Windows Experience Blog : Windows Live, Featured News

Download the “I’m A PC” Messenger Theme Pack

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:52:30 GMT

To go with your Life Without Walls Wallpapers for your PC, you can now download the “I’m A PC” Windows Live Messenger Theme Pack that gives you a variety of Display Pictures and Backgrounds for your IM conversation window.

Click above to download the “I’m A PC” Messenger Theme Pack. I’ve got it installed on my PCs and it works just fine with the latest Windows Live Messenger Beta available for download at download.live.com.

Thanks to Paul Thurrott for the heads up!

Windows Live Beta Round-Up & Plug-ins for Windows Live Photo Gallery

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:19:00 GMT

Right now as I write this everyone should be enjoying the shiny new Windows Live Betas - available for download at download.live.com. I'd like to take a moment to highlight several blog posts from the Windows Live Product Teams I think folks will be interested in reading.

Tanja, Program Manager for Windows Live Mail, is back on the Windows Live Mail Blog talking about today's Windows Live Mail Beta release. We all know that Windows Live Mail is sporting calendar sync with Windows Live Calendar (currently in Beta at calendar.live.com) but Tanja sheds some light on some specific calendaring features such as the "Add to Calendar" button. When you're reading an email with important information about an event or related to an event all you need to do is click "Add to Calendar" and you can take that information within the email and turn it into an Event in one of your Calendars. She also discusses the Event window where you can set the event to reoccurring, set a start and stop time and more.

Speaking of Windows Live Calendar - tomorrow Thursday Sept. 18 starting around 3PM Pacific Time the Windows Live Calendar Beta will be down for a few hours while the service gets upgraded.

Aaron from the Windows Live Messenger Team posted on the Windows Live Messenger Blog and discusses their Beta release and the features within the new Beta release such as Favorites, Group IM, Personalization, and the What's New feed. Aaron also mentions that the Windows Live Messenger Beta also has the ability to sign in at multiple locations called MPOP (short for Multiple Points of Presence).

The Windows Live Writer Team published a very extensive list of changes and updates in their Beta release. You should definitely check it out if you're a heavy Windows Live Writer.

And the Windows Live Digital Memories Team has posted lists of new features and changes in both the Windows Live Photo Gallery Beta and Windows Live Movie Maker Beta.

And Windows Live Photo Gallery Beta? Yup! Michael Palermiti, Program Manager for Windows Live Photo Gallery, has a blog post up on the Windows Live Dev Blog discussing new extensibility in the Windows Live Photo Gallery Beta. Developers now have a framework to develop publishing plug-ins for Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Matter a fact, Omar Shahine has published a plug-in he created for publishing photos to SmugMug.

When folks create new plug-ins for Windows Live Photo Gallery, the Digital Memories Team will add the plug-ins to this page off their blog. Bookmark it now ;-)

Be sure to check out previous blog post on the Windows Live Betas and outlining what's new in each of the client applications.

Next Wave of Windows Live Introduced with New Betas

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:30:00 GMT

Want to check out what's next for Windows Live? Chris Jones, Corporate Vice President for Windows Live Experience Program Management, has announced today the availability of new Betas for the Windows Live client applications on the Windows Live Wire blog. These Betas showcase significant updates to the client applications in the Windows Live suite introducing the next wave of Windows Live products and services. Chris does a fantastic job explaining the term "wave" and how it's used to describe Windows Live releases. Definitely give his post a read as it discusses some background for Windows Live as it's progressed from 2006 to 2007 to today. Expect regular posts on the Windows Live Wire blog from members of the Windows Live Engineering Team discussing in greater detail specifics on the new stuff coming up for Windows Live.

To download the new Windows Live Betas - just head on over to download.live.com later today and install the betas.

When we talk about the Windows Live suite - we are talking about the following desktop client applications that sit on the user's PC that tap in to the Windows Live services in the "cloud" (the web). These applications are only part of the Windows Live story as they all connect in more than one way to the Windows Live web services. Windows Live represents what is called software + services where software is connected to services on the web. The follow applications are part of the Windows Live suite:

Windows Live Messenger
Windows Live Mail
Windows Live Writer
Windows Live Photo Gallery
Windows Live Movie Maker (NEW)
Windows Live Family Safety

Windows Live Movie Maker is brand new to the Windows Live suite in the next major wave of releases for Windows Live. But I'll talk more about Windows Live Movie Maker in a bit.

