Microsoft have confirmed the upcoming release of Windows Live Essentials will not be supporting Windows XP. In a recent blog post Microsoft stated:
Writing for the Inside Windows Live blog, Chris Jones commented specifically on Windows Live Messenger 2010:
Although this comes as no surprise, Windows XP is after-all over 10 years old, there are some users who may find the update concerning. I for one run Windows XP on my Mac as a virtual machine, so I will now have to re-think this strategy in order to cover the upcoming release of Windows Live Messenger 2010.
As some have noted on this blog, Windows XP is nearly 10 years old and simply doesn't provide the same level of platform support for graphics, and we recognized early in our work on Wave 4 that we could do much more in our software on a modern graphics platform. As a result our new version of Essentials will require the new graphics platform and controls that are only available on Windows 7 or Windows Vista and therefore will only run on these platforms.
Writing for the Inside Windows Live blog, Chris Jones commented specifically on Windows Live Messenger 2010:
Messenger will always be great for IM, and we’ll do more to make those conversations even richer. But Messenger is evolving into a companion for your social networks, so you can stay in touch more easily with your closest friends across the many services you and they use. As we broaden Messenger's reach, we remain committed to ensuring that you're in control of your privacy. From simple defaults that keep your private life private, to powerful controls customizing how you share.
Although this comes as no surprise, Windows XP is after-all over 10 years old, there are some users who may find the update concerning. I for one run Windows XP on my Mac as a virtual machine, so I will now have to re-think this strategy in order to cover the upcoming release of Windows Live Messenger 2010.
Numerous users of Windows Live Messenger are currently experiencing the error code 80048820 when they try to sign in to Messenger. The Windows Live team has published a solution advisory. If you are getting this error as well, the reason might be that you have invalid characters in the first name of your user profile.
Editing your user profile first name
Editing your user profile first name
- Go to http://account.live.com/.
- Sign in with the account in question.
- Click the Registered information link.
- Click the Change link next to your name.
- Change the First name to something appropriate with no special characters or the ‘&’ symbol.
- Click Save.
- Attempt to sign in with Messenger again.
After many months of rumor and speculation there appears to have been a drop in the ocean, and with it the start of Windows Live Wave 4. Windows Live Hotmail has received some changes that are being rolled out throughout September it what appears to be the start of a new series of Windows Live milestone updates.
So what about Messenger? Well Windows Live Messenger 10 is not specifically targeted here, but as Hotmail and Microsoft's IM client are closely related one can expect some light to breakthrough soon. For now however, we can only continue to speculate. Below is a list of the changes in Milestone 1 of Windows Live Hotmail Wave 4 (thanks to LiveSide and our own mynetx).
So what about Messenger? Well Windows Live Messenger 10 is not specifically targeted here, but as Hotmail and Microsoft's IM client are closely related one can expect some light to breakthrough soon. For now however, we can only continue to speculate. Below is a list of the changes in Milestone 1 of Windows Live Hotmail Wave 4 (thanks to LiveSide and our own mynetx).
- Auto Refresh of Inbox: Inbox is refreshed when a user is logged into WebIM, instead of after 60 seconds.
- Auto save Drafts: emails automatically saved to drafts as they are composed. Current auto save is set to 3 minutes.
- Keyboard Shortcuts: “Lots of keyboard shortcuts, including shortcuts to match both Yahoo and Gmail.” Here’s a list of the keyboard shortcuts.
- Contact Picker Improvements:
- edit contacts in compose
- recent email data used in auto-complete and contact picker
- copy/paste enabled in IE
- a “verify recipients” feature added
- Download all attachments: multiple attachments to an email downloaded together as a .zip file.
- WebIM Contact List: “view online contacts” added.
- Mobile browser improvements: backend changes to improve mobile performance.
- Action Bar at bottom of page: Reply/Forward/Delete is now available from both the top and bottom of an email.
We'll be retiring Windows Live Events and allow you instead to plan and manage social events all in one place through Windows Live Calendar. [...] In 2010, we'll retire Windows Live Events entirely. At that time, you will no longer be able to get to any of your old events, and you won't be able to download and save old event photos and videos.
