Archive for the Category: ' Windows Live '



 

Microsoft shuts down MSN Soapbox

 
 22 Jul 2009 @ 7:11 AM 

As of the 31st of August 2009, it’s the end of the road for Microsoft’s MSN Soapbox, Microsoft attempt of creating a YouTube.  From the 29th of July 2009 you will no longer be able to upload videos to Soapbox and have till the 31st of August 2009 to download them. Guess I better start downloading my videos next week then and host them on YouTube! :(

Attention Soapbox Users,
MSN will no longer offer Soapbox, the user generated video service within MSN Video, as of August 31, 2009. Beginning on July 29, you will no longer be able to upload videos to Soapbox. People who have uploaded videos to Soapbox will have until August 31, 2009 to download them. Please make sure you download your videos by this date if you would like to keep them. We will have a notice running in the Soapbox service to remind you to download your videos. It is our goal that you download and keep all of the videos you uploaded that are important to you. Online video is a key part of the MSN experience and we will continue to offer a rich experience on MSN Video. We will also continue to invest in delivering great customer experiences, while keeping a keen eye on our business objectives during this tough economic climate. Thank you for your support of MSN Video. More details and download instructions are available at: http://video.msn.com/shutdown.html
Thank you for using Soapbox.
The MSN Video Team

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Posted By: Darren Straight
Last Edit: 22 Jul 2009 @ 08:45 AM

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Categories: Microsoft, Msn, Technology, Web Development, Windows Live
 

MSN Historical Timeline Since August 24th 1995 to February 21st 2008

 
 08 Jul 2009 @ 11:14 PM 

MSN Historical Timeline

February 21, 2008

  • Microsoft launches Windows Live SkyDrive, a free online file storing and sharing service that is a part of the next-generation Windows Live suite of services, in 38 countries. The service was previously available in beta in three countries: U.S., U.K. and India. At launch, SkyDrive offers 5 GB of storage per customer, an increase from 1 GB while the service was in beta.
January 24, 2008

  • Microsoft announces that it has joined DataPortability.org., a group committed to advancing the conversation about the portability, security and privacy of individuals’ information online. The decision to join DataPortability.org is an outgrowth of a deeper theme that technology and the Internet should be deployed to help people be at the center of their online worlds, a theme that has begun to permeate Microsoft’s products and services over the past few years.
January 22, 2008

  • Microsoft launches Left vs. Right, a political search engine powered by Live Search, that makes the experience of searching for 2008 presidential election information entertaining and humorous. At the site, users can ask questions, get answers and a laugh; Left vs. Right delivers answers to political search queries, with fresh, edgy commentary.
December 12, 2007

  • Microsoft acquires Multimap, one of the United Kingdom’s top 100 technology companies and one of the leading online mapping services in the world. The acquisition gives Microsoft a powerful new location and mapping technology to complement existing offerings such as Virtual Earth, Live Search, Windows Live services, MSN and the aQuantive advertising platform, with future integration potential for a range of other Microsoft products and platforms.
November 6, 2007

  • Microsoft launches the next generation of its free Windows Live services, providing consumers worldwide with a compelling new set of tools and services that help make it easier than ever to communicate and share with the important people in their lives, from anywhere they’re online, across multiple devices and with the safety features they need.
October 18, 2007

  • Microsoft and Dassault Systèmes (DS) launch Microsoft Virtual Earth -3DVIA (Technology Preview), a free online application that allows consumers to imagine and create realistic 3-D models — such as of buildings and structures — then share them through Microsoft Virtual Earth and online communities.
October 15, 2007

  • Microsoft releases new mobile and search services. In addition to announcing the final updates to the fall release of its Live Search service, Microsoft announces the availability of the Live Search 411 service.
September 26, 2007

  • Microsoft releases an update to Live Search centered on improvements to core search technology and deeper advancements in the vertical search areas of entertainment, shopping, local searching and health.
September 26, 2007

  • MSN launches updated MSN Video, an enhanced MSN Video experience that improves the ability to find and discover premium and user-generated video content from the expansive MSN Video library, adding new community sharing features, and introducing a new time-based advertising delivery model.
September 18, 2007

  • Sprint and Microsoft launch enhanced mobile search service, providing Sprint customers with the industry’s first fully integrated GPS location-aware mobile search service in the U.S. with entire Internet search on Sprint phones.
August 22, 2007

