38 GMT

Curious to know what online enthusiasts have voted the top 100 cool Web 2.0 tools of 2008? Look no further than the 2008 Webware 100, an annual list from CNET’s Webware, representing the best Web 2.0 sites, services and applications, as nominated and voted on by their readers. Webware is a tech news site that highlights useful Web tools and the latest online trends.

Each year, readers nominate outstanding companies whose services best fit into ten categories. After collecting all the nominations (over 5,000 this year!), Webware editors narrow the list to 300 and invite readers to vote for the best companies.

After receiving 1.9 million votes this year, Webware announced the ten companies that won in each category. Windows Live services and Live Search were recognized in three categories:

Communication: Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger
Browsing: Windows Live Home
Search and Reference: Live Search

This year’s award recognition helps to showcase how Windows Live innovations on the web continue to shape and change the way people communicate, share data, and find information online. Webware reviewer Rafe Needleman spearheads the Webware 100 awards competition. You can see all the winners in one place, here.

This year continues a positive trend, as Microsoft also received similar Webware 100 awards in 2007.

Technorati Tags: Webware 100,CNET,Windows Live,Hotmail,Messenger,Live Search

You're making a difference, one IM at a time

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:36:00 GMT

Wow. The Windows Live Messenger team just posted on their blog about the progress of the i’m initiative in its first year in the US and, I’ve got to say, the widespread support for this program has been really amazing. In case you aren’t already familiar with it, the i’m initiative uses Messenger to help you support some great social causes. Once you sign up for the i'm initiative, every time you participate in an "i’m" conversation using Messenger, Microsoft shares a portion of the program’s advertising revenue with one of ten social cause organizations of your choice.

Actually, I probably don’t need to tell a lot of you that… so many of you have already joined the program and are i'm-ing away. Thanks to your overwhelming participation, Microsoft has already been able to donate a total of $1.3 million to ten of the world’s most effective organizations dedicated to social causes – and that’s just the beginning.

Some of you responded to our post last week about the INSPI(RED) team that you’re also interested in social causes that can have an impact within the US. Regardless of whether your interests are local or global, you should really check out the i’m initiative, as there is a wide array of causes involved.

You can read more about it on the Messenger Says blog, including links to all the organizations involved. I've been taking part in the i’m initiative for awhile now already, and clearly you have too. Together, we're really helping make a difference for these organizations, just by talking to each other. Let’s keep it going.

Thanks, as always, for your comments. We love hearing from you.

-Antonia

Technorati Tags: messenger,social causes,IM

INSPI(RED) team inspires others

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:06:10 GMT

What do Windows Live, MSN, and Mt. Everest have to do with fighting AIDS?

Thanks to Jeff Dossett, Executive Producer and General Manager at MSN, a lot. Jeff has created Everest Team INSPI(RED), a group of three elite mountaineers who will attempt to reach the summit of Mt. Everest and in the process inspire change.

Jeff and his fellow Team INSPI(RED) members will face the greatest climbing challenge in the world in hopes of building awareness about PRODUCT(RED)—a business model designed to raise money for The Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa—and inspiring individuals to pursue big, bold goals with passion.

Check out the official Team INSPI(RED) space on Windows Live to follow the journey, download the (PRODUCT)RED theme pack (which includes Hotmail signatures and Messenger emoticons and winks), and find out more about the (RED) effort.

We hope you‘re as inspired by this cause as we are.

Technorati Tags: Dell,RED,Windows Live,theme packs

Bigger, better, faster SkyDrive!

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:42:43 GMT

Improvements to Windows Live SkyDrive, including 5 GB of free online storage, were released to the public today in 38 countries or regions around the world!

SkyDrive provides free, password-protected online file storage and sharing. It's a great way to make sure your files are available to you from any computer, without having to carry them around on a flash drive. I also find it really useful for sharing files that may be too big to send in e-mail.

It's dead simple to use, so go ahead and try it out.

New in this release:

Free online storage is increasing from 1GB to 5 GB
Now available in many more places around the world (see if it's available where you live)
Faster and more reliable service
Not in beta anymore--this time it's official!

SkyDrive takes its place in the ever-growing collection of Windows Live offerings (Hotmail, Mail, Photo Gallery, Calendar, Spaces, Writer, Messenger, Events, Toolbar, and OneCare Family Safety). With file storage and sharing on SkyDrive, you have one more tool to help you manage your online world.

