Following my post last week about Windows Live Mail Desktop Beta, I would just like to remind you all that Windows Live Mail Desktop Beta is available for public download by doing the following, this of course requires no invitation:
-Go to http://ideas.live.com
-Find the tile for "Windows Live Mail Desktop beta"
-Click on "sign up" (if you're NOT signed in with your Passport email address)
-Click on "download" (if you ARE signed in with your Passport email address)
-Walk through the beta agreement and accept.
-Download and you're done!
-Be sure to sign into Mail Desktop with the Passport email address you used in step 3 and 4.
Fore more information check out the WLMDB Team Blog Post.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
New Microsoft Homepage Preview
Microsoft have a public preview of their new and upcoming home page (aka www.microsoft.com )
The new page dosn’t take up a whole page width (not on my monitor anyway) and is a whole lot more streamlined and a whole lot more JavaScript.
You can test it out right now-check it out here http://preview.microsoft.com/en/us/default.aspx
Edit: Hey, Zack ‘ere. Just wanted to add, Microsoft are jumping on the “Web 2.0″ bandwagon, yeh Patrick’s right in saying there’s a lot of JScript, but it’s actually ‘Atlas’, Microsoft’s version of AJAX on the page. It’ll run as if it’s a Windows desktop in the end… but just as a web page… strange I know
The new page dosn’t take up a whole page width (not on my monitor anyway) and is a whole lot more streamlined and a whole lot more JavaScript.
You can test it out right now-check it out here http://preview.microsoft.com/en/us/default.aspx
Edit: Hey, Zack ‘ere. Just wanted to add, Microsoft are jumping on the “Web 2.0″ bandwagon, yeh Patrick’s right in saying there’s a lot of JScript, but it’s actually ‘Atlas’, Microsoft’s version of AJAX on the page. It’ll run as if it’s a Windows desktop in the end… but just as a web page… strange I know
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Italy win World Cup on penalties
Italy win World Cup on penalties
Italy beat France 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out to win the World Cup after an absorbing 1-1 draw in Berlin
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Windows Live QnA invites go out
Windows Vista beta testers, living in the US (yes, yet another US only beta), got a little present in their inboxes tonight in the form of a Windows Live QnA invitation. Drawing on the Vista tester database is a clear attempt to build up a lot of good, accurate technical content early on for QnA. The invitation encourages testers to share info about downloads, swap sofware tips, and share their Vista knowledge.
At first glance, QnA is a great concept. The system is very simple:
1. Someone asks a question.
2. Users submit answers to the question throughout a 3 day answering period.
3. Users vote on the best answer and a "winner" is determined. That answer is then accepted as fact.
The results from these questions will be used on Windows Live Search to help simplify searching.
The execution of this process on qna.live.com is lacking a little bit. Loading the front page of QnA took about 40 seconds by my watch, during which time IE 7 stopped responding completely. I don't know about everyone else, but for me, 40 seconds is way too long to wait before I can even click something on a webpage. Live.com has also suffered from performance issues, which has largely stifled its growth and impaired its ability to explode into mass use.
Although, I'm sure that the performance issues will be addressed and fixed, this is essential to the success of QnA. To contend with competitors such as the already established Yahoo Answers, the site needs to work flawlessly.
If you can get past the slowness of the site, the concept is there and it works. I look forward to watching QnA develop and improve since the idea is sound and the service has great potential.
At first glance, QnA is a great concept. The system is very simple:
1. Someone asks a question.
2. Users submit answers to the question throughout a 3 day answering period.
3. Users vote on the best answer and a "winner" is determined. That answer is then accepted as fact.
The results from these questions will be used on Windows Live Search to help simplify searching.
The execution of this process on qna.live.com is lacking a little bit. Loading the front page of QnA took about 40 seconds by my watch, during which time IE 7 stopped responding completely. I don't know about everyone else, but for me, 40 seconds is way too long to wait before I can even click something on a webpage. Live.com has also suffered from performance issues, which has largely stifled its growth and impaired its ability to explode into mass use.
Although, I'm sure that the performance issues will be addressed and fixed, this is essential to the success of QnA. To contend with competitors such as the already established Yahoo Answers, the site needs to work flawlessly.
If you can get past the slowness of the site, the concept is there and it works. I look forward to watching QnA develop and improve since the idea is sound and the service has great potential.