How-to: Back up your existing Events and associated data
Saving photos
- Go to http://events.live.com/ and sign in with your Windows Live ID.
- Click View your events at the top of the page.
- Click the event you want to save photos from. and then click the Photos link on the left side of the event page.
- Select the photo album that you want to save, and then click More at the top of the page.
- In the More dropdown menu, click Download, and then click Download with Photo Gallery.
- Select the photos that you want to save, and then click Download.
Saving files
- Click the SkyDrive link on the left side of each event page.
- Select the Documents folder.
- Click the specific file that you want to download.
- Click Download, and then open the file or save it to your computer.
Open Windows Live Events Read the announcement at Windows Live Wire
In an internal message to developers, the Windows Live team has announced the long-awaited integration of several instant messaging networks to work together with Windows Live. Among these networks to be added are ICQ and Skype as well as AIM, Facebook Chat and Google Talk.
The integration of the chat networks powered by AOL, namely ICQ and AIM, has always been a big wish for Messenger users all around the world, and seems to be the continuing of what the Messenger team started when adding support for Yahoo, back in 2006. Skype integration offers interesting possibilities, such as video and voice calls right from Windows Live Call.
With Facebook, another social networking site enters the boat, and I think Microsoft is just happy about being able to continue their efforts to introduce social networking to Messenger; we have already seen the beginning of this in Wave 3 (Windows Live Profile, What's New Feeds etc). Finally, connecting with Google opens another wide audience of Messenger users.
The current master plan for adding support for ICQ, AIM, Skype, Facebook and GTalk is Q4-2009, so it will probably make its way into Windows Live Wave 4, where ideas are currently gathered for and sorted.
Adding support for all major instant messaging networks would make Windows Live Messenger the unquestionable no. 1, and it seems that Microsoft is finally realizing exactly this – if things are implemented the way they are announced.
Looking forward to hear your opinion on this!
Update: Were you gullible enough to fall for this piece of news? It seems too good to be true. Looks like LiveSide fell for it though, whoops.
"We are currently aiming to achieve full integrative support for widely popular instant messaging networks. Therefore, we have started discussions with the back-end and front-end Developer Teams of AOL LLC, Skype Ltd and Google Inc. Furthermore, we have intensified our cooperation with Facebook Inc. for a similar purpose," says Dharmesh Mehta, Windows Live Messenger Product Manager.
The integration of the chat networks powered by AOL, namely ICQ and AIM, has always been a big wish for Messenger users all around the world, and seems to be the continuing of what the Messenger team started when adding support for Yahoo, back in 2006. Skype integration offers interesting possibilities, such as video and voice calls right from Windows Live Call.
With Facebook, another social networking site enters the boat, and I think Microsoft is just happy about being able to continue their efforts to introduce social networking to Messenger; we have already seen the beginning of this in Wave 3 (Windows Live Profile, What's New Feeds etc). Finally, connecting with Google opens another wide audience of Messenger users.
The current master plan for adding support for ICQ, AIM, Skype, Facebook and GTalk is Q4-2009, so it will probably make its way into Windows Live Wave 4, where ideas are currently gathered for and sorted.
"I can't promise too much yet, but I think it's just what Windows Live is missing currently," states Dharmesh. "You'll soon be able to add Facebook [...] on Windows Live. This means that […], if you’'e a Facebook user, you can choose to allow info and photos that you post on Facebook to show up in 'What's new' for anyone in your network on Windows Live,” says Brian Hall, General Manager for Windows Live.
Adding support for all major instant messaging networks would make Windows Live Messenger the unquestionable no. 1, and it seems that Microsoft is finally realizing exactly this – if things are implemented the way they are announced.
Looking forward to hear your opinion on this!
Update: Were you gullible enough to fall for this piece of news? It seems too good to be true. Looks like LiveSide fell for it though, whoops.