Read more about today's release and tell the team what you think on the SkyDrive team blog.

Have fun!

- Antonia

Technorati Tags: Windows Live,SkyDrive,file sharing,cloud,storage

Upgrading to Messenger 8.5

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:42:26 GMT

If you use Messenger and haven't yet upgraded to Messenger 8.5 (the latest version that we released in November 2007), you will soon be prompted to install the optional upgrade. Read more about the gradual rollout of this upgrade in Jura's post on the Messenger blog.

You can read more about what's included in this update in Nicole's blog post (about the beta version of 8.5), or see the full list of features on the Messenger features page.

To upgrade now, go to http://get.live.com/messenger/overview.

Technorati Tags: Messenger,Windows Live,updates,upgrade

Q & A about Windows Live Hotmail

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 23:13:11 GMT

A few days ago, we told you about how Windows Live Hotmail was created. Today, we’ll respond to some of the top issues we’ve heard about from our customers.

1. Why did you move me from MSN to Windows Live Hotmail when nothing was wrong?

Unfortunately, MSN Hotmail did not allow us to address significant customer needs, such as support for certain languages and accessibility for folks with different visual and motor disabilities. We also got complaints from many customers about MSN Hotmail being too hard to use. We spent a long time building a new version of Hotmail that the majority of our customers like better, and we want to focus our engineering team’s efforts on the new system. It is a bit of a change, but Windows Live Hotmail has a lot of the same functionality as MSN Hotmail. Before we started working on Windows Live Hotmail, we used to update MSN Hotmail a lot, so it would change, too. If you liked MSN Hotmail, you may prefer the classic version of Windows Live Hotmail. Make sure you’re using it by going to Options (or Options --> More options from the full version). Look at the first option on the page to see if you’re currently using the full or classic version.

2. Windows Live Hotmail pages take too long to load. Can you fix this?

Thanks for reporting this, and this is a high priority for us to fix. If you have a slower Internet connection, you may do better by switching to the classic version of Windows Live Hotmail, which loads about as fast as MSN Hotmail did. The full version is fast once it’s fully loaded, but you do have to download a good chunk of JavaScript at the beginning, and this may be tough for folks who have slow Internet connections or live far from our data centers. Make sure you’re using the classic version by going to Options (or Options --> More options from the full version). Look at the first option on the page to see if you’re in the full or classic version.

3. When I don’t use Internet Explorer, Windows Live Hotmail doesn’t work very well, especially in Safari.

We added support for browsers other than Internet Explorer (IE) in 2005, and the non-IE browser we support best is Firefox 1.5+. It’s available for practically every operating system out there, so if you can’t use IE or don’t like it, try Firefox because it works well with a wide range of websites. We currently do not support the full version for Safari due to technical limitations, though we continue to monitor the issue. Safari users can use the classic version of Hotmail for now, and we are monitoring whether future versions of Safari will support all of our technical needs.

As far as I know, there are only four features that IE supports but Firefox doesn’t. Firefox users get Firefox’s built-in spell check while IE users get a spell check that stores its dictionary on Hotmail’s servers. Firefox users can’t resize the columns in the full version. The special photo upload tool is an ActiveX control and works only in IE, but non-IE users can attach photos just like any other file. Only IE users can see their friends’ Messenger presence.

4. I don't want an e-mail program that looks like Outlook; the interface of the new Hotmail is too complicated.

The classic version of Windows Live Hotmail looks and acts very similar to MSN Hotmail. If you preferred that simpler interface, make sure you’re using the classic version by going to Options (or Options --> More options from the full version). Look at the first option on the page to see if you’re in the full or classic version.

5. Why can I do some things in the full version of Hotmail that I can't do in the classic version?

The full version uses AJAX, which is a more advanced technology that provides you with a lot of rich and snappy interactions, such as loading the next message in your inbox without reloading the whole page. Some features, such as the reading pane, wouldn’t work well if the whole webpage had to reload, so they are available in the full version only.

6. Help! I've lost everything in my inbox!

We’re very sad whenever we hear this from a customer, because we know how important your e-mail data is. Our support team has done a lot of investigation into these issues, and nearly every case is due to account expiration.