  • Nokia and Microsoft deliver Windows Live services to millions of mobile customers, providing customers with Windows Live services specifically designed for Nokia devices.
July 7, 2007

  • MSN offers free video streams of Live Earth concerts around the world, delivering 15 million streams during the event, making this the most watched online entertainment event in history. After the event concludes, an additional 65 million streams are delivered.
June 26, 2007

  • Microsoft and Dassault Systèmes (DS) announce the extension of their alliance, committing to add an entirely new level of realism within Virtual Earth by combining Microsoft’s geolocalization technology with DS’s proven 3-D modeling and realistic visualization know-how.
June 26, 2007

  • Microsoft announces its vision for Windows Live and commits to helping customers more easily and safely communicate and share online.
June 18, 2007

  • Microsoft announces the new MSN Mobile, a completely redesigned and reengineered portal offering an exceptional experience when accessing the Internet and Web services on mobile phones.
May 28, 2007

  • Live Search Maps offers three-dimensional, photo-realistic views of New York City buildings and landscapes. The 3-D imagery debuts along with similar aerial perspectives of several other Canadian, U.K. and U.S. cities.
May 6, 2007

  • Microsoft launches Windows Live Hotmail worldwide. Built from the ground up, the new Windows Live Hotmail is now safer, more powerful and available virtually anywhere you’re online.
May 3, 2007

  • Microsoft announced it has agreed to acquire ScreenTonic SA, a Europe-based mobile advertising pioneer, in a move that combines the breadth of Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions offerings with the mobile expertise and industry relationships of ScreenTonic to help advertisers reach a global audience of mobile users.
March 27, 2007

  • Microsoft and InfoNow Corp. announce an agreement that extends the power and capabilities of Microsoft Virtual Earth to the more than 20 million consumers worldwide who access InfoNow LocationInsight each month to gain information and find businesses and services such as store locations, branch offices and automated teller machines (ATMs).
March 14, 2007

  • Microsoft announces it will acquire Tellme Networks Inc., a leading provider of voice services for everyday life, including nationwide directory assistance, enterprise customer service and voice-enabled mobile search.
March 13, 2007

  • Microsoft and Lenovo announce a global agreement to pre-load Windows Live services on Lenovo PCs sold worldwide, providing customers with a new seamless, customizable Web experience through Microsoft Live.com and Live Search.
February 16, 2007

  • Microsoft announces a collaboration with three-time NBA All-Star forward LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers to launch LeBron.msn.com, an inspirational, storybook-style Web site for kids and teens.
February 12, 2007

  • Microsoft announces the United States and United Kingdom availability of Live Search for Windows Mobile and Live Search for Java, providing customers with advanced local search and mapping capabilities on their mobile devices.
February 12, 2007

  • Microsoft offers Windows Live services for Windows Mobile-based phones. Windows Live for Windows Mobile provides customers with a rich set of Windows Live services, including Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger, Live Search and Windows Live Spaces, uniquely designed to work with Windows Mobile software.
January 22, 2007

  • The next generation of Windows Live OneCare launches internationally. The all-in-one PC care service extends security, maintenance and performance benefits to Windows XP and the Windows Vista operating system.
November 15, 2006

  • Microsoft and Sprint announce plans to develop and deliver a range of innovative new service offerings for Sprint’s business and consumer customers. The first consumer offering in the collaboration enables Sprint customers to use Live Search for mobile on their wireless phones.
November 6, 2006

  • Microsoft announces the U.S. availability of Virtual Earth 3D, an online mapping interface that compiles photographic images of cities and terrain to generate textured, photorealistic 3-D models with engineering-level accuracy.
September 18, 2006

  • Microsoft announced the beta release of Soapbox on MSN Video, a user-uploaded video service that makes it easy for people to express themselves by uploading, discovering and sharing personal videos with the Soapbox community and others around the world.
September 11, 2006

  • Microsoft announces the release from beta of Live Search and of Live.com in 47 markets worldwide, and final availability of Live Local Search in the U.K. and the U.S.
May 23, 2006

  • Microsoft introduces improvements with the new version of Windows Live Local.
May 3, 2006

  • Microsoft announces a new initiative, called MSN Originals, as part of its expanding content investments to fuel continued growth of MSN. As part of the MSN Originals initiative, content from Reveille, a leading independent Hollywood production studio and distribution company, will become available.
March 7, 2006