Jonathan Kay warns users not to change their Windows Live ID
on Sun 08 Feb 2009 (20:35 GMT) (912 views)
on Sun 08 Feb 2009 (20:35 GMT) (912 views)
Jonathan Kay is a Messenger support guru, with an in-depth knowledge with everything Windows Live. This week he has warned, due to the updating of Wave 3 Windows Live services, not to change your ID:
Kay has described the process as "broken" and directs readers not to consider changing until all the issues have been addressed. However, this is not a commonly used feature and is hidden very well. The option is essentially integrated for advanced users, so this has prevented the issue from being widely reported. Kay has also provided a solution to the problem:
For anyone considering changing their Live ID, beware. The system is not working as stated and significant issues are still outstanding. Hopefully the issue will be fixed promptly.
Read the full post at Jonathan Kay's blog
There have been two long standing issues with the process. The first is that you can't change Hotmail.com, MSN.com or Live.com (including all the localized country versions there of) to another address as those domains are "reserved" (note that Microsoft has provided the ability from time to time to switch to one of these reserved domains however). The second is that you typically needed to remain offline for a good few hours for the modifications to all your contacts' contact lists to your new address. Before about a month ago, I was recommending to people to just make the change before shutting down for their day, and everything would be ready when they woke up.
Kay has described the process as "broken" and directs readers not to consider changing until all the issues have been addressed. However, this is not a commonly used feature and is hidden very well. The option is essentially integrated for advanced users, so this has prevented the issue from being widely reported. Kay has also provided a solution to the problem:
If this has happened to you, the easiest fix is to return to the Live ID site and switch your address back to the previous one. After signing back into Messenger using the old address, your contacts will all be online again as per normal. You can then try again hopefully when this problem finally gets fixed.
For anyone considering changing their Live ID, beware. The system is not working as stated and significant issues are still outstanding. Hopefully the issue will be fixed promptly.
Read the full post at Jonathan Kay's blogWhile the Windows Live team is working on getting the last bits of Windows Live Wave 3 up and running in the next few weeks (like consent.live.com; or, the long-awaited update to Hotmail introducing Messenger right in the mail interface as well as POP access everywhere; or, the Quick Fix Engineering patch of Messenger 2009, which will be published soon as 14.0.8059.0127), we can already look forward to the next phase of Windows Live.
Windows Live Wave 4, being the work title, will be the first version where the Windows Live, Live Mesh, and Office Live teams work together to create new combinations of services. The teams have just started to collect ideas for the next (major) versions of Windows Live Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery and the rest of the Essentials as well as of the web services Hotmail, Calendar, and Events.
The questions are:
Let us know about your ideas – we're curious...
Windows Live Wave 4, being the work title, will be the first version where the Windows Live, Live Mesh, and Office Live teams work together to create new combinations of services. The teams have just started to collect ideas for the next (major) versions of Windows Live Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery and the rest of the Essentials as well as of the web services Hotmail, Calendar, and Events.
The questions are:
- What ideas for features do you have when thinking about Windows Live Messenger, or any other Essentials program?
- What have you been missing all the time, and in every new version you hoped that it would be added finally?
- Is there anything you got in mind, in regards to better or new Windows Live Web Services – or when it comes to getting different Live Services to work together?
- We will take care of gathering your ideas and forwarding them to the Windows Live team to be considered.
Let us know about your ideas – we're curious...
January catch-up: IMO update, Messenger protocol issues and Windows Live interview
on Wed 14 Jan 2009 (20:08 GMT) (1509 views)
on Wed 14 Jan 2009 (20:08 GMT) (1509 views)
There has been a number of small things going on in the Messenger world in the past couple of weeks. Below is a summary of some of the news that we have failed to cover, or too small for its own post:
Although there are only three relatively small pieces of news to cover, I thought it may be in your interest to know about them. There are a few other stories that should pop-up in the next couple of days, but with most of my admins currently busy or disappearing, don't count on us to cover everything until February starts.
- IMO is a small, stable, compact web Messenger has undergone major changes this week. The development team have been working hard to improve services and have recently launched a new and improved imo.im, along with eight cool new features. IMO now offers a number of options that allow you to personalize your contacts list and prioritize your buddies. Click here to check IMO out!
