MSN and Windows Live: Windows Live

Windows Live Mail - Mail stuck in outbox

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:14:06 GMT

There have been a few posts recently in the Microsoft public newsgroup about people getting errors from Windows Live Mail saying that there's an email stuck in the outbox (basically an email that won't send) however when they click on the outbox within Windows Live Mail, there is nothing there.

This problem can usually be fixed by physically going to the actual outbox and deleting the file that is there.
You can find your outbox by going to the following :-

C:\Documents and Settings\[Your Login]\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail\On This Com cc\Outbox

Where [Your Login] = your windows user name. Hope this helps some people.

Technorati Tags: Windows Live Mail, Windows Live, Outbox

Virtual Earth goes 3D

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:59:04 GMT

Many of you may have already heard but for those of you that have not, Virtual Earth has been upgraded once again, this time to v4 and the major change is that it has gone 3D.

Currently there are around 15 US cities that have been mapped in 3D with high detail however you can view the whole world in 3D if you wish, with more hi-res cities to be added monthly.

Currently Virtual Earth 3D is in beta however the interactive SDK has been updated and the APIs are available.

So what's the major difference between VE3D and Google Maps. Well there's many but the major one is that VE3d is hosted within your browser (IE6/7 only) rather than as a seperate client side application.

This is done through the download of a browser plugin that interacts with managed DirectX on your machine. This also means that you need to be running .Net Framework 2.0 (which the plugin will install if it's not already on your machine) and also means that you need to have a 3D graphics card with hardware acceleration turned on (who isn't nowadays?).

The product is still in beta and I've found to be fairly buggy (hangs IE7 a lot at the moment) but work is continueing on it.

Also note that although local.live.com will take you to the new Virtual Earth hosted maps, there is also a domain name change to maps.local.live, which will be more intuitive.

There is also a neat interview/preview with Duncan Lawler over on Channel 9 for you to take a look at as well.

Go take a look and start playing, I know I will be.

Windows Live Spaces Sweepstakes

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 19:35:04 GMT

Do you have a Windows Live Spaces site? If so then you can enter a sweepstake Microsoft is currently running with prizes including an Xbox 360.

If you currently don't have a Windows Live Space, simply sign up for one and enter the sweepstakes.

The page for the sweepstakes is :-

http://spacesbutton.spaces.live.com/?source=spotlight&loc=us

Another great Channel 9 video

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 17:13:45 GMT

There's another great video just been added to Channel 9 about the new Windows Live Contacts and how you can take advantage of it and integrate it in with your own projects. Well worth checking out. It can be found here :-

http://channel9.msdn.com/showpost.aspx?postid=232747

Live Messenger on Channel 9

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 22:05:55 GMT

Just a quick update inbetween tasks.

There's a really cool video over on Channel 9 giving you details about Windows Live Messenger (Messenger 8).

Go check it out :- http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=215459

Live.com email addy's

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 21:28:28 GMT

Another quickie as I'm being bombarded with hard schedules at work here.

Very soon you will be able to start registering for @live.com email addresses. Basically going to be the same as @hotmail.com and @msn.com (these will not go away in case you're worried).

On another note, finally Yahoo integration with MSN Messenger isn't far away now. It will definately be included in the RTW of Live Messenger (MSN Messenger 8) but it's undecided at present whether there will be another beta release to test out the features first before RTW.

Calendar API to be made available

Thu, 27 Apr 2006 22:50:58 GMT

Just received a reply to a suggestion I posted with regards to Kahuna/Windows Live Mail in that Microsoft will be working on an API for the calendar functionality of WLM.

So basically you will be able to program against your hotmail calendar. This should hopefully allow you to write a program that lets you sync your Outlook calendar with hotmail and vice versa.

No release date was given, just the hint to keep your eyes glued to MSDN :)

Windows Live

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 15:24:40 GMT

Heres a fairly comprehensive roundup of what's coming down the pipeline from the folks at MSN/Windows Live over the next few months.