An example of how these client applications tap into the Windows Live services in the "cloud" is how the Windows Live client applications handle contacts. A single contacts storage service - called Windows Live Contacts - powers your Messenger contact list and Address Book in Windows Live Hotmail. Your Messenger contact list *is* your Windows Live Contacts. As Chris Jones said in his Windows Live Wire blog entry - these updated Windows Live client applications are "designed to work best when connected to our suite of web-based services". I've got one word for that - w00t!

Ok enough of the technicalities - let's take a look at what's new with the Windows Live client application betas. Keep in mind I'm only going to briefly cover some of these features as this post could get really long if I went in-depth. I'll dive deeper into specific features in later posts.

NOTE: Instead of putting "Beta" at the end of every product name everything here on out is related to the Windows Live Betas being released today and not the RTM Windows Live suite (aka the non-Beta Windows Live apps).

Let's start with Windows Live Messenger. Windows Live Messenger essentially was almost completely redesigned.

By default, the UI sports an all new lighter color scheme. You'll notice that the tabs in Messenger are no longer on the left-hand side. Instead, they now sit in a "Tab Bar" just above the video carousal or banner ad. The Tab Bar can be turned off. You can also have your What's New feed from Windows Live Spaces appear in Windows Live Messenger for you to keep track of what's happening with your friends in Windows Live. You can see the What's New feed on your Windows Live Spaces homepage today.

When you mouse over a contact, Windows Live Messenger now has a neat mouse-over menu that lets you choose a variety of options such as sending a text message to a contact's cell, calling that contact, or viewing their contact card.

TIP: For your most favorite contacts you can drag them to the Favorites category. I use the Favorites category in Messenger for contacts that I instant message with the most.

However one of the biggest changes to Windows Live Messenger is how you can personalize your Messenger experience. I was able to change the way my contact list looks which is great. I am also now able to choose a "scene" for the main window of Messenger. There are several scenes that come with Messenger I was able to choose from. I discovered you can also choose your own scene from photos you have on your PC as well. When I chose a scene - Messenger automatically changed the color of my Messenger windows to match the coloring in the scene I chose.

In the screenshot, you can see I chose one of the desktop wallpapers that came with Windows Vista (the one that is also the background here on the Windows Vista Team Blog). Now what is really neat about choosing a scene for Messenger is that it also changes how the Messenger window looks when you're chatting with a friend. Essentially you can truly change how your contacts "see" you. Because I changed my scene in Messenger to be the Windows Vista energy wallpaper - when I chat with someone on Messenger (who is also running the Beta) their Messenger window will reflect my scene. This is the conversation window I see when I initiate a conversation with the Windows Experience Blog. Take a look:

Windows Live Messenger also lets you choose a Signature Sound that plays for your contacts when you sign-in to Messenger.

There is more than just customization changes to Windows Live Messengers folks will notice with the Beta. Users can now create Groups where they can add up to 20 people for private group instant messaging. Users can now share photos directly within the conversation window which I found to be an excellent new feature.

I can choose multiple photos to share with a Messenger contact and go through the photos with them in the conversation window. Instead of sending photos one by one in Messenger - this is a much easier way share photos with friends. You can either press the "Photos" button in the top left-hand corner of the conversation window or drag and drop photos onto the chat box.

In Windows Live Mail - users will enjoy full calendar sync with Windows Live Calendar. I've been waiting for this feature for a long time and it's very exciting to finally see!

I was able to create new calendars and have them sync up in Windows Live Calendar and vice versa. Windows Live Mail will also import calendars from Windows Calendar in Windows Vista as well which will then also sync up to Windows Live Calendar if you've signed up for the Windows Live Calendar Beta at calendar.live.com.

TIP: In both Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Mail - you'll notice that contacts display tile (or status "dot") will glow green if they are online, yellow is they are "Away", and red if they are "Busy". If a contact is offline - their status "dot" will be white or their display tile will be faded. The status icons and colors are going to be consistent across Windows Live.

Windows Live Photo Gallery expands on helping users manage their digital photo collections by offering several new features that make managing their photos a lot easier.

Windows Live Photo Gallery now has face-detection technology that helps find people within your photos. When I opened a photo of Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld from one of the new TV ads, Windows Live Photo Gallery detected two people in the photo. I was then able to add people tags to each of the people Windows Live Photo Gallery detected.

When a person is detected, all I needed to do was put my mouse over that person and a list of my Windows Live Contacts appeared. I can choose a person from my Windows Live Contacts or manually add a name. I certainly don't have Bill Gates or Jerry Seinfeld as Windows Live Contacts ;-)

TIP: If Windows Live Photo Gallery is unable to detect some faces, you can add them manually by clicking on "Add people tag". You can then draw a square over a face and choose a people tag for that person.