Discover Windows Live Spaces
Discover Windows Live Spaces
Thanks to Darren Straight who found this post by Satoshi, and a new web site – discoverspaces.live.com. The annotated screenshot provides a few clues about the new version, in addition to a cleaner, Windows Live looking UI. Looks like you can comment and tag photos, initiate a Windows Live Messenger session from within Spaces, see Msgr online status, and have more control over the title position. Can’t wait to see more.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Gates to end daily Microsoft role
Gates to end daily Microsoft role
Bill Gates insists he is not retiring
Speech highlights
Bill Gates has announced he will end his day-to-day role as head of software giant Microsoft by July 2008.
Mr Gates said the move would allow him to spend more time on health and education work at his charity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
"This is a hard decision," said Mr Gates, adding that he was not retiring but "reordering [his] priorities".
Mr Gates will continue to serve as the company's chairman and advise on key development projects after July 2008.
"I'm not leaving Microsoft," said Mr Gates.
The change we're announcing today is not a retirement - it's a re-ordering of my priorities
Bill Gates
Chairman, Microsoft
"What's happening now is we're starting the transition plan... I'll be working as hard as I ever have during these next years."
The firm said it would take two years to make sure the transition takes place smoothly.
Mr Gates said there was a "common thread" between his work at Microsoft and the foundation.
"I'm very lucky to have two passions that I feel are so important and so challenging," he said.
'No huge shock'
Microsoft's chief technical officer Ray Ozzie will be given the title of chief software architect and work with Mr Gates on all product issues.
Microsoft
Founded in 1975, now the world's biggest software company
Flagship products are the Windows operating system and Office suite of word processing and spreadsheet software
Windows runs on about 90% of the world's PCs
2005 revenues - $42.6bn
Craig Mundie meanwhile will assume the title of chief research and strategy officer.
At the same time Mr Mundie will work with general counsel Brad Smith to focus on the firm's intellectual property and technology policies.
The change comes as Microsoft gears up for the delayed launch of its new Vista operating system, now scheduled to be available to the public in January 2007.
Shares in the firm closed up 0.9% at $22.07 before the announcement but after the news emerged, they fell 9 cents in electronic trading on the Inet electronic brokerage.
Analysts said the move had not come as a huge shock and that two years provided enough time to make the change.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Fund of $29.1bn
$10.5bn in grants since 1994
Aims: reducing poverty and improving health and access to education
Largest grant: $1bn to the United Negro College Fund
70% of aid spent outside US
"The people who are taking over are very experienced and have been with Microsoft for a while," said Jean Orr, an analyst with Nutmeg Securities.
Daryl Nanes, principal at Nanes Delorme Capital Management, said: "I don't think Gates stepping away from his day-to-day responsibilities at Microsoft will be negative for the rest of the market.
"But Microsoft shareholders are assumed to have some jitters about the ambiguity regarding the future leadership of the company that Gates founded and ran for over 20 years," he added.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Bill Gates insists he is not retiring
Speech highlights
Bill Gates has announced he will end his day-to-day role as head of software giant Microsoft by July 2008.
Mr Gates said the move would allow him to spend more time on health and education work at his charity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
"This is a hard decision," said Mr Gates, adding that he was not retiring but "reordering [his] priorities".
Mr Gates will continue to serve as the company's chairman and advise on key development projects after July 2008.
"I'm not leaving Microsoft," said Mr Gates.
The change we're announcing today is not a retirement - it's a re-ordering of my priorities
Bill Gates
Chairman, Microsoft
"What's happening now is we're starting the transition plan... I'll be working as hard as I ever have during these next years."
The firm said it would take two years to make sure the transition takes place smoothly.
Mr Gates said there was a "common thread" between his work at Microsoft and the foundation.
"I'm very lucky to have two passions that I feel are so important and so challenging," he said.
'No huge shock'
Microsoft's chief technical officer Ray Ozzie will be given the title of chief software architect and work with Mr Gates on all product issues.
Microsoft
Founded in 1975, now the world's biggest software company
Flagship products are the Windows operating system and Office suite of word processing and spreadsheet software
Windows runs on about 90% of the world's PCs
2005 revenues - $42.6bn
Craig Mundie meanwhile will assume the title of chief research and strategy officer.
At the same time Mr Mundie will work with general counsel Brad Smith to focus on the firm's intellectual property and technology policies.
The change comes as Microsoft gears up for the delayed launch of its new Vista operating system, now scheduled to be available to the public in January 2007.