Free Hotmail accounts expire if you haven’t logged into Hotmail for a certain number of days, which is a standard practice for web-based mail accounts because many users use an account for a little while, and then never use it again. MSN Hotmail accounts expire after 60 days, and Windows Live Hotmail accounts expire after 120 days. Advances in our data center have allowed us to extend our expiration times, which used to be 30 days.

If you believe your e-mail was deleted in error, please contact the Hotmail Support Team directly. We are not able to offer effective support through blogs. The email address is emailspt@microsoft.com and set the subject to “Data Loss Question.” There are great, real-life people there who can help you. They are the same folks who bring you the E-mail Support Space.

Thanks for your patience and feedback so far.

By the way, the best way to give us feedback is not on this blog, it’s via this feedback site.

- Ellie Powers, program manager, Windows Live Hotmail

P.S. This blog entry has also been published on the Hotmail team blog. You’ll find lots more info about Hotmail over there.

Technorati Tags: Windows Live,Live,Hotmail,issues,questions,MSN

Hotmail’s journey from MSN to Windows Live

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 00:42:36 GMT

Hi, I’m Ellie, and I’m a program manager on the Windows Live Hotmail team. A lot of you have had comments and questions about how and why we decided to make all the changes that we did in going from MSN Hotmail to Windows Live Hotmail, so I thought I’d provide a little background for you.

The Hotmail team started working on Windows Live Hotmail back in 2004, with the goal of making web-based e-mail easier, faster, and safer. Our MSN Hotmail code base was also getting pretty rickety, so we wanted to start over from scratch to create a new code base that would be easier to maintain and develop on. When we started thinking about what belongs in the new Hotmail, we focused on the core features of e-mail and analyzed how e-mail fits into the lives of our hundreds of millions of customers around the world.

It’s not possible to build something perfect the first time (or maybe not even the 10th time), so we decided to start gathering your feedback early. We launched our public beta in the spring/summer of 2005. Customer feedback was such a high priority for us that we started our public beta when we still hadn’t added all the features we knew we’d need.

Some of you out there in blogland are the beta testers who devoted so much of your time and energy to trying new releases and submitting feedback. With each release, we identified the biggest problems by looking at customer feedback and surveys from the previous release, fixed bugs and designed new features to address the top issues, and then used usability studies to tweak our initial designs. What comes next? Yup, more beta testing and another survey to see how much better the new release was compared with the old one. You can read all about Hotmail’s adventures in betaland on our Hotmail team blog.

We did these iterations for about two years, until May 2007, when our data showed that Windows Live Hotmail was good enough to get out of beta. We did another release in the fall of 2007 that we have been moving our MSN Hotmail users to. We are eternally grateful to everyone who has taken the time to give constructive feedback. You have influenced what we built and which order we built the parts in. Windows Live Hotmail in 2007 is so much better than it was two years ago. And we are not done yet! Hotmail will continue to evolve for years to come – we have some really cool ideas for the next year that we’re just starting to plan.

With that said, Windows Live Hotmail is not perfect, and we are still planning to make changes. Change can be hard, especially when it’s not a change that you, personally, may have asked for. We did get feedback from thousands of customers, but it’s tough to make something that makes everyone happy.

In a few days, we’ll follow up with answers to some of the most common questions we’ve heard from our customers about Windows Live Hotmail.

You can post a comment on this blog if you like, but the best way to give us feedback is on this feedback site.

- Ellie Powers, program manager, Windows Live Hotmail

P.S. This blog entry has also been published on the Hotmail team blog.

Technorati Tags: Hotmail,Windows Live,Live

New e-mail addresses for India, Philippines, and Spain

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:16:31 GMT

If you live in India, the Philippines, or Spain, new Windows Live Hotmail addresses have just become available.

India: You can now get @live.in e-mail addresses, in addition to @hotmail.com addresses.
The Philippines: You can now get @live.com.ph e-mail addresses, in addition to @hotmail.com addresses.
Spain: You can now get @hotmail.es addresses, in addition to @hotmail.com addresses.

To sign up for a free new Windows Live e-mail address , go here.

Technorati Tags: Live,Hotmail,Windows Live,@live.com

How do YOU use Windows Live?