  • Microsoft announces the availability of Windows Live Search beta, as well as added tools and functionality to Live.com, both cornerstone services of the company’s Windows Live strategy.
February 13, 2006

  • Microsoft acquires mobile search technology provider MotionBridge, a deal that enhances Windows Live services with innovative search solutions for mobile operators and their customers spanning work and play.
December 8, 2005

  • Microsoft launches Windows Live Local powered by Virtual Earth. Windows Live Local is an online local search experience that combines maps and directions, immersive imagery, and local search enabling people to learn about, discover and explore a specific location.
November 3, 2005

  • Microsoft announces the acquisition of FolderShare, a leading service in the emerging space of file synchronization and remote access technology that helps customers access information across multiple devices.
October 12, 2005

  • Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft announce a landmark agreement to connect users of their consumer instant messaging (IM) services on a global basis. The industry’s first interoperability agreement between two distinct leading global consumer IM providers gives MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger users the ability to interact with each other, forming what is expected to be the largest consumer IM community in the world, estimated to be more than 275 million strong.
July 25, 2005

  • Microsoft launches MSN Virtual Earth, an exciting new component of Microsoft’s MSN Search vision that gives users a deeply immersive local search experience in which they can easily find, discover, plan and share what is important to them on the Web.
June 1, 2005

  • Habeas Inc. announces MSN will use Habeas SafeList with the MSN and MSN Hotmail service to help identify legitimate incoming e-mail and better protect customers from spam.
May 26, 2005

  • MSN announces new MSN Hotmail tools and services MSN Postmaster and Smart Network Data Services to expand industry collaboration to fight spam, as well as plans to introduce Sender ID alerts to help protect MSN Hotmail customers from online safety concerns such as “phishing” scams.
  • MSN officially launches MSN China http://www.msn.com.cn, delivering local content, products and services to Chinese consumers.
May 23, 2005

  • Bill Gates presents his vision of MSN Virtual Earth, a new component of the company’s search technologies, at the D Conference in Carlsbad, Calif. MSN Virtual Earth will provide a set of reference sources such as maps, aerial imagery, photos, consumer and business directories, and ratings and reviews. In addition, MSN Virtual Earth will allow the broader community of consumers and businesses to contribute their own location-specific information to create an always expanding, dynamic and relevant local search experience.
May 18, 2005

  • MSN and Mark Burnett Productions announce that MSN will be the official online home for Mark Burnett Productions’ upcoming reality series “Rock Star: INXS” in the United States.
May 16, 2005

  • The MSN network of Internet services launches the new MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search, a suite of tools that helps people rapidly search the Web or their PC and provides easy access to leading MSN services.
May 11, 2005

  • MSN acquires MessageCast Inc., a leading provider of automated alerting and messaging technology.
  • MSN announces a joint venture with Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd. (SAIL) to launch MSN China. Microsoft also unveils plans to acquire certain assets of TSSX and enter into exclusive arrangements with the company, a prominent Chinese mobile software and services company, to provide the foundation for delivering enhanced MSN Mobile products and services to the Chinese market and globally.
May 9, 2005

  • Pocket MSN, a new downloadable service for Windows Mobile 2003-based devices, at http://mobile.msn.com, becomes available in more than 20 global markets. Pocket MSN is an integrated data service that brings Hotmail, MSN Messenger, My MSN and Maps & Directions to Windows 2003-based devices.
April 28, 2005

  • MSN has 200 million active Hotmail accounts, over 165 million active MSN Messenger accounts and over 400 million unique monthly users visiting the MSN portal. MSN has 3 million narrowband Internet access subscribers and approximately 9.1 million subscribers worldwide. There have been over 7 million MSN Spaces created since the beta was launched in December 2004.
April 25, 2005

  • MSN launches a new Spanish-language version of its popular MSN Video service.
April 20, 2005

  • Microsoft announces that effective July 1, Michael Rawding will take the position of corporate vice president of MSN Global Sales and Marketing, based in Redmond, Wash., and that Darren Huston will take the position as Microsoft corporate vice president of Microsoft Japan.
April 7, 2005

