Before we get started a quick dope on Microsoft’s status in today’s Web 2.0-3.0 era. Google clearly had a head start. It is (un)common knowledge that Microsoft could not catch up with Google’s search when Google was still new, because it was busy sorting things out with DOJ (Department of Justice) regarding its lawsuits and was banned till 2007 from any anti-competitive behaviour.

By the time Microsoft was ready, Google was an Internet Goliath, which made a PC Goliath like Microsoft become David in this Internet war.

Microsoft appointed, Ray Ozzie, as it’s Architect for future and Live services is his brainchild. Live set of services are designed to complement PC functionality in Web 2.0 Era. All the applications in Live Services are Internet aware and designed to enable accessibility and get users into the center of cloud computing.

The Windows Live applications that Microsoft offers are following:

• Hotmail (Email)
• Messenger (Instant Messenger)
• Writer (Reviewed earlier)
• Photo Gallery
• Movie Maker (Vista and above)
• Toolbar
• Family Safety
• Sky drive (Online storage)
• Spaces (Blogging)
• Sync (File Sync Solution)

All of these are available as a single download from Live Home . All of these services need you to have a Windows Live ID, which is free.

As it stands today Live stands 4^th top used website after Yahoo.com (1^st), Google.com (2^nd), Youtube.com (3^rd). (source: Alexa.com)

I will share a review on many of these products and a comparison with a similar tool available in my next posts.

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