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Windows Live!
I have written about Windows Live before but I keep mentioning it because it has some of the coolest toys on the Internet these days. It is interesting that many people discount Windows Live without even trying them simply because they are from Microsoft when they have no idea what they are missing. It has truly become a social site that utilizes almost every social tool available. They are trying to edge their way into the social networking realm with their blogging site called Spaces. Recently the Spaces page has been expanded with the new Profiles page where users can set up their personal profile and share as much information about themselves as they choose.
Their newest version of Windows Live Messenger has some pretty cool audio and video every bit as comparable to Skype and that is really saying something as you may remember that I have regularly promoted Skype. Their Windows Live Photo Gallery allows you to edit, catalog, and share your photos online to Windows Live Photos, or even Flickr. Windows Live Maps has become just as good as Google Maps and has sharing capabilities now where you can save your favorite sites, group them and share them.
There is also a new Windows Live Mail, both online and a downloadable application. The former Hotmail, is now Windows Live Mail though if you still have a Hotmail address you can still use it. It now allows an ever growing storage space where you can archive your mails into another folder sort of like Gmail. This way you never have to delete an email again and you can search for old emails. Also there is a downloadable version that takes the place of the Outlook Express if you are using Windows XP, or older version. If you are using Vista, it replaces Windows Mail. The Vista version of Windows Mail no longer supports http mail support so downloading the Windows Live Mail application allows you to still use http mail, and IMAP, as well as POP mail. I am very pleased with the new web based Windows Live Mail as well as the downloadable version as well.
The Windows Live Writer is probably the most amazing blogging program ever designed. In fact I am posting this using Live Writer and I absolutely love it. I just love how it is a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWG) appearance using the same themes as your actual blog so you can see it exactly how it will appear. It has tagging features and categorizing. It is very easy to post pictures, and videos to your blog. It will let you post on your own blog whether it be on your own domain or any of the free blogging sites like Blogger.com, Wordpress, or Typepad, or even your own Windows Live Spaces page. I have not even mentioned the Windows Live Skydrive. This is absolutely amazing how they give you 25 gigabytes (GB) of free space to store and share your own files online. I love this feature as I can upload my Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) Files into a central location so the other club officers can all have access to them. The best part about all these features is they are free!
It has been tough getting my friends to try it because there are so many social sites out there like Myspace, Tumblr, and Facebook. Just as it has been difficult to get people to try Skype because there are so many choices and people do not see the need to join another one. I really believe that if people gave Windows Live a chance they would be hooked. I am pretty excited about how useful the site is and I want to tell others about it so they will know and use it. I want others to know there are other people using this site so that Windows Live will be a success. They really do have a lot of features that are totally free to the user and there are no strings attached that users are required to get people to give up their privacy.