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:41:25 GMT

For the last couple of months, we’ve had so many new Windows Live releases that the blog has become mostly a place for announcements, with little room to really talk about how we (and you) use Windows Live in our own lives, which is where I think it can get a lot more interesting.

Over the next few weeks, guest bloggers from all over the Windows Live organization will share the ways they use Windows Live, and hopefully tell you a few things you don’t know yet. We’ll also try to address some of your frequently asked questions. We hope you'll respond and send us comments about ways YOU use Windows Live, cool features you've come across, and of course, how you think we could improve.

If you have ideas for how you want a specific Windows Live service to change, an even more direct way to make your point is to use the feedback form (those comments go straight to the people who decide where to go next with each product). And if something doesn’t work the way it should, you can always get help here, or contact support, and we'll do our best to fix the problem.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Antonia Blume
Windows Live Wire

Technorati Tags: Windows Live,blog

The new Windows Live is here!

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:08:16 GMT

Today we’ve released the next generation of Windows Live! You can get all the new products now at the new WindowsLive.com. You can install everything in one download, or pick just the products you want.

Everything coming out today is designed to work with the Windows Live services you’re already using, like Windows Live Spaces, Hotmail, Messenger, and Windows Live for mobile, but of course, they add a whole slew of new features into the mix.

Today’s release includes:

Windows Live Mail — This desktop mail program lets you see all your e-mail accounts in one place (including Hotmail, Gmail, AOL, or any other IMAP or POP web e-mail account), and adds all kinds of features you don’t normally get with web mail.
Windows Live Messenger (update) — The popular IM program has a new upgrade, including improved contact cards, file sharing, video calling, and VOIP capabilities.
Windows Live Writer — A WYSIWYG editing program for bloggers that makes it easy to add photos, maps, tags and more to your blog, and publish directly to Windows Live Spaces, Blogger, TypePad, and many other blogging services.
Windows Live Photo Gallery — Helps you find, organize, fix, and share your photos and videos, stitch together panoramic photos, and upload them all directly to Windows Live Spaces or Flickr.
Windows Live Toolbar (update) — Easy access to Live Search and Windows Live, custom buttons, and security features that help you block suspicious websites and pop-ups.
Family Safety from Windows Live OneCare — Tools to help you protect your children from inappropriate websites and contacts. You decide how much control you want for each child.

Where to begin?

There are too many new features in this release to describe in one blog post, so I’ve got a (somewhat random, and very incomplete) list of 10 things you can do with Windows Live, to get you started. Most of these features are brand new today; a couple of them are not entirely new, but they’re a little more polished in the new release, and I think they’re worth pointing out.

1. Get a new @live.com e-mail address

This one isn’t on the list of products because you don’t need to install anything, but it’s definitely new, and long anticipated! Go here to create a cool new e-mail address ending in @live.com. You can access your new e-mail account via Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Mail, or Microsoft Office Outlook Connector.

2. Automatically rotate and group your photos

Windows Live Photo Gallery automatically figures out which photos need to be rotated and does it for you as you import them from your camera.* You can also automatically group your photos based on when they were taken, or by using tags you add.

For more cool stuff you can do with Windows Live Photo Gallery, check out the Microsoft Photo blog.

*Auto-rotation may not work with some older models of digital camera.

3. Add maps, videos, or pictures to any blog post

Spice up your blogs with pictures, maps, and videos. With Windows Live Writer you can easily format your blog entries to look the way you want them to, and add photos, videos, maps from Live Search Maps, files from Windows Live SkyDrive, and lots of other stuff.

After installing Writer, enter the web address of your blog or space.
Writer automatically detects the formatting and other settings you use on your blog, and formats your new entries to match.
Click New at the top of the Writer window.
Use the buttons in the right pane to easily insert maps, videos, and more.

4. See all your new mail at a glance

When you install Windows Live Mail on your desktop, you can manage multiple e-mail accounts in one program. To take that a step further, quick views are virtual folders that show you categories of mail from all your e-mail accounts grouped together in one place. No more switching between accounts and folders!

You can get quick views of all of your unread mail, all unread mail from your contacts, all your sent mail, all flagged mail, etc. To add the quick views you want:

In Windows Live Mail, right-click Quick views in the folder list.
Click Select quick views.
Select the quick views you want to see in your folder list.

Learn more about more Windows Live Mail on their blog.