- This week has seen an update to the Messenger protocol (common when new versions are released). However, there has been implementation problems, freezing some 3rd party IM clients out from signing into the Messenger servers. Although the issue has now been claimed to be resolved, there is an update for Pidgin and Messenger for Mac users to download
- Rebelsean has recently had the opportunity to interview some Windows Live directors. Having recently moved to Neowin, Sean has not forgotten his Messenger roots and has brought up the issue of tabbed conversations and what we can expect from Windows Live Wave 4. Generally he got a good feel for the direct Windows Live is heading in, and although is not Messenger specific, it still provides a useful insight to what's going at the live front
Although there are only three relatively small pieces of news to cover, I thought it may be in your interest to know about them. There are a few other stories that should pop-up in the next couple of days, but with most of my admins currently busy or disappearing, don't count on us to cover everything until February starts.
Recognise the numbers in the title? You should do if you're an avid Messenger user as they've all been used in relation to the latest versions of Windows Live Messenger. But which one should be used to describe the next generation of our favourite instant messaging software? This post will try and clear up some of the ambiguity.
3 - as in Windows Live Messenger Wave 3; this is not used in official titles by Microsoft but you may see it being referred to as "Wave 3" quite a lot. This is because it is the version of Messenger being released as part of Windows Live Wave 3 (the term wave is used to describe a group of Windows Live software and services released at the same time).
9 - the logical choice for the next major version of Messenger after 8.5, and the version number given to the first dogfood beta version (also known as "beta 0" or "beta 1") after the last 8.5 release.
14 - the build number used in the actual beta software and for the rest of the Windows Live Wave 3 applications. The number has jumped so much so that all these version numbers are unified (and is the number 14 as it follows on from 12 which was given to a lot of the applications in Windows Vista and Windows Live Wave 2 and to the last version of Office - missing out number 13 as it was deemed too unlucky).
2009 - the overall term used to describe all versions of Messenger released as part of Wave 3 (despite what their specific version or build numbers are). "Version 2009" is used officially by Microsoft and can be seen in the latest public builds of Messenger. 2009 is used as the final version will be released then, along with the other Windows Live Essentials software. "Version 2008" was used to describe the 8.5 version of Messenger which was released in 2008 as part of Wave 2.
So, the rule of thumb? It seems to be to use Windows Live Messenger 2009 to generally talk about Wave 3 builds or use Windows Live Messenger 14.x version numbers when talking about a specific build.
A bit extra on Windows Live & Windows 7:
Sorry, I couldn't resist a ramble of speculation and summarization here. I already mentioned how the unified version numbers follow on from the applications in Vista. As most of these apps are now duplicated by Windows Live Essentials (e.g. Mail, Photo Gallery) they are being removed from Windows 7 in favour of the Windows Live apps. This is also partly so that the pieces of software can be updated more often - through a Windows Live Wave - that they would be otherwise - just through a major operating system release. But presumably the built-in applications left in Windows 7 (e.g. Calculator, Paint, WordPad) will also be version 14 builds to follow on from Vista? And the Wave 3 software UI is the same as we have seen in Windows 7. So Windows Live Wave 3 and Windows 7 are surely designed to go together ... ?
It is planned that Windows Live Essentials (Wave 3) final will be released in Q1 of 2009. This should be after the Windows 7 beta 1 release but most likely before the RTM, meaning that there will be plenty of time to sort out any remaining problems between the Essentials software and Windows 7 before the general public begin experiencing the two together. This strongly suggests to me that there will no further major update to Windows Live until a while after the Windows 7 release (depending on how early Microsoft actually release 7).
It makes sense to link the two together and in some way have a coordinated release cycle/roadmap to avoid confusion to users and promote both products - although it is still unclear exactly how much Windows Live will be promoted within Windows 7. However, despite all these suggestions, in a recent interview Windows Live general manager Brian Hall "said it was too soon to say if the 'Wave 4' release would precede Windows 7 or be coincident to it". Make of that what you will.
3 - as in Windows Live Messenger Wave 3; this is not used in official titles by Microsoft but you may see it being referred to as "Wave 3" quite a lot. This is because it is the version of Messenger being released as part of Windows Live Wave 3 (the term wave is used to describe a group of Windows Live software and services released at the same time).
9 - the logical choice for the next major version of Messenger after 8.5, and the version number given to the first dogfood beta version (also known as "beta 0" or "beta 1") after the last 8.5 release.