There are also new options for fixing your photos in Windows Live Photo Gallery in the Beta such as "Straighten photo" and "Black and White Effects".

If a photo is tilted in some awkward way, the "Straighten photo" tool lets you align the photo to fix that tilt. And sometimes you might want to create some old fashioned black and white photos but didn't shoot the photos in black and white - now you can quickly make them black and white in Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Just like with the last release - Windows Live Photo Gallery continues to let you upload your photos to either Windows Live Spaces or Flickr. But under the "Extras" menu you'll notice there is an option to "Create a Photosynth". Consider this like a quick shortcut to creating new Synths for Photosynth. If you have the Photosynth plugin installed on your system, you can jump into creating a Synth right from Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Windows Live Writer continues to be the best (and coolest) blog editing tool on the web.

New UI lets you switch via tabs at the bottom between blog post "edit", "preview", and HTML much more quickly - which is something I find extremely useful as I am always putting embed code in my blog posts and switching between edit and HTML is something I do quite often. Windows Live Writer now also supports being able to upload videos directly to online video services such as Soapbox on MSN Video and YouTube.

Windows Live Movie Maker is the newest addition to the Windows Live suite. This isn't simply Windows Movie Maker from Windows Vista re-branded. Windows Live Movie Maker was, like Windows Live Messenger, pretty much re-designed. Using the familiar Fluent user interface (as seen in Microsoft Office 2007) - or commonly referred to as the "ribbon" UI - Windows Live Movie Maker offers a brand new movie making and editing experience with the average consumer in mind.

Windows Live Movie Maker lets you add audio tracks and video effects to your videos.

Once you edit your videos using Windows Live Movie Maker you can upload those videos directly to Soapbox on MSN Video.

I use Windows Live Movie Maker today to bring in videos I take with my LifeCam VX-7000. I edit them and splice them together and then upload to Soapbox. The VX-7000 shoots some pretty good quality video for uploading to the web. Most webcams today consumers own can shoot some pretty decent video and what better than to use Windows Live Movie Maker to edit those videos and upload them to Soapbox for all to see?

It is important to understand that Windows Live Movie Maker Beta is in the early stage of testing and will of course continue to evolve. Part of getting the Beta in your hands today is getting feedback to shape the product.

And finally we have Windows Live Family Safety. Windows Live Family Safety offers an improved and simplified sign up process makes it easier to configure the service and manage your kids' activities online. Because I don't have kids myself and don't need this application, I don't have much experience with it to-date. But if you have a family, this application is something you should certainly check out especially when you're looking to keep your kids safe while being on the Internet.

Whew. This turned in to a very long post - one of my longest yet. There is some very exciting things happening with Windows Live so it deserves such a long post. I think I've outlined most of the biggest changes you can check out in the Windows Live Betas today. To leave feedback: head on over to the Windows Live Wire blog or go to feedback.live.com.

If there are any specifics within the Windows Live Betas you want to hear more about - let me know!

UPDATE: I've updated the screenshots so they are a bit of a higher quality.

New LifeCams Announced & Windows Live Video Messages Launched

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:25:00 GMT

Today we announced 2 new Microsoft LifeCams that will be entering the LifeCam Family - the LifeCam Show and LifeCam VX-5500. We also have something to go along with the new LifeCams that extend the LifeCam experience...

People leave friends and family personalized voice mails or send them emails all the time. What about sending them a customized video message with all the benefits of voice mail and email but with video instead? Today, we're launching Video Messages to do just that! Video Messages lets users enjoy the combination of what they get with voice mail and email with video to send personalized video messages to friends and family (or whoever they want).

You can visit Windows Live Video Messages at videomessages.live.com.

How about we check out what Windows Live Video Messages is all about?

When users sign into the Windows Live Video Messages website, they will notice it is set up quite a bit like a mailbox is for email. And that's how users should treat their Video Messages - like voicemail but better.

Note: Silverlight is required for Windows Live Video Messages.

On the top left hand corner, users will see 3 categories for Video Messages next to their display icon: Received, Sent, and Unviewed. A listing of how many Unviewed Video Messages is also displayed along with total Video Messages you have in your account.

On the left hand side users will have a sidebar that also displays new Video Messages (the black number circle in the above screenshot) as well as a list of their top 6 contacts.

When I first signed in to Windows Live Video Messages, I had 1 Unviewed Video Message. This was Video Message by Microsoft welcoming me to Windows Live Video Messages. A tile with a link to a list of available Microsoft LifeCams and where to buy them was also included.