5. Send an SMS to a mobile phone from Windows Live Mail

Sending text messages (SMS) from Windows Live Mail is a great example of how Windows Live programs work together to give you more than the sum of their parts. You can send text messages from Windows Live Mail to any contact who's set up Windows Live on their mobile phone. Look for a telephone icon next to the names of people in your contact list who have it.

To send a text message from Windows Live Mail:

Click the arrow next to New.
Click Mobile text message.
Select the person you want to send it to.
A Messenger window opens, and you can start texting as if you were on your mobile phone (only easier, because the keyboard isn’t so tiny).

6. Add a voice clip to your text conversation

Text messages, voice messages, instant messages--the lines are all starting to blur. If you use Messenger on a Windows Mobile phone, now you can include voice clips in your SMS conversations.

Open Windows Live on your Windows Mobile phone, and start an SMS (text message) conversation in Messenger.
On the Menu, select Voice clip.
Click record.
When you finish recording, hit Send.
The voice clip will show up as an icon in your conversation, and your friend can click Play to hear it.

7. Make a button to add to your toolbar

You can customize your Windows Live Toolbar with buttons from Windows Live Gallery, or you can create your own. It took me about 2 minutes to create a button that shows my local traffic information, and it was kind of fun! And when you're done, you can submit your button to Windows Live Gallery so other people can use it too!

On Windows Live Toolbar, click the arrow next to the Gallery button.
Select a button from those featured on the menu, or click Make a button.
Fill out the simple form to create your own button that links to a favorite website, add a dropdown menu—you can even include a specialized search function.

8. See who your kids are talking to online

If you have children, you worry about them. With Family Safety from Windows Live OneCare, you can feel better about what they’re doing online, and especially, who they’re meeting. A built-in contact approval system lets you know who your kids are talking to on Windows Live services, including IM, e-mail, or Windows Live Spaces, and you can approve or reject anyone new.

Family Safety also blocks specific websites or content categories that you choose for each child. If they want to see a site that you’ve blocked, they can use the software to ask you for permission.

9. Make a difference with i’m in Messenger

If you already use Windows Live Messenger to IM your friends, why not raise some money for a good cause at the same time? If you join the i’m initiative, every time you start an IM conversation, Microsoft shares a portion of the program's advertising revenue with a social cause that you choose from our initiative partners, including great organizations like the Red Cross, UNICEF, and the Humane Society.

In November and December, Microsoft is doubling its contributions to the i’m initiative. There’s no cap on the amount Microsoft will donate to each organization, and there’s no charge to you, so you can put Microsoft’s money where your mouth is.

10. Smile, and help children around the world

Windows Live is partnering with Operation Smile to get people to share their smiles and help make a difference in the lives of children around the world. To participate, go to windowslive.com/smile and share pictures of your own smiling face. Your photos might be posted on the site, or they might show up on big screen displays at Windows Live events going on in New York and Los Angeles today and tomorrow.

Whether or not you get your 15 minutes of fame, share your smiles using Windows Live. Microsoft's donation to Operation Smile is based on ad revenue from Windows Live Spaces for November and December. So, the more photos you share on Windows Live Spaces, the more money will go to Operation Smile.

Do you have other favorite things you like to do with Windows Live? Try it out and let us know what you think is cool, what confuses you, and what you want us to blog about next.

Antonia B.
Windows Live team

Store more with SkyDrive

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:20:15 GMT

Have you tried the Windows Live SkyDrive beta yet? I’ve been using it to store private files that I can access from both home and work. I keep them private by signing in with my e-mail address and password. I’ve also created folders I share with specific people, and a few totally public folders. All you do is create a folder, set permissions to the people you want to share with, and upload your files.

Until recently, you could store up to 500 MB on SkyDrive, but starting today you can store up to 1 GB!

Another new feature—now you can set up RSS feeds for the public folders you’re most interested in, so you'll know as soon as anything new is added.

There’s more information about the added storage and other changes in today’s beta refresh on the SkyDrive Team blog.

And because we’re working on more and better integration between all the Windows Live services, you can also access SkyDrive directly from your Windows Live Home page, and share your SkyDrive folders on Spaces.