Product	Code name	Description	Competitors	Status
Windows Live Mail	Kahuna	Successor to Hotmail, more like a traditional e-mail program such as Outlook	Yahoo Mail, Gmail	Reached the "M5" beta stage in March, about 1 million users
Windows Live Search		Microsoft's homegrown search engine	Google, Yahoo, Accoona	Public beta launched in March
Windows Live Local		Maps and directions; Bird's eye and street-level images	Google, Yahoo	Public beta launched in December
Windows Live Search Mobile		The mobile version of homegrown search	Google, Yahoo	Beta
Windows Live Expo	Fremont	A free online marketplace for goods that can also be limited to a social network	Craigslist, eBay	Recently moved from internal and limited testing into U.S. public beta
Windows Live Family Safety Settings	Vegas	Parental control tools for monitoring children's online use	Net Nanny	In limited beta with fewer than 10,000 testers; public test expected in early summer
Windows Live OneCare	A1	Subscription antivirus service	Symantec, McAfee	Updated 315,000-user beta added anti-spyware; paid service to launch in June
Windows Live Video	Warhol	User-generated video	YouTube, Google Video	Not yet in public testing
Windows Live Messenger		Successor to MSN Messenger, adds social networking and contact-sharing features	Yahoo Messenger; AIM; ICQ; Gmail chat; Plaxo	Beta with 1.5 million testers
Live.com		Based on Start.com, a homepage with gadgets, RSS feeds and more	MyYahoo, Google	Public beta with 3 million registered users
Microsoft Gadgets		Small applications written in Javascript and HTML, used by Live.com and Windows Vista	Yahoo Widgets, Apple's Dashboard	More than 160 gadgets available
AdCenter	Moonshot	For serving up paid search ads; Uses demographics to help target the marketing message	Yahoo, Google	Launched in Singapore and France and in beta in the U.S.; Serves 40% of MSN paid-search ads
Windows Live Safety Center		Free basic antivirus protection	McAfee, Symantec	Beta; performed 1.3 million scans and cleaned 150,000 PCs as of February.
Windows Live Favorites		Stores Web bookmarks online		Public beta since November
Windows Live Custom Domains		A way for people to use Windows Live Mail with their existing e-mail domain	Google	Limited beta, U.S.-only
Windows Live Toolbar		A collection of services under a common Web toolbar	Yahoo, Google	Beta launched in March
Windows Live Answers		Direct answers to fact-based Web queries	Yahoo Answers; Google Answers	No ETA
Windows Live Clipboard		Outlined by Ray Ozzie, uses a mashup of technologies to allow an online equivalent of a PC's clipboard
Windows Live ID		A new authentication tool for Live services, based on Passport, Microsoft's once-controversial authentication service	Liberty Alliance	Expected to be released later this year
Windows Live Mail Desktop		A desktop application for viewing Windows Live Mail	Google, Yahoo	Went into early beta testing March 28, broader testing expected in the spring

Sources: Microsoft, CNET News.com research

Windows Live Mail Keyboard Shortcuts

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 21:05:40 GMT

For those of you that are using the Windows Live Mail Beta, did you know that there are some keyboard shortcuts you can use, rather than using the spiffy AJAX enabled GUI?

Next message or contact: ]

Previous message or contact: [

Open message or contact: Enter

Delete message: Delete

Return to in-box or contacts: Esc

Next folder or contacts group: Ctrl ]

Previous folder or contacts group: Ctrl [

Windows Live Messenger Invites

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 17:24:22 GMT

Anyone want to experience the new Windows Live Messenger?

I currently have a number of invites for Windows Live Messenger (MSN Messenger 8.0).

I will give these out on a first come first served basis, just simply reply to this thread.

Live Favorites update

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 17:22:36 GMT

Today the Live Favorites are updating the site and the toolbar add-in :-

A completely redesigned UI that will make using Live Favorites a lot easier and more fun.

Now you can organize your favorites with Folders and by using Tags.

With the new sort options, you can sort by Top Favorites, Title, Tags, Last Modified and Address.

There is a new one click Add Favorites feature.

Complete support for Firefox and a new/updated import for Netscape, Firefox and Del.icio.us.

There is a new Pre-View Pane so you can select a favorite and see it in the view pane.

Updated import and export

The Live Favorites tool bar has been busy working hard to get Sync to work the way we all want it to. We now have Auto Sync that will Sync your IE favorites over to Live Favorites automatically. There is a configuration page that allows you to configure how auto sync works. We also have a new Gadget for the http://www.live.com site that will give you another way to use your favorites.

If you haven't already, go check out Live favorites :- http://ideas.live.com

Vote for improvements to Local.Live

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 20:14:17 GMT

If you had $10 to spend on features to improve local.live, which features would you spend your money on?

Well, now is your chance to ask for what you want. Just head on over to http://spaces.msn.com/virtualearth/blog/cns!2BBC66E99FDCDB98!564.entry and make your bucks count.

Windows Live Developer Center

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 19:04:11 GMT

Microsoft have just added a new section their ever expansive MSDN website. This one however focusing in on Windows Live technologies, at least those technologies that currently have programmable APIs.

You can find the section of MSDN at :- http://msdn.microsoft.com/live/

Over the next few weeks, I will be delving into the APIs that have been released to see what you can do with them.

The Messenger Activity APIs have been out for a couple of months now (fairly good overview video available on Channel9 at http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=145003#145003) and I've tinkered with it, but so far, not too impressed with it.

Windows Live Mail - Kahuna

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 16:28:04 GMT

I have some invites for the anyone who wants to experience the new version of Hotmail.

Formerly known as Kahuna, this is a completely AJAX enabled front end and gives hotmail a well deserved overhaul.

Invites will go out on a first come first served basis. Come get them and experience hotmail before your friends.

Get Windows Live Messenger

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 16:21:52 GMT