On the top right hand side of Windows Live Video Messages is another set of buttons and options.

Users can select how they wish to view their Video Messages. There are 2 options: "Scattered" View or Grid View. By default, when users sign in it will be on Scattered View as that's what it was one for me when I signed in. Users can also check how much space they have left in Windows Live Video Messages by moving their mouse over the little harddrive icon. Users will get 2GB of storage for their Video Messages. Because Video Messages aren't usually very long - 2GB of storage will go a long way. And of course the Recycle Bin icon lets you manage deleted Video Messages and can be emptied at any time.

Recording a Video Message is really easy. To do so, all users need to do is press the "+" at the bottom right hand corner. A recording window will pop up.

NOTE: Windows Live Video Messages is designed to work with all of Microsoft's LifeCams. Non-Microsoft webcams are also supported by the website.

Windows Live Video Messages will detect your LifeCam and display your LifeCam in the Recording window.

After users record their Video Message, they can play it back before sending to make sure it's what they want to send. If it is what they want to send, they can click the "+" buttons on the empty display icons at the bottom to add contacts they want to send the Video Message to. You will be able to add multiple contacts as well. Users will also be able to lock certain Video Messages from being forwarded or saved by recipients.

After the user sends their Video Message, the person you sent it to will be notified via email a new Video Message is available for them to view.

That person can then reply to it just as they would reply to an email you send.

Sending and receiving Video Messages is really easy. But wait - there's more!

For users on Windows Vista, there is also a LifeCam video messages gadget available that lets users create, send, and receive Video Messages right from their Windows Vista desktop (with Windows Sidebar of course!). Users can choose 6 of their top contacts to be always shown in the gadget for quick access to sending Video Messages to specific people - like your mom. The LifeCam video messages gadget supports the all of the Microsoft LifeCams.

The Gadget will run on 64-bit systems when running Windows Sidebar in 32-bit mode.

Give Windows Live Video Messages a try today and start sending Video Messages to your friends and family! I also currently own the Microsoft LifeCam VX-7000 - which I blogged about here. I also got my hands on the Microsoft LifeCam VX-5000 which is also proving to be an excellent webcam. I'll be blogging more about the VX-5000 shortly. And certainly check out the new Microsoft LifeCams announced today as well.

WindowsLive.com Launches with Community Content

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:15:00 GMT

Today, the brand new WindowsLive.com website has launched sporting an all-new look and feel and lots of great content such as neat tips and tricks and show-and-tell stories on how people are using Windows Live in their lives. The goal for WindowsLive.com is simple: give people a place to discover the benefits of Windows Live. What better than to use content from excited Windows Live users to highlight those benefits?

The content on WindowsLive.com is driven from the community of passionate Windows Live users through the Windows Live Clubhouse. The Windows Live Clubhouse is a special Windows Live Space that brings other Windows Live users together in talking about Windows Live on their own Windows Live Space. Using Windows Live Writer and using special tags designed for the Windows Live Clubhouse, users can have content written on their Windows Live Space aggregated to WindowsLive.com and shared with the world!

Windows Live Clubhouse: Click here to request access and take part in providing awesome Windows Live Content for WindowsLive.com!

The community decides what content goes up on WindowsLive.com based on how pieces of content (posts) are rated. In someone writes about something regarding Windows Live that is inaccurate - the community can respond simply by not rating the post highly and it will never show up on WindowsLive.com. You drive the content!

For each person who is writing content on their Windows Live Space for WindowsLive.com - a special page is created on WindowsLive.com to highlight that person and their content. The page brings in information about the user from the user's Windows Live Space.

Using my own personal Windows Live Space, I've taken part in the Windows Live Clubhouse and have content I've written on my Windows Live Space about Windows Live aggregated to WindowsLive.com as you can see in the above screenshot. You can view my WindowsLive.com profile here. As I write more about Windows Live on my Windows Live Space - this page will update to bring in any new content I write.

At WindowsLive.com - people can explore all the Windows Live services and applications. The pages for each Windows Live product is designed to highlight what the product is about and also splices in a showcase piece from someone in the community who has talked about the product.

With WindowsLive.com and community driven content - Windows Live customers now have an opportunity to have a voice in helping talk about Windows Live.

Senior Product Marketing Manager Marty Collins (Hi Marty!) has blogged about today's launch on her Windows Live Space. LiveSide, who is also a member of the Windows Live Clubhouse, has also posted about today's WindowsLive.com launch as well.

