Network Manager by Day, Blogger by Night.
Archive for October, 2006
Microsoft Office Live to launch in the US on the 15th of November
Oct 31st
Microsoft Corp. today announced that Microsoft Office Live (http://www.officelive.com/), a set of Internet-based services tailored to the needs of small businesses, will be coming out of beta in the United States on the 15th of November 2006. These services are expanding internationally as well and are also scheduled for free beta availability in France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom on the 15th of November. Office Live is designed to help small businesses attract new customers, generate repeat business and easily manage their business online by giving them the tools to establish a Web presence for free as well as a variety of easy-to-use and affordable business applications.
The upcoming release of Office Live provides updated Web site design tools with asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) technology to allow users to more easily drag and drop content and images into any section of their Web site. It also includes more page templates and the ability to modify and import HTML to create more robust and sophisticated Web sites. For customers with a Web site managed by another provider, Microsoft Office Live further streamlines the process of transferring domain names for greater ease of use. In addition, Office Live Mail lets users manage and access their calendars, contacts and tasks from almost any Web browser and use their Windows Mobile-based device to stay connected to their business and customers, while on the go.
To help match the unique and diverse needs of small businesses, Microsoft Office Live is available at three levels of service:
- Microsoft Office Live Basics: a company domain name; a Web site with 500 MB of storage; 25 company-branded e-mail accounts (each with 2 GB of storage)
- Microsoft Office Live Essentials, offered at $19.95 per month, includes all the features of Office Live Basics, 1 GB of Web site storage, 50 company-branded e-mail, calendar and instant messaging accounts, and Microsoft Office Live Business Contact Manager and online Workspaces for 10 users with 500 MB of storage.
- Microsoft Office Live Premium, $39.95 per month. Services include all the features of Office Live Basics and Office Live Essentials as well as an additional 2 GB of Web site storage; an increased capacity for 20 additional users and 1 GB of storage for the Workspaces. Office Live Premium also provides a rich set of Internet-based applications to help small-business owners streamline and automate the daily business tasks of managing their customers, projects and documents.
More information on Office Live can be found at the Microsoft Office Live Site.
Or why not check out the Office Live Team Blog!
Microsoft Windows Live Trademark Guidelines
Oct 31st
Has anybody read the Microsoft Windows Live Trademark Guidelines before?
I was just checking them again now after seeing a Windows Live graphics design logo by Emexci titled “Live is Good” which made me think about some trademark issues that may arise with Emexci’s Design Logo by referring to Windows Live as Live!
Overview
Follow these guidelines to ensure that you are referring to Windows Live correctly in all print and online communications.Trademark Usage
Windows Live is a trademark. The official product name includes the trademark symbol () as shown here:Windows Live
Note: Do not include a registered trademark symbol (®) after Windows when it is part of the Windows Live name.
Referencing the Product Name
- Although Windows Live (without including Microsoft) is preferred, it is okay to use “Microsoft® Windows Live” on the first mention if it is necessary from a business perspective to do so.
- The first time that Windows Live is mentioned in body copy, include a reference to the product as “online services” and the appropriate trademark symbol (). For example, “Consumers love the new Windows Live online services.”
- Always use the full Windows Live name in body copy.
- Never refer to the product just as Live. Always include Windows in the product name.
- Never abbreviate Windows Live as in Win, WinL, or WL.
- When Windows Live is referenced in printed marketing materials, include the following attribution of Microsoft’s ownership of the Windows Live trademark:
Windows Live is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.- Always use Windows Live as an adjective modifying the generic noun—for example, “Windows Live online services.” Do not use the mark as a noun or verb.
- Never use Windows Live in the possessive, as in, “Windows Live’s security features are impressive.” Instead say, “The security features of the Windows Live operating system are impressive.”
- Do not use the general term “live” to refer to the product as in “Did you sign up for live?”
Special Considerations for Third Parties
- Always maintain a visual distinction between the third-party company and product name and the Windows Live trademark. Windows Live should be less prominent.