  • MSN announces the broad, global availability of MSN Messenger 7.0 and MSN Spaces. MSN Messenger 7.0 becomes available worldwide in 26 languages and introduces improved, one-click synchronized audio and video PC-to-PC video conversation powered by Logitech, voice, mobile messaging and personalization features. Since the MSN Spaces beta version was introduced in late 2004, more than 4.5 million Spaces have been created, making MSN Spaces one of the fastest-growing blogging services in the world. Globally, more than 155 million customers are using MSN Messenger service each month, and MSN recorded that customers were exchanging more than 2.5 billion instant messages (IMs) every day.
  • MSN opens up new opportunities for advertisers in MSN Messenger and MSN Spaces. MSN announces the first U.S. advertising partner for MSN Spaces: Volvo Cars of North America LLC.
March 30, 2005

  • MSN launches MSN Video Downloads for download to Windows Mobile-based devices such as Portable Media Centers and select Smartphones and Pocket PCs.
March 23, 2005

  • Symantec Corp. and MSN announce the extension of their relationship, utilizing Symantec Brightmail with MSN Hotmail to help customers fight spam.
March 16, 2005

  • MSN unveils Microsoft’s next-generation online advertising platform, MSN adCenter, and demonstrates the platform’s first component, a new prototype of an MSN paid-search solution, at the sixth annual MSN Strategic Account Summit, a leading industry forum held on Microsoft’s main campus in Redmond.
March 9, 2005

  • MSN and Logitech announce an extension of their global relationship. Each month more than
    30 million of the MSN Messenger service’s 155 million unique customers use the current MSN Webcam feature, and MSN and Logitech have facilitated more than 3 billion webcam sessions since it was introduced in 2003.
March 3, 2005

  • MSN Music and MediaBay Inc. announce an exclusive alliance in the United States, which gives customers downloadable access to audiobooks that include classic dramas, mysteries, detective stories, comedies, Westerns, science fiction and adventure stories from the 1930s to the 1960s.
Feb. 4, 2005

  • MSN starts implementing Human Interactive Proofing (HIP) into the outgoing MSN Hotmail
    e-mail process to help fight spam. HIP tests whether the customer sending the e-mail is a human or a machine by requiring the user to retype a combination of letters and numbers that appears on the screen before that user can proceed.
Feb. 1, 2005

  • MSN announces the worldwide launch of the new MSN Search in 25 markets and 10 languages, the first search engine built from the ground up by Microsoft to help consumers more quickly search the Web and get precise answers.
  • The new MSN Search is available in the following markets: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, India, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. MSN Search features vary from market to market.
February 2005

  • As part of its ongoing commitment to child safety on the Internet, MSN participates in the Safer Internet Day throughout Europe, for the second year running. Safer Internet Day represents an effort by a global community of awareness-raising partners to promote a safer Internet for all its users, especially young people.
Jan. 28, 2005

  • MSN has 3.5 million narrowband Internet access subscribers; MSN has 9.3 million total subscribers worldwide. In addition, MSN reported over 380 million unique users, 190 million active MSN Hotmail accounts and 155 million active Messenger accounts worldwide.
Jan. 20, 2005

  • Microsoft announces availability of Microsoft Office Outlook Live, a new subscription offering that brings together the power of Microsoft Office Outlook with MSN Hotmail in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada (English and French).
Jan. 19, 2005

  • MSN Music and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings announce an alliance that will make nearly 35,000 tracks of historic songs available online for the first time, allowing music fans to discover a diverse world of music and sound.
Jan. 4, 2005

  • MSN launches MSN Health & Fitness (http://health.msn.com), a comprehensive online destination for people looking to improve their well-being with up-to-date and easily accessible information.
Dec. 13, 2004

  • MSN introduces a beta version of its new MSN Toolbar Suite, with breakthrough desktop search functionality that helps consumers quickly find virtually any type of document, media file or e-mail message on their Windows-based personal computer.
Dec. 1, 2004

  • MSN announces the beta availability of MSN Spaces, a new Web logging (blogging) service that enables consumers to create their own personal place on the Web, as well as a beta version of MSN Messenger 7.0, updates to MSN Hotmail, and deeper integration between the services to enable more compelling communications experiences for consumers.
Nov. 18, 2004

  • MSN Web Messenger becomes available in 25 global markets. MSN introduces local domains in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. MSN announces the completion of the 250MB storage upgrade of MSN Hotmail in nine global markets: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom. Customers will have the ability to obtain 250 MB of free storage with a new Hotmail account and send 10MB attachments.
Nov. 11, 2004