New Microsoft Office Outlook Connector Beta Release with Calendar Sync

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:40:00 GMT

UPDATE: You can download the final released version of the Outlook Connector here or through Windows Live Essentials at download.live.com.

The Windows Live Calendar Team has announced the availability of the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector 12.1 Beta - which allows you to sync your calendars on Windows Live Calendar (calendar.live.com).

Download: Microsoft Office Outlook Connector 12.1 Beta

The Microsoft Office Outlook Connector is designed to sync your Windows Live Hotmail mailbox, Windows Live Contacts, and calendars in Windows Live Calendar to Microsoft Office 2007 (or 2003). The Microsoft Office Outlook Connector will work with any Windows Live Hotmail account - as well as Office Live accounts or Windows Live Custom Domain accounts (domains.live.com). Not only do I have a Windows Live Hotmail account - I also have a custom domain that uses Windows Live Hotmail as well.

When I installed the Microsoft Outlook Connector Beta - my calendars that I have in Windows Live Calendar appeared in Outlook 2007 under "My Calendars". I could check each calendar that I want to view (whether it be all or just 3 as you see in my screenshot). I can add and remove events and those changes are then synced back into Windows Live Calendar and then synced to any other machine running Outlook and the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector. Whether I am offline or online - I can always view my calendars which is really nice.

The current version of the Microsoft Office Outlook Connect 12.1 Beta is 12.0.6237.1003. To find out what version you are running choose "Outlook Connector" in Outlook's menu at the top and then choose "About Outlook Connector". You have to be running this version to get calendar sync with Windows Live Calendar. Previous versions of the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector will not sync your calendars.

I'm a little late posting on this - Sarah Perez over on ReadWriteWeb has an excellent post on the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector as well and definitely worth a read. Paul Thurrott (regarding the release of the new Outlook Connector Beta) says "this could be huge". The Microsoft Office Outlook Connector 12.1 Beta certainly creates a great experience with Windows Live by bringing together email, contacts, and calendaring all in one spot. I know for many people wanting such an experience for a while now - this *is* huge for them and very exciting to see.

The Windows Live Calendar Team also recently made an update to the Windows Live Calendar service introducing some awesome new enhancements such as iCal subscriptions and an automatic Birthday Calendar for all your Windows Live Contacts. Check out my post on last week's Windows Live Calendar update here.

New Version of Windows Live for Windows Mobile Available

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:12:00 GMT

Today the Windows Live for Windows Mobile Team posted that new bits are now available for everyone to download for their Windows Mobile phones.

Wait no more! The latest bits for Windows Live Client for your Windows Mobile are available for download. To get yours now, point your mobile browser to http://wl.windowsmobile.com

If you have Windows Live already installed on your device, you will need to uninstall it first. To do that, go to Settings->Remove Programs, select Windows Live entry from the list (if any) and click Remove. If you don’t find Windows Live on the list, then you are good to go.

With Windows Live client you will be able to:

Synchronize Live contacts with your contacts on the device
Synchronize your Live email (msn, hotmail, live)
View graphics, web links and contact photos in emails
Respond to emails with voice recordings
Upload photos to your Windows Live Spaces

Go ahead, give it a try and let us know what you think!

As soon as I heard, I installed it quickly on my Samsung Blackjack 2. I simply cannot live without Windows Live for Windows Mobile on my phone. Windows Live for Windows Mobile allows me to sync (and when I say "sync" I really do mean *sync*) my Windows Live Hotmail mailbox to my phone as well as all my Windows Live Contacts. I can read a message on my desktop PC at home using Windows Live Mail and that same exact message I just read syncs to Windows Live Hotmail and then to my phone using Windows Live for Windows Mobile - including the fact it is now marked read as I had read it on my PC. I have the same email experience (emails read or unread, emails filtered into certain folders, etc) across multiple PCs using Windows Live Mail, on my phone with Windows Live for Windows Mobile, and on the web with Windows Live Hotmail.

I previously blogged about Windows Live for Windows Mobile (in a little bit more detail) a few weeks ago when the first set of bits went live.

ALSO: if you're interested, try out the Beta of the new Windows Live Mobile Homepage at mhome.live.com on your mobile device! I've got this page set up as my Home Page in Internet Explorer on my Blackjack 2.

Pretty Sweet Updates to Windows Live Calendar Beta

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:50:00 GMT

The Windows Live Calendar Team have been rolling out an update to the Windows Live Calendar Beta today and have recently blogged about what users will find within the update. I am a very heavy Windows Live Calendar user currently so this is a very exciting release for me. I figured I'd go down their list of changes / improvements / new features with a little context of my own based on my own experiences. Here we go!

