The common theme for the Windows Live suite is that all of its apps combine a rich Windows client application with Internet services that add power to those apps.
Seattle — Microsoft Tuesday announced plans to integrate disparate Windows Live products for instant messaging, e-mail, blog authoring and photo sharing into a single downloadable suite for consumers this year to beef up its Internet strategy. Though for now the services will be limited to a few thousand pre-selected testers.
The company also announced two new Windows Live products, including the long rumored Windows Live Folders file sharing application and Windows Live Photo Gallery for photo sharing. Windows Live has been a confusing brand for many, so a downloadable suite could bring some much needed commonality.
Microsoft plans to take on Web competitors Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. with its “software plus services” strategy, which aims to leverage its dominant market position for software running on the computer to a new suite of services delivered over the Internet.
The first new service, Windows Live Photo Gallery beta, is essentially an upgraded version of the Windows Photo Gallery that is built into Windows Vista, though it will also work on Windows XP machines. The service expands upon the photo management program by allowing people to upload their photos to a Windows Live Spaces blog, Microsoft’s social networking platform.
The sharing feature of Microsoft’s new Photo Gallery is similar to how users can publish pictures from Apple Inc.’s iPhoto application to the company’s .Mac online service. Microsoft said it is open to eventually letting users post to other photo sharing sites such as Yahoo’s Flickr, if it can establish common protocols and standards with those Web sites.
Microsoft’s second new service, tentatively dubbed Windows Live Folders, is essentially an online-storage tool that people can use to back up files, share them with friends or post them publicly.
In the current beta program, testers are being given 500 megabytes of online storage. Though they can share files with anyone they wish, people who are invited to use a shared folder have to sign up for a Windows Live ID for authentication, said Brian Hall, general manager of the Windows Live business group.
Microsoft said it will gauge usage during the test release and possibly add more capacity if needed.
Microsoft sees Windows Live Folders as a way people can share documents, but not necessarily a place where users can back up all the files on a computer hard drive.
Chris Jones, Microsoft’s corporate vice president, said the company will unveil the next wave of services later this year, but its goal will be to stitch together the disparate Windows Live services and offer a more unified experience.
“Soon we will begin to offer a single installer which will give customers the option of an all-in-one download for the full Windows Live suite of services instead of the separate installation experience you see today,” said Jones in a posting on Microsoft’s Web site.
The moves represent the first in a wave of new services that will roll out in the coming months, Hall said. While Microsoft has spent the past few months winnowing its list of services and updating its mainstay Hotmail, it is now looking to add new services and bring tighter integration of its differing products.
“This is the next generation” of Windows Live, said Hall.
Microsoft announced its Windows Live effort in November 2005 in what was seen as a response to free, Web-based services from Google and others.
Not surprisingly, Google has been widely rumored to be working on an online storage service called GDrive, but the company has remained mum on the issue. Google is also a contender in the photo space after purchasing photo management company Picasa three years ago.
However, Google offers a variety of services that include large amounts of free data storage, including Gmail and Docs & Spreadsheets.
"This release is going to start changing perceptions," predicts Hall. By creating a single suite and a single integrated service, it will become much easier for users to understand what Windows Live actually is. We are focused on making sure Windows Live is the best place for communicating, sharing and accessing things from anywhere and making sure you and your stuff is protected.