14 - the build number used in the actual beta software and for the rest of the Windows Live Wave 3 applications. The number has jumped so much so that all these version numbers are unified (and is the number 14 as it follows on from 12 which was given to a lot of the applications in Windows Vista and Windows Live Wave 2 and to the last version of Office - missing out number 13 as it was deemed too unlucky).
2009 - the overall term used to describe all versions of Messenger released as part of Wave 3 (despite what their specific version or build numbers are). "Version 2009" is used officially by Microsoft and can be seen in the latest public builds of Messenger. 2009 is used as the final version will be released then, along with the other Windows Live Essentials software. "Version 2008" was used to describe the 8.5 version of Messenger which was released in 2008 as part of Wave 2.
So, the rule of thumb? It seems to be to use Windows Live Messenger 2009 to generally talk about Wave 3 builds or use Windows Live Messenger 14.x version numbers when talking about a specific build.
A bit extra on Windows Live & Windows 7:
Sorry, I couldn't resist a ramble of speculation and summarization here. I already mentioned how the unified version numbers follow on from the applications in Vista. As most of these apps are now duplicated by Windows Live Essentials (e.g. Mail, Photo Gallery) they are being removed from Windows 7 in favour of the Windows Live apps. This is also partly so that the pieces of software can be updated more often - through a Windows Live Wave - that they would be otherwise - just through a major operating system release. But presumably the built-in applications left in Windows 7 (e.g. Calculator, Paint, WordPad) will also be version 14 builds to follow on from Vista? And the Wave 3 software UI is the same as we have seen in Windows 7. So Windows Live Wave 3 and Windows 7 are surely designed to go together ... ?
It is planned that Windows Live Essentials (Wave 3) final will be released in Q1 of 2009. This should be after the Windows 7 beta 1 release but most likely before the RTM, meaning that there will be plenty of time to sort out any remaining problems between the Essentials software and Windows 7 before the general public begin experiencing the two together. This strongly suggests to me that there will no further major update to Windows Live until a while after the Windows 7 release (depending on how early Microsoft actually release 7).
It makes sense to link the two together and in some way have a coordinated release cycle/roadmap to avoid confusion to users and promote both products - although it is still unclear exactly how much Windows Live will be promoted within Windows 7. However, despite all these suggestions, in a recent interview Windows Live general manager Brian Hall "said it was too soon to say if the 'Wave 4' release would precede Windows 7 or be coincident to it". Make of that what you will.
Invites going out to beta test Windows Live Wave 3 products
on Wed 27 Aug 2008 (10:42 GMT) (2271 views)
on Wed 27 Aug 2008 (10:42 GMT) (2271 views)
With every major step in a program's development comes a testing phase, some of which become open to a large user base of testers. Ars Technica reports that "many Windows Live applications are expected to be updated with the roll out of Wave 3, while others will be discontinued. Over the weekend, members of the Butterfly community (MSN/Windows Live testers who have been recognized by Microsoft for their hard work) received invites to participate in 'the next Windows Live beta program' with very limited seats open." [emphasis added] Below is an extract from a Microsoft email, concerning Wave 3 testing:
We do not currently know if this also includes Windows Live Messenger 9. A couple of things suggest it would: M2 has been expected for a while now and this is common method of gaining beta testers for the program. However, the leak of the other day may delay or even stop this beta phase of Windows Live Messenger in fear of another beta being leaked (which it always does when a large amount of testers start using it).
Source: Ars Technica's One Microsoft Way blog
In a week's time, we will send out mass invitation to previous Windows Live beta testers, which means you probably will receive a second invitation for this beta. When you receive the second e-mail, please ignore it. Do NOT take the nomination survey because by that time you should already be approved in this beta, there is no need to waste your time and ours.
We do not currently know if this also includes Windows Live Messenger 9. A couple of things suggest it would: M2 has been expected for a while now and this is common method of gaining beta testers for the program. However, the leak of the other day may delay or even stop this beta phase of Windows Live Messenger in fear of another beta being leaked (which it always does when a large amount of testers start using it).
Source: Ars Technica's One Microsoft Way blog
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