Birthday Calendars: Any Windows Live Contacts that have their birthday entered in their Windows Live Profile (you can make sure you have your birthday added to your profile by going here) will have their birthday appear in a new calendar for you called "Birthday Calendar". This allows you to keep track of all your friend's birthdays. Never forget a birthday again!

iCal Subscriptions: You can now subscribe to public calendars (*.ics calendars) in Windows Live Calendar. A great resource for public calendars is http://www.icalshare.com/ (although at the time of writing this post I was having some issues with their website). I am a Space buff so I went and grabbed the calendar for astronomical events and subscribed to it.

Once you subscribe to these calendars - as long as the publisher continues to update them they will automatically update in Windows Live Calendar. If anyone has any other useful iCal resources on the web for free calendars to subscribe to, let me know!

UPDATE: Some calendars available on www.icalshare.com have URLs that direct to a different location. Windows Live Calendar Beta does not yet support following redirects. However if you are able to determine where the URL redirects to - you can always subscribe to its "final destination".

Holiday Calendar: A new calendar will show up (depending on which part of the world you're from) that will display holidays for your country. I find this incredibly useful. Currently users in the following countries will see a Holiday Calendar:

China
Taiwan
Hong Kong
Thailand
Singapore
Malaysia
Korea
Indonesia
Philippines
India
Russia
France
United States
Spain
German
United Kingdom

UI Changes: Notably - users can now right-click on a specific calendar in their calendar list and change its color and also its order in that list.

Print Views: You are now able to print from the day, week, and month views. I prefer printing from the Month view myself. You can also print your Agenda as well. I am noticing I am using the Agenda tab quite often these days.

A few more notable changes to Windows Live Calendar Beta with this release are accessibility functionality which includes better tabbing (and F6 key support). And users can now go directly to Windows Live Calendar via the calendar tab in Windows Live Hotmail.

Want to test out subscribing to a calendar? I've shared out my Windows Experience Blog calendar to anyone interested in subscribing:

webcal://windowsexperience.calendar.live.com/calendar/The+Windows+Experience+Calendar/calendar.ics

Not a whole bunch of events there just yet. You'll find I've added today's Windows Live Calendar Beta update as an event and in October you should see events for the PDC2008 Pre-Conference and PDC2008 as well. I definitely plan on updating it. If you have any suggestions for events that would be of interest to the Windows community - leave a comment!

If you're attending PDC2008 you can also subscribe to their calendar they publish as well to add a separate PDC2008 calendar to Windows Live Calendar:

http://www.microsoftpdc.com/Microsoft-PDC08.ics

REMEMBER: You can also subscribe your calendars in Windows Calendar in Windows Vista as well!

Windows Live OneCare 2.5 Now Available

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:37:00 GMT

Windows Live OneCare 2.5 is now available and I've got some information for both new and existing Windows Live OneCare subscribers regarding the Windows Live OneCare 2.5 release I'd like to share.

Beginning last week (July 1st to be exact) - existing Windows Live OneCare users (paid subscribers) began automatically receiving Windows Live OneCare 2.5. The Windows Live OneCare website also began offering Windows Live OneCare 2.5 for new users as well. If you are a Windows Live OneCare subscriber and have not yet been automatically updated, you can either wait until the update occurs or download the new version from the Windows Live OneCare website.

NOTE: If you choose not to wait for the automatic update to occur and want to go ahead and "manually" update yourself via downloading the new version off the Windows Live OneCare website - you will need to uninstall the previous version first before Windows Live OneCare 2.5 will install. I had not been automatically upgraded so I chose to install manually on 1 of my PCs but the others were automatically updated soon after.

So what's new with Windows Live OneCare 2.5? As I stated previously, the Windows Live OneCare 2.5 release is mainly an "under-the-hood" release. That means all the improvements take place behind-the-scenes so you will not notice any major new features or changes to the overall UI. Windows Live OneCare 2.5 is an incremental release that highlights Microsoft's ongoing commitment to improving Windows Live OneCare for paying subscribers.

However, Windows Live OneCare 2.5 does bring some changes worth taking note of. Windows Live OneCare is now available in 3 new markets: Brazil, India and Hong Kong. Also, if you are using the Online Photo Backup feature in Windows Live OneCare, you will be pleased to see that online storage capacity has been increased from 10GB to 50GB! Online Photo Backup is an added benefit to Windows Live OneCare users where they can pay $50 a year (on top of their existing Windows Live OneCare subscription) to have their digital photos automatically backed up to the "cloud".