Shares in the firm closed up 0.9% at $22.07 before the announcement but after the news emerged, they fell 9 cents in electronic trading on the Inet electronic brokerage.
Analysts said the move had not come as a huge shock and that two years provided enough time to make the change.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Fund of $29.1bn
$10.5bn in grants since 1994
Aims: reducing poverty and improving health and access to education
Largest grant: $1bn to the United Negro College Fund
70% of aid spent outside US
"The people who are taking over are very experienced and have been with Microsoft for a while," said Jean Orr, an analyst with Nutmeg Securities.
Daryl Nanes, principal at Nanes Delorme Capital Management, said: "I don't think Gates stepping away from his day-to-day responsibilities at Microsoft will be negative for the rest of the market.
"But Microsoft shareholders are assumed to have some jitters about the ambiguity regarding the future leadership of the company that Gates founded and ran for over 20 years," he added.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Google's Excel challenge
Google mounts a challenge to Microsoft's Excel with a new Web-based spreadsheet program. Google Spreadsheet supports the import and export of documents in the .xls format used in Excel and the .csv (comma-separated values) format.
Google Spreadsheet allows multiple people to edit or view the spreadsheet at the same time--their names will appear in an on-screen chat window.
Google Spreadsheets turns up heat on Excel
An Internet connection and browser is required to use Google Spreadsheet and no software need be installed on your computer. This eliminates the loss of data through hard drive failures or power outages.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Demonstration of Windows Vista and Office 12 from WinHEC 2006
Demonstration of Windows Vista and Office 12 from WinHEC 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
Google Knocks Microsoft off Dell PCs
When consumers boot up their new Dell desktops and notebooks next week, they will find a Google home page and search tools, not the familiar Microsoft versions, the world's largest PC vendor confirmed Thursday.
Dell will factory-install the Google desktop, toolbar, search engine, and home page on desktops and notebooks shipping to consumers and small and medium-size businesses worldwide, said Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn.
It will also be installed on certain enterprise systems, unless the buyer specifies its own corporate software tools. Dell will begin shipping the new configuration by the end of May.
Microsoft Tools Still an Option
Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt also confirmed the deal on Thursday at a Goldman Sachs Group conference. "Dell is the pioneer in this. They've figured out a way to work with other partners to essentially fill out the Windows platform," he said at the event, which was Webcast. "Windows lacks certain features, and Dell figured out a way to add them."
The Microsoft versions of those tools will still be installed on the PCs, but they will not boot up automatically unless a user changes his default settings. Dell also preinstalls software such as office productivity, Internet connectivity, and security tools, depending on customer requirements.
Dell did not disclose the terms of the agreement, which had been rumored as long ago as February.
Good News for Microsoft?
Though the news may appear to be a blow to Microsoft, Rob Enderle, analyst with the Enderle Group, said it actually could serve the company well in the near term as it continues to battle antitrust charges in the European Union.
"Initially this works in Microsoft's favor, because they're trying to showcase that there is no lock-in on the desktop," he said. "Right now, a couple of the big [hardware] guys going with Google is a good thing."
However, the PC desktop is increasingly becoming a battleground for companies such as Google, Yahoo, and eBay that want to drive PC users to their Internet-based services to earn ad revenue, Enderle said. "Microsoft will have to respond" as competition for that visibility grows, he said.
Windows Vista Beta 2: Aftermath
Shortly after Microsoft released Vista Beta 2, the big hardware vendors released updated drivers for the general public to install on their test machines. NVidia has released nForce drivers (nForce 4 or greater) and Forceware drivers for their chipsets/video cards and ATI has just posted updated Catalyst drivers for their Radeon products.
Screenshot/video galleries are starting to hit the web as well:
Paul Thurrott has his preliminary Beta 2 review up along with a bunch of images
PCMag has a nice collection of screenshots on their site
If you missed the keynote addresses from this morning, Microsoft is providing on-demand access to them over here. Office 2007 Beta 2 can be downloaded using a nifty new software delivery manager over here. We've also got several staff members on the floor of WinHEC this year blogging live from the show. Our very own Creamhackered gave his preliminary rundown on Vista Beta 2 earlier today:
"Vista seems a little more responsive and stable from 5381. Nothing really different from that build but if you’ve been waiting to run Vista on your main machine then you may want to wait a little longer until RC0, as this release still isn’t at the stage where you could rely on it every day, especially on a mid-range PC."
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