An Early Look at Microsoft Windows Live, Part 1 Web-Based Services from Microsoft Abound Wayne Kawamoto
Working towards a significant online stand with a new set of tools, Microsoft's Windows Live lineup of services promises new ways to handle e-mail, instant messages, schedules, and maps; manage RSS feeds; perform Web searches; and much more. In this two-part review, we'll be evaluating pre-release editions of Windows Live Mail, Microsoft's newest Web-based e-mail service; Windows Messenger, the successor to MSN Messenger; Windows Live Toolbar, a set of tools that assist in searching the Web, filling in Web forms, blocking pop-up ads, and more; Windows Live Safety Center, a service that scans for viruses and evaluates a PC's health; and Windows Live Favorites, which lets you access your Internet Explorer and MSN Explorer favorites from any computer with a Web connection.
As previews of Microsoft's next-generation lineup, the betas offer a lot to like. As long as Microsoft delivers (relatively) bug-free and secure versions of these tools in their final releases, most users will probably welcome them. As one would expect, at this point in time Microsoft is still encouraging feedback from users and the tools are subject to change before release. In other words, the following reviews offer a snapshot of various works in progress.
Windows Live Mail is an all-new, Web-based e-mail service that's been built from the ground up and is radically different from its predecessor, Hotmail. Most notably, the service now resembles and works like Microsoft Outlook.
The interface offers three "pane" sections that house folders and messages and allow you to preview e-mail messages without loading a new Web page or leaving the inbox. In use, it's a lot like working with Outlook, letting you simultaneously view and select from a list of incoming messages in a "pane" and quickly view the content of each individual message in another. The reading pane may be adjusted to appear on the right or bottom of the screen — your choice. This efficient new approach to Web-based e-mail should be welcomed by all.
Live Mail offers convenient single-click options for messages — simply right-click on a message to access options such as reply, delete, or forward.
The service also offers right-click options for folders. At this time, however, you can't collapse and nest folders as you can when using Outlook.
Messages can be organized quickly and easily by dragging and dropping them into folders. And speaking of storage, the service offers a generous 2 GB of space for your personal e-mail. According to Microsoft, when you come within 50MB of the limit, you'll receive a notification e-mail. However, most should find 2GB of storage enough to hoard a year's worth of e-mail and attachments before any deletions become necessary.
The service offers one-click control over junk and scam e-mails. When such e-mail arrives, a single click lets you delete the message and report it as junk mail, or you can tell Windows Live to accept e-mail from the address in the future. The service tries to identify e-mail that is "phishing" for data and, once you identify a message as such, deletes it. It also blocks attachments from loading until you clear them for download.
An added convenience, as you're typing a recipient's name, the service suggests possible recipients from those in your contact list, and you can click the one that you want to use. And to find recipients, the service offers convenient search options. A plus, Windows Live Mail can share contacts and calendars with Outlook.
For power users, convenient keyboard shortcuts allow you to quickly send and manage messages and effectively speed up your e-mail sessions. Simply press "]" to view the next message, "Delete" to erase a message, "Esc" to return to the in box, "Ctrl-]" to view the next folder or contact group, etc.
Support for rich text editing allows you to dress up messages — adjusting fonts and such — as you would like them to appear to your recipients. As you would expect, you can also select from a collections of emoticons.
The only real potential drawback to go along with all the new features and functionality in Windows Live Mail is the service's use of embedded advertising in the form of the new Active Search feature. Similar to the way Google displays text-based ads in its Gmail service, Active Search displays text links based on a message's content.
Unfortunately, you can expect advertisements to become more of a dominant theme as Microsoft moves to a service-based system for its core Live programs, with Active Search just the first of likely numerous examples of how online ads will be tied into the new Windows Live platform.
Preliminary results indicate that Live Mail is faster than HotMail, but this could change as the program nears completion and ultimate release. For now, Windows Live Mail Beta only works with Internet Explorer version 6.0 and above (i.e. as is customary with Microsoft's online Web-based offerings, Mozilla Firefox users need not apply).