As a Windows Live OneCare user myself, I enjoy seeing updates to Windows Live OneCare even if they aren't major updates. The priority for me is simply keeping my PC protected.

Try out the New Windows Live Mobile Homepage Beta

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:40:00 GMT

On your mobile phone - check out http://mhome.live.com. It is the new Windows Live Mobile Homepage currently in Beta. I took some shots on my BlackJack II to share.

This page is your one-stop place for what's happening in your Windows Live social network by taking advantage of the What's New feed in Windows Live Spaces.

The What's New feed lets you see posts your friends make to their Space, updates to their profile, images uploaded to their Space, files uploaded to Windows Live SkyDrive, and when you friends become friends with other people.

You can also update your Personal Message as well. This is the same Personal Message that exists in Windows Live Messenger. When you change it - it should change in Messenger too. This is nice for letting folks know what you're up to.

Just head on over to mhome.live.com on your mobile phone, sign-in with your Windows Live ID, and try it out for yourself. If you've got some feedback - go ahead and leave a comment and I'll forward it on to the team working on the new Windows Live Mobile Homepage. And remember, this is just the first Beta release. You can expect the Windows Live Mobile Hompage to evolve over time. Also add the Windows Experience Blog as a friend on Windows Live.

Bring the Summer to Your Desktop with a New Wallpaper!

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:38:00 GMT

I couple days ago I went outside and took some photos with my Nikon D40 (a Certified for Windows Vista camera) as the weather was very nice for taking some shots. I took a really neat close-up shot of a leaf with the sun shining from behind - highlighting the details of the leaf.

I am particularly fond of the shades of blue and green in the photo myself. I've been running it as a wallpaper on my own PCs and thought it would make a great desktop wallpaper for readers here. So I've uploaded the wallpaper up to Windows Live SkyDrive in a variety of resolutions for all to download!

For other wallpapers - you can check out my Railroad Wallpaper I took in the Columbia River Gorge (here in the Pacific Northwest) and my Certified for Windows Vista Wallpaper.

PDC2008 is LIVE – Register Now!

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:48:00 GMT

The brand new site has just launched and early bird registrations are now open for the 2008 Professional Developers Conference. PDC2008 is an event where the best developers gather to listen to Microsoft disclose details on its future platform. Register before August 15th, 2008 and take advantage of the Early Bird Special - a $200 discount off the registration price.

The PDC2008 website offers some goodies such as desktop wallpapers and blog bling. I ended up using Stardock's LogonStudio (which I blogged about here) to change my logon background to one of the PDC2008 wallpapers. I've also added some PDC2008 blog bling to the Windows Experience Blog. Along with the goodies off the new PDC2008 site, you can also follow PDC2008 on Twitter and become a Fan of PDC on Facebook.

Both Chris and I will be attending PDC2008 and hope to see you there!

I've created a Windows Live Event for PDC2008 for those signed up to attend PDC2008 this Fall. Just head on over to http://pdc2008.events.live.com/ . You can send me a Private Message (via Windows Live) with your Windows Live ID and I'll have an invite sent your way in 24 hours or less. You'll be able to add the Windows Live Event to a variety of calendar services including Windows Live Calendar. The Windows Live Event supports having discussions as well as uploading photos. If you've signed up to go to PDC2008 and have gone to PDC before - I'd love to see some photos from past PDC's.

Windows Live SkyDrive gets comments, favorites, and more!

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:49:00 GMT

Today you might take notice to a few cool changes in Windows Live SkyDrive. The Windows Live SkyDrive Team has released an update bringing the following new features for our enjoyment:

Users can now leave comments on files.
New Recent Comments page for comments left recently on files shared in Windows Live SkyDrive.
Users now have the ability to leave descriptions on files (captions for photos).
Ability to manage favorite websites in Windows Live SkyDrive.
New navigation control (called the "browsing widget") to navigate between files in a folder.
Ability to change folder views from "icon view" to "detailed view". For photos you have the added "photo thumbnails" view.

You can read about today's release on the Windows Live SkyDrive Team Blog as well!

I went ahead and shot a demo video of today's new features in Windows Live SkyDrive showing off the capabilities these new features bring to users. Check it out below.

