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November 1, 2005

Windows Live - More than an AJAX Desktop

Michael Arrington

76 comments »

I blogged my raw, unedited notes from the Microsoft press meeting today real time on CrunchNotes. One of the two major announcements was Windows Live (best viewed on IE of course). Office Live was also announced, which I will be writing about later tonight.

Windows Live is a free, ad-supported AJAX virtual desktop. Most of the functionality could be seen in the Microsoft sandbox project called Start, which we profiled a couple of months ago.

However, Microsoft has added plenty of new features that add a lot of value to the product. Among them are email integration, a new instant messaging client, plaxo-like contact management and skype-like features that allow outgoing calls to normal POTS phones. Windows Live is also extensible via “gadgets”. After what I saw today, I despair for many a silicon valley startup.

The Desktop

The core features include a (now) standard AJAX desktop, wich a drag and drop interface, options to change the number of columns, ability to save searches, etc. There is a pre-populated feed reader on the left column, and adding new feeds is a one-click affair.

The really special stuff, though, are the Gadgets. These are third party applications that can be added to Windows Live via the Add Content feature on the top left. For current gadgets, check out MicrosoftGadgets.com.

One Gadget I added was the Flickr viewer. Adding it takes a couple of steps, and you are able to view Flickr photo’s via tags. Since anyone can create a gadget, I’d expect to see thousand so options in the near future.

Email

You can add a mail account directly to the Windows Live page and get Outlook Express-like functionality directly on the browser. This technology looks to come directly from the Kahuna project, which we have written about several times.

Instant Messaging & VOIP

This was the coolest thing I saw demo’d today. Windows Live will soon have a new instant messenger client embedded on the site. The IM feature will include the ability to make outbound POTS calls, like Skype. They’ve leapfrogged Google’s Gtalk in this regard.

There is also an advanced contact management feature that bakes in plaxo-like features (you control your own contact info and people pull it to keep updated).

Blake Irving walked us through a demo that included a search for restaurants near the TransAmerica Building in San Francisco. As he zoomed in and narrowed his choices, he chose a restaurant, and via a click called the resaurants’s normal phone line to make a reservation. I took a picture, which is up on flickr. The VOIP caller is pictured to the left.

The IM functionality will be released in December.

That’s all I’m going to profile for now. Additional features are discussed at ideas.live.com. I want to repeat, what really got me today was the Gadget extensibility and the full VOIP IM integration.

  • Sphere It

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 1st, 2005 at 6:43 pm and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Trackbacks/Pings (Trackback URL)

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Comments

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  1. Dvorak C. Thurrot

    November 1st, 2005 at 7:21 pm

    http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/dashboard/

  2. sathish

    November 1st, 2005 at 9:51 pm

    Reminds netvibes.com

  3. Jamey Schumann

    November 1st, 2005 at 9:54 pm

    max

  4. Jamey Schumann

    November 1st, 2005 at 9:55 pm

    seems like we ahave a gome-petition

  5. Fen

    November 1st, 2005 at 9:57 pm

    A VERY FUNNY THING IS HAPPENING AT gOOGLE.tHEY ARE BLOGGING !!They are SHOCKED!

  6. Dorrian

    November 1st, 2005 at 10:49 pm

    In the dumb question category, is this pronounced “live” as in ‘happening now’, or as in ‘inhabit’.

  7. Michael Arrington

    November 1st, 2005 at 11:03 pm

    Dorrian, not a dumb question. It’s live as in alive. Now, parking in my bushes at my last party, that WAS dumb. :-)

  8. Bill Arconati

    November 1st, 2005 at 11:29 pm

    also reminds me of MS Sharepoint.

  9. Jim Scara

    November 2nd, 2005 at 12:35 am

    Windows Live doesnt actually look like ‘Windows’. Windows live should have been AJAX’ed into http://www.protopage.com

  10. Jeff Rogers

    November 2nd, 2005 at 5:50 am

    Michael I have to disagree, Live.com is just another AJAX and not precedented. You previously profiled netvibes and protopage, two companies that can to offer equitable services with tweaks.

    I think Microsoft created a level playing ground for startups like protopage, netvibes and script.aculo.us fans. The startups now have to decide whether they will differentiate or die.

    PS: Wait until WinFS come out.

  11. Hasibul

    November 2nd, 2005 at 8:33 am

    I am using netvibes.com for few weeks and its pretty much similar.

  12. Jason Mandell

    November 2nd, 2005 at 11:39 am

    some interesting things here…but mostly just copycat stuff as usual. The “Gadgets” feature sounds exactly like the Apple’s Dashboard “Widgets”…or is the similarity in name that is confusing me?

  13. Mike

    November 2nd, 2005 at 12:31 pm

    So what does Windows Live mean vis-a-vis the WebOS? For more insight into this brewing battle between desktop apps and web apps, check out: http://thinklocal.blogspot.com.....eb-os.html

  14. Steve

    November 2nd, 2005 at 2:16 pm

    I basically agree that this is an impressive introduction. Gadgets should be great too, but how about integrating storage? That is really what I think is missing right now all these Ajax portal pages.

  15. hate

    November 17th, 2005 at 2:15 pm

    Microsoft will always be Sony’s bitch when it comes to videogames. Which system dominates the market? PS2, bitch so Halo can just f*ck off. Sony own this market. Besides, a braindead monkey could create a better operating system. Do you really want to know what Office XP is good for, creating fires or dropping on idiots. Do you want to know why Bill dropped out of Harvard, because he thought he could get good grades by being the dean’s bitch.

  16. Jimie

    May 15th, 2006 at 3:24 pm

    Good topic here,
    I was doing some research for ajax desktop. www1.startforce.jp has good storage system. You can upload, download or share files with friends easily. It is weak at other applications like office tool or e-mail client. I would like to see after it implements more features.

  17. Protrox

    February 14th, 2007 at 12:09 am

    Ajax really makes everything much smoother on all sites, it’s sad that we gotta have advanced knowledge to use that kind of script… It’s a blend of xml and javascript so not any joe-webmaster can tap into it’s power. Sad…

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