- Do not use Windows Live in your product or service name or in your company name.
- Do not use product, service, or company names that could be confused with the Windows Live trademark.
- Do not mimic or copy Windows Live advertising or trade dress.
- Do not create or use any logos that include the Windows Live trademark unless pursuant to a license from Microsoft.
- Do not use any Windows Live brand elements, including logos, color blends, and screenshots, in third-party materials unless pursuant to a license from Microsoft.
Sneak Preview of Mobile Version of Soapbox on MSN Video
Oct 31st
The title says it all, here’s a sneak preview of a Mobile version of Soapbox on MSN Video, courtesy of the Soapbox on MSN Video Team! 
Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP Released
Oct 30th
Microsoft Corp. today released to the public Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP, a significant milestone for music fans and the digital entertainment experience on Windows. This latest version of Windows Media Player offers consumers a test-drive of the breakthrough capabilities in Windows Media Player 11 for Windows Vista, including enhanced search and media management technologies, a visually driven user interface, and optimized support for portable music players.
“Windows Media Player 11 is the first media player to be truly designed with the digital entertainment lover in mind,” said Mike Sievert, corporate vice president of Windows at Microsoft. “The fresh, exciting new look, the ability to find songs and videos in an instant, and the enhanced capabilities for syncing with portable devices are not only exactly what customers have asked us for, they’re also a preview of what’s to come in Windows Vista.”
Windows Media Player 11 features seamless integration with URGE, MTV Networks Co.’s digital music service. URGE builds upon MTV Networks’ renowned music heritage, offering rich, hand-crafted programming, first-rate editorial content, and innovative music discovery features to create a truly immersive entertainment experience. The incredibly fast search capabilities of Windows Media Player 11 provide consumers with instant access to the entire URGE catalog of more than 110,000 artists and 2 million songs.
MTV Networks’ collaboration with Microsoft on Media Player 11 gives URGE users a fully immersive and integrated music and entertainment experience, said Michael Bloom, vice president of Digital Music at MTV Networks and general manager of URGE. Our expertise in music programming and design combined with Microsoft’s technology gives music fans the best way to discover and stay connected with the music and artists they love.
The search capabilities of Windows Media Player 11 also enable consumers to easily scroll through and access music faster than on any other media player, whether the library contains 50 or 50,000 tracks. The powerful Instant Search in Windows Media Player 11 provides results that instantly narrow with each keystroke, whether the consumer is searching in a personal library or browsing URGE. Innovative drag-and-drop capabilities make building playlists and moving music to portable players easier than ever.
Windows Media Player 11 also provides these key features:
- A visually driven experience using thumbnail and album art, an elegant and simple design, and customization capabilities for more personalized interaction
- Improved device experience with new shuffle sync and reverse sync options, device exploration using the library view, and intuitive help icons that ensure seamless and intuitive syncing and burning of rights-managed content
- Highly simplified navigation capabilities, enhanced shortcut options, and dedicated category views for all media types, including music, photos and video
- Better access to content with deep integration of services that blurs the line between online service and media player experiences
- Industry-first audio fingerprinting capabilities that recognize and import track information for unidentified or misnamed audio files
- New formats for ripping and music playback, including Windows Media Audio Professional and WAV Lossless
Windows Media Player 11 is designed to work with all versions of Windows XP with Service Pack 2, including Windows XP Home Edition N and Windows XP Professional N, so if you have Windows XP and haven’t downloaded Windows Media Player 11 yet, then what’s stopping you go ahead and do so!
Windows Media Player 11 x86
Windows Media Player 11 x64 (64-Bit)
Windows Media Player 11 Readme
Upload your videos to Soapbox on MSN Video and Win Prizes!
Oct 30th
Just post a video on the Soapbox and you could win a digital camcorder and video editing software worth over $400
Just Post a Video
- Choose Upload Videos
- Enter your video title, descriptions, tag, category
- Browse your computer to choose a video
- Hit Upload
Be fun. Be entertaining. Be serious. Be bizarre.
