windows live

There's no doubt that Microsoft's biggest hurdle in convincing people to buy Windows 8 is showing them why the new operating system (OS) is better than Windows 7. The software giant has been working hard for many months to accomplish this task. Now ... the firm has identified an important way Windows 8, which is officially due in retail stores on October 26, 2012, stands apart from its critically-acclaimed predecessor: better graphics performance. In a recent post on the Building Windows 8 blog, Microsoft graphics group program manager Rob Copeland carefully outlined the performance benefits ... (view more)

For the past few days, Microsoft's Windows Live support forums have been lit up by complaints of frustrated users who recently encountered emptied email inboxes, sent, and deleted folders upon accessing their Hotmail accounts. Microsoft on Sunday ... admitted many of its Hotmail accounts had been inexplicably wiped clean , and many experts speculated that the accounts were unlikely to be repair. Microsoft has since announced that the majority of email accounts have been restored to normal working order, but user complaints continue to be filed online forums. (Source: eweek.com ) Contacts Spammed ... (view more)

A public beta of Microsoft's highly-anticipated Windows Live Essentials will be made available today, and promises to lure many curious onlookers with Office Web Apps and new social networking and media sharing options. Many of the programs which ... were part of Windows XP have been taken out of Windows 7 and re-branded into Windows Live Essentials. Programs included are: Messenger, Photo Gallery, Mail, Movie Maker, Writer, Family Safety, and Toolbar, plus Microsoft Office Outlook Connector, Office Live Add-in, and Microsoft Silverlight. (Source: microsoft.com ) Windows Live Internet Integration ... (view more)

The relationship that Microsoft shares with their Windows XP operating system can be likened to the same kind of relationship shared between Dr. Frankenstein and his monster: what began as a beautiful creation must now be destroyed at all costs. ... While a tad extreme, this is essentially the message that Microsoft is sending out to the world after announcing that the next version of the free Windows Live Essentials software will not run on XP. In a recent blog post, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of the Windows Live Experience Chris Jones confirmed the news, although web-based versions of ... (view more)

Critics this morning are wondering what impact an outage of Microsoft's Hotmail email service will have on consumers, who are increasingly leaning towards Google's Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. According to reports, yesterday at about 12:30pm Eastern Time, ... or 9:30am Pacific Time, Microsoft's Hotmail email service and the Windows Live Messenger instant messaging program both stopped working. Many users were barred from entering into their Hotmail or Messenger accounts, and at this time it's not 100 per cent clear what was behind the outage. Some initial reactions to the news included fears that the ... (view more)

Microsoft has uncharacteristically spoken out against Google over the two firms' free online storage offers. The comments follow Google's announcement that it is extending the size and type of files eligible for free back-up. To date, users of ... Google Docs had been severely limited in the amount of data they could store online. Storage could only be used for specific types of document file, namely: word processing, spreadsheet and presentation files. Free Google Docs Storage Balloons to 1GB The firm now says users will be allowed 1GB of free storage, with extra space available for 25 cents per ... (view more)

Only further riling up anxious PC users who can't wait to get their hands on the new Windows 7 , Microsoft yesterday released a trial version of new file-sharing software intended for use with its upcoming and highly-anticipated operating system. ... The new software allows PC users to swap files with the computers of friends, family, and trusted colleagues along safe, secure channels. Dubbed "Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant 6.5," the beta connects the Windows Live IDs of individual users with a Windows 7 account, essentially building a secure link between data stored on a hard drive and ... (view more)

Just because they're the biggest software company in the world and, at the very least a heavy-hitter in the webosphere, Microsoft doesn't always have all the answers. The Redmond-based firm is struggling to determine exactly why millions of Hotmail ... users were recently barred from accessing their accounts. Although the problem has since been fixed, for several hours earlier this week about 80 million Hotmail users were unable to log in to their email or instant messaging accounts. The issue affected Hotmail fans around the world early yesterday afternoon, UK time. According to Microsoft, a few ... (view more)