Kirsten B.
Windows Live team

Technorati Tags: storage , Windows Live , sharing , SkyDrive , RSS

For all of you 64-bit computer users

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 20:59:36 GMT

We want to update you all on the progress we’re making on Windows Vista x64 support in the new Windows Live installer. We’re working hard to make sure Windows Live programs like Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery, and Writer can be installed on 64-bit computers running Windows Vista, and we’re in the process of testing this internally.

You can expect to see this functionality available to the public sometime later this fall. In the meantime, thanks for your patience and for your great feedback on all the new beta products!

Windows Live team

A few notes about the unified installer

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 00:22:02 GMT

It’s been an exciting week for us here in Redmond, as we’re starting to hear back from you about our new Windows Live programs and the unified installer. We can’t wait to hear even more as you try out all the new betas. Continue to let us know what you think here, and on the Feedback site, and you just might see your requests incorporated into the next release!

I just wanted to add a couple of things to take note of during the installation.

First of all, you don’t have to install the entire suite. You can clear the check boxes for any products you don’t want right now, and just install one, if that’s all you want.

The only exception is if you already have some Windows Live products installed (like Messenger, for example). In that case, you’ll automatically get an upgrade for that product, even if you didn’t choose to install it explicitly. Because Windows Live products are designed to work together in integrated ways, if you install the beta of one product, we need to make sure you have the latest beta of other, related products at the same time.

If you DO choose to install multiple products at once, the cool thing is, as soon as each one finishes installing, you can start it immediately from a link you’ll see in the installer! No need to wait for everything to finish before you can jump right in and get started.

Also, if you install through this page (http://get.live.com/wl/all), you can sign up for a new Windows Live ID or sign in with an existing one during installation. From there, you’ll be signed in to the new Windows Live Home page (http://home.live.com), where you can start playing with our new and updated web services while your other programs are being installed.

We sincerely hope you enjoy using the new programs as much as we enjoyed building them.

Jennifer Shen
Program Manager
Windows Live Team

P.S. We hear you loud and clear about the lack of Vista x64-bit support and we promise you we're working on it! As stated in the release notes, we are not supporting any 64-bit installations for this beta release, but this has always been in our plans for the final release. Due to your overwhelming feedback, we're working hard to release a version of the installer that supports 64-bit even sooner than previously planned. We’ll be sure to keep you all updated!

Hotmail is getting hotter

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 00:10:46 GMT

Windows Live Hotmail gradually begins rolling out a long list of new features and improvements today, including increased storage (5 GB for free users, 10 GB for premium users), new address book features, and the ability to turn off the MSN Today page! Get more details here.

Live talkin'

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 19:01:05 GMT

Welcome to Windows Live Wire, a blog for Windows Live customers by Windows Live customers. OK, so we’re customers who happen to work for Microsoft, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It means that we’re pretty familiar with the products and the best ways to use them.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. If we want you to read our blog, we should probably start by explaining what in the heck Windows Live is. (Trust us, you’re not the only one who’d like to know.)

The short answer: Windows Live is a growing group of Microsoft online services that work well together and with Windows. Some of the services, like Hotmail® and Messenger, help you communicate more quickly and efficiently. Some, like Spaces, make it easy for you to post pictures and ideas and share them with the people you choose. Others, like OneCare™ and Family Safety, help protect you, your family, and your PC from threats on the Internet. Most Windows Live services are free, but a few have a premium version that you can pay for.

You can use one e-mail address and password, called a Windows Live ID™, to sign in to all Windows Live services, and chances are, you already have one. That is, if you have a Hotmail or MSN® e-mail address, if you use Messenger, or if you ever signed up for a Microsoft Passport account, you have a Windows Live ID. You can also use your Windows Live ID to sign in to a bunch of non-Windows Live services, like Zune™ and Xbox Live™, or anywhere you see this icon: .

That’s enough for now. In the future, we’ll explain more about Windows Live, how our services work together, and how they work with Windows. We’ll also keep you posted about new stuff (assuming we can keep up with it), cool features you may want to try, and our own experiences using Windows Live.

We’d like to hear about your experiences, too. Our feelings won’t be hurt if you tell us you don’t like something. In fact, we hope you do. That way, we can go back to the folks who make the software and let them know how they can make it better.

Of course, we’d also like to hear when you do like something, when you have a question, and what else you’d like to read about here. We'll do our best to respond and keep you coming back.