Just Don’t be Ordinary!
For more info check out the MSN Soapbox Competicion page.
Vista Lanyard Competition!
Oct 30th
James Senior a technical specialist for Microsoft in the UK has got hold of 10 high-quality Vista lanyards to give away which will allow you to be the most envied person around the office!
But to be in with a chance of winning yourself one of these never-to-be-seen-again slices of technological history, you’re going to have to tell James:
Q: How often do you wear a Lanyard?
By sending your answers to lanyard@microsoft.com
The competition closes on Friday 10th November at 12 noon GMT, and James will randomly select winners using his mouse, so go ahead, send an email and be one of the most envied people around the office!
Smartphone: Windows Mobile 6.0 Codenamed Crossbow!
Oct 30th
You’ve seen the Pocket PC screenshots of Crossbow, the next iteration of the Windows Mobile operating system (OS), now check out the Smartphone version! It mirrors what we saw on the Pocket PC version with a new visual style, but also seems to feature Word Mobile, Excel Mobile and PowerPoint Mobile, potentially putting to bed the whole debate of whether Windows Mobile Smartphones should be able to perform such tasks!
For more screenshots check out GpsPassion who we have to thank for these screenshots, ans also once again thanks to MSMobiles for spreading the word about these screenshots!
Pocket PC: Windows Mobile 6.0 Codenamed Crossbow!
Oct 30th
Windows Mobile 5 is the current OS of choice for Windows Mobile users however the next iteration, codenamed Crossbow, has shown its face, check out the full Pocket PC homescreen shown below! It has a glossy title bar and soft keys and will feature Vista-esque folder icons etc.
Pieter Knook, a Microsoft Sr. VP, has commented that Microsoft plan to release an upgrade to their mobile platform yearly which is interesting and could mean a new OS with every yearly upgrade for pay monthly contracts. Knook has also commented that Crossbow will have strong links with Office 2007 and Exchange 12 as well as including the mobile version of Office Communicator, an Instant Messenger tool for enterprises.
Via: MSMobiles
Royale Noir: secret XP theme uncovered!
Oct 30th
During Royale‘s development (the XP Media Center theme), the graphic artists also produced a black version of the skin, sans the overused glass effect. The result is an aesthetic black skin named Royale Noir, it even works with Office 2003.
Since the skin was never released (or reached final adjustments) there are a few issues with it: some of the colors don’t meet the overall feel (they’re too purple-ish compared to the greys of the bitmaps) and the inactive titlebars are a little too dark.
You’ll find it’s been signed by Microsoft and doesn’t require a custom UxTheme.dll in case there are any doubts as to its authenticity.
If you already have Royale installed, you’ll need to remove it as both of these skins share the same name.
This skin has not been released to anyone outside Microsoft, until now.
So go ahead and download it if you want to stand out from the crowd!
Thanks goes to W3bbo who did an amazing job uncovering this mystery XP theme, hats off to him!
Via: I Started Something
Happy 4th Birthday, Windows XP Media Center Edition!
Oct 29th
While Windows XP might be celebrating its 5th Birthday, Windows XP Media Center Edition is celebrating its 4th Birthday today! It’s been a long ride, but it all started on October 29, 2002 when HP started shipping their first Media Center PC.
It launched with the help of this guy (pictured below) and sported features such as use of a single analog tuner and DVD recording only on high end machines (which you couldn’t do from within the MCE UI). Price points on the very few machines offered with Media Center at the time ranged from $1300 to $2000. Single tuner, no HD anything, no widescreen anything, nothin.
Thanks goes to Chris Lanier for not letting us forget to say Happy 4th Birthday to Windows XP Media Center Edition, check out Chris’ Blog for a screenshot history of Windows Media Center which includes a screenshot of the upcoming Windows Vista Media Center release.