Video: Demo: Windows Live SkyDrive 5-22-08

Windows Live SkyDrive will also become available in 24 new countries today: Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Thailand, Ukraine, Venezuela, Serbia, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Put Windows Live on your Windows Mobile phone

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:02:00 GMT

Windows Live for Windows Mobile is now available to download for your Windows Mobile phone. Windows Live for Windows Mobile lets Windows Mobile users sync their email from Windows Live Hotmail as well as their Windows Live Contacts.

To download, just head on over to this URL on your Windows Mobile phone:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/mobile/wl/download-en-us.mspx

UPDATE: Folks wanting a shorter URL to access Windows Live for Windows Mobile can go to the following URL - http://wl.windowsmobile.com/

Just download the .cab file for the version of Windows Mobile you are running (Standard or Professional). Windows Live for Windows Mobile works on phones running both Windows Mobile and Windows Mobile 6 (and 6.1).

Let me explain how I use Windows Live for Windows Mobile today on my BlackJack II. Because Windows Live for Windows Mobile syncs up my Windows Live Contacts - I encourage many of my contacts to edit their profiles and make sure their email addresses and phone numbers are correct. When their Windows Live Contact is synced to my phone - their name appears under my Contacts on my Windows Mobile phone (Windows Mobile has a centralized "contact directory"). Information my Windows Live Contacts fill out in their profiles appear on my phone. Users can have multiple phone numbers entered into their profiles for a variety of locations such as Mobile, Home, or Work. When I choose to call a Windows Live Contact - I choose any of the numbers they provided to me that is in their profile. Of course I can also edit their contact information either in Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Mail or via the web in Windows Live Hotmail.

Speaking of Windows Live Hotmail - Windows Live for Windows Mobile also lets my sync my email to my Windows Mobile phone as well. With Push-Email - you can get your email from Windows Live Hotmail account as it comes in. The sync features for email in Windows Live for Windows Mobile let me view the same unread/read email messages on my Windows Mobile phone, desktop PC with Windows Live Mail, or via the web with Windows Live Hotmail. If I read an unread message on my phone, it not only becomes unread on my phone but also becomes unread in Windows Live Mail and on the web in Windows Live Hotmail.

Windows Live for Windows Mobile however does not come with a Windows Live Messenger client for your Windows Mobile phone. We've chosen to do this to support carrier's plans for IM services for their phones. If there is no IM client on your phone, you can try our browser based version of Windows Live Messenger to chat with friends or ask your carrier about IM options for your phone.

For me - Windows Live for Windows Mobile has become a huge asset for me in staying connected with Windows Live and is essential for my Windows Mobile device.

For more information on Windows Live for Windows Mobile - check out the Windows Live for Windows Mobile Team's new blog!

Best Practices for keeping your Windows Live ID safe

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:35:00 GMT

Your Windows Live ID is essentially your online identity for all of the Windows Live services, Xbox Live, Zune and other third party websites (such as Expedia.com) that utilize Windows Live ID. If you're using Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger, your Windows Live ID stores all your contacts and email messages. Your Windows Live ID is definitely something you don't want to have compromised and I've got several pointers - or best practices - in keeping your Windows Live ID safe.

Do not hand out your password! Don't give anyone your password to your Windows Live ID. Handing out your password to anyone is simply asking for trouble. Don't even give out your password to friends or family. I can't imagine a reason why they would need it. Just don't give out your Windows Live ID credentials at all.

Be careful giving your Windows Live credentials on non-Microsoft websites. There are some websites out there that will claim they "require" your Windows Live ID credentials for their service. Some sites use this tactic to gain access to your Windows Live ID.

Fact: Microsoft will only ask for your Windows Live ID credentials on login.live.com and nowhere else!

Use a strong password for your Windows Live ID. Don't use common words or names. Use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.

Don't use an obvious answer to your secret question. Microsoft provides a list of possible "secret questions" for your account. A secret question is used when you forget your password for your Windows Live ID. Choose a secret question that has an answer that people won't be able to guess (friends, family, etc). The risk you have in using a secret question with an answer your friends might be able to guess is that your friends can try to "hack" your Windows Live ID and have fun with you. Your secret answer must have 5 characters or more and is not case sensitive. Remember to remember your secret answer of course.

Added protection: make your password expire every 72 days. You can login to account.live.com and change your password for your Windows Live ID and configure it to expire every 72 days. I personally don't choose this option rather I change my password every couple weeks on my own.

Neelamadhaba Mahapatro, General Manager for Microsoft's Identity Services (including Windows Live ID) has a post over on the Windows Live Dev Blog explaining Microsoft ongoing to commitment to keeping your Windows Live ID safe and what's being done today to protect Windows Live ID users from phishing.