Windows Live Wire

When you first install the Windows Live Toolbar, some of its best features might not be obvious at first glance. The Toolbar team wanted to allow users to decide for themselves how to personalize their toolbars, so before you can use many features you need to turn them on or install them from Options:

One of my favorite hidden features of the toolbar comes pre-installed, but it still isn’t obvious because it doesn’t appear on the toolbar itself: Smart Menus.

Smart Menus help you quickly get more information about specific kinds of text that you come across while browsing the web in Internet Explorer. When you select the text, the Smart Menu button appears:

Try out these Smart Menu tricks.

• Select an address on a website.
  
  • To map the address or get driving directions, click the Map button:
    
  • To get the current weather conditions and a three-day forecast for that location, click the Weather button:
    
• Select a stock symbol.
  
  • To get a stock quote, click the Stock button:
    
• Select any word or phrase.
  
  • To get more information about that word or phrase, such as its definition, click the Info button:
    

If you haven't yet, install the toolbar, try it out, and let us know what you think about Smart Menus!

- Kaarin Shumate
Windows Live Team

As we mentioned a couple weeks ago, the i’m Initiative has really taken off with people, and Messenger customers have now helped raise over $1.4 million as of today for social causes. But that’s not today’s only big news…

Today we announced that we’re expanding the program to include Hotmail too! Now you can use both Hotmail and Messenger to help contribute to the social cause of your choice.  

The Hotmail team just posted more information about it all on their blog. We’re really excited about this news and, judging from the amazing participation we’ve already seen from many of you, we hope you’re excited too.

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.

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

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.

The folks who work on Windows Live Spaces just announced some new feature updates, generated by feedback from people like you who have sent in comments. Here's what they had to say:

Your feedback = Changes to Windows Live Spaces

First, thanks again for all of your feedback. There's nothing like receiving comments and ideas directly from some of our 115 million monthly Spaces users worldwide. 

Based on what we've heard from you, here's the latest round of changes we've made:

• You now have the ability to remove updates from specific people in the what's new area of your Spaces home page. 

At the bottom of your (signed-in) Spaces home page, you now have an “Options” link. 

Clicking “Options” will take you to a “What’s new Options” page where you can choose who of your Spaces friends and Messenger contacts show up on your home page.

 

 

• We've added back your list descriptions for all lists when they are displayed in the narrow column
• The font for custom lists is no longer bold by default
• We changed the Sponsored Results module to reflect the transition of our partnership with Kanoodle
• We've made some additional smaller changes which you won’t see but which will further improve the Spaces service

We hope you enjoy these changes.   As always, keep the feedback coming. We are listening.

- Chris
Product Manager, Windows Live

Technorati Tags: Windows Live Spaces,Windows Live

 The Windows Live FolderShare team launched a new beta today, along with a new blog. Here's what their first blog entry has to say:

Introducing the new FolderShare!

Hello, and welcome to the blog for Windows Live FolderShare. It's a big day for us here at Windows Live HQ, and not just because we’re launching this new blog. We also have updated FolderShare, and published an all-new FolderShare website…at last!

Today we're unveiling:

• A new website designed to makes managing your FolderShare libraries and computers even easier.
• A new FolderShare with a better setup, a better system tray menu, and better performance on Windows Vista.
• Improvements on the backend to keep FolderShare running more smoothly and reliably.

(And of course, it's still free.)

To all the users who already have fallen in love with FolderShare, we thank you! We hope all the new users equally enjoy the features FolderShare has to offer: syncing files across your computers; sharing files with friends and family; and accessing your files from anywhere on the Internet. 

We’re proud of this release, and we really hope you like it. So without further ado, check out the new website, install the new FolderShare, and let us know what you think!

- The FolderShare Team

Ellie posted a great set of tips on the Hotmail blog today, about how to avoid scams from people who claim to be contacting you from Hotmail or Microsoft. She lets you know what sort of fake e-mail messages to look out for, and what to do when you get one.

Read the e-mail support blog for more info about malicious mail and websites that ask you for your Hotmail account name and password (or personal or financial information). Bottom line: Don't do it!! If it seems suspicious, it probably is. If you're not sure, send a description of the suspicious e-mail (subject line, who it is from, etc.) to Hotmail support.

The Windows Live platform services team is releasing several updated tools and APIs today that will help web developers and Windows Live partners create new communication and sharing tools for their customers. These include the new Windows Live Messenger Library beta, an updated Windows Live Contacts API beta and other tools and APIs, all available from http://dev.live.com.

Get all the details from David Treadwell on Windows Live Dev News.