  • MSN debuts a beta version of its new MSN Search service in the United States at http://beta.search.msn.com, and worldwide in 26 markets and 11 languages from local MSN Web sites. The new MSN Search allows consumers to quickly receive relevant answers from a universe of more than 5 billion Web documents.
Nov. 9, 2004

  • American Express and MSN announce an agreement to deliver free music downloads through the MSN Music service to American Express consumer Cardmembers residing in the United States.
Nov. 5, 2004

  • Microsoft announces the launch of a movie channel for MSN Direct, slated to go live Nov. 8. 2004.
Oct. 22, 2004

  • MSN has 3.8 million Internet access subscribers and 9.1 million total subscribers worldwide. In addition, MSN reported over 350 million unique users, 187 million active Hotmail accounts and more than 145 million active Messenger accounts worldwide.
Oct. 12, 2004

  • MSN announces the first official U.S. release of MSN Music. Microsoft also announces that MSN Music will be available in eight additional countries, creating the world’s largest network of legal online music download services.
Oct. 5, 2004

  • MSN TV (http://www.msntv.com) announces the debut of the new MSN TV 2 Internet & Media Player. MSN TV 2 is the only product that brings premium MSN content, PC-stored digital media and e-mail to TV for a truly integrated Internet and media experience.
Sept. 23, 2004

  • Jane Boulware joins the executive team of MSN as corporate vice president of global marketing.
Sept. 16, 2004

  • MSN Music and the Monterey Jazz Festival team up to offer new and archival recordings not available anywhere else — online or offline — of live performances by some of jazz’s biggest names.
Sept. 1, 2004

  • MSN launches a preview release of its MSN Music service in the United States. The new service delivers a vast selection of music with more than 1 million tracks licensed, from new releases to rare classical compositions, from major labels including EMI Music North America, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group as well as more than 3,000 independent labels.
Aug. 19, 2004

  • The MSN alliance between MSN and FOXSports.com contributes to a 265 percent increase in site visitors to FOXSports.com on MSN, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. During July 2004, the newly relaunched FOXSports.com on MSN was the fastest-growing sports Web site in the United States, with more than 9.4 million unique users.
Aug. 12, 2004

  • MSN announces three new arrangements with industry leaders Blockbuster Inc., CinemaNow Inc. and MovieTickets.com Inc. that will enable U.S. consumers to rent DVDs, download movies and buy tickets online at the MSN Movies site, http://movies.msn.com, with a single click of the mouse.
Aug. 5, 2004

  • MSN and Verizon Wireless announce that MSN Mobile is now available to Verizon Wireless customers with select Get It Now-enabled phones.
July 27, 2004

  • MSNBC.com starts testing the MSNBC Newsbot, a new way to give consumers personalized online news from more than 4,800 sources powered by the latest MSN search technology.
July 22, 2004

  • MSN has 4.3 million Internet access subscribers and 8.8 million total subscribers worldwide. MSN has 350 million unique users, 187 million active Hotmail accounts and 135 million active Messenger accounts worldwide.
July 16, 2004

  • MSN acquires Lookout Software LLC, bringing additional technology and expertise to future search efforts by MSN. Lookout offers the critically acclaimed Lookout personal search tool for the Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 messaging and collaboration client, which provides fast searching for e-mail, files and desktop data within Outlook.
July 15, 2004

  • Microsoft, America Online Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. announce an unprecedented collaborative effort to enable industry-first connectivity between Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 and the largest public instant messaging (IM) networks in the world: AOL, MSN and Yahoo!.
July 7, 2004

  • MSN launches MSN Turkey (MSN Turkiye), the newest MSN portal, making it the 39th market and 20th language in which MSN is available.
June 30, 2004

  • As part of a $100 million investment in improving the customer experience, MSN launches a range of new and updated services for its MSN Search service, including a new MSN Search home page (http://search.msn.com) that features easy navigation to popular MSN services; a new, cleaner look for its search results page that separates algorithmic results from paid results links and eliminates paid inclusion; direct access to popular information sources such as Microsoft Encarta, the No. 1 best-selling encyclopedia software brand*; and extensive performance improvements.
  • * The NPD Group/NPD Techworld, Jan. 2000 – Feb. 2007. Based on total U.S. retail sales.
June 24, 2004

  • MSN Hotmail announces that starting in July it would roll out free e-mail anti-virus protection features (to scan and clean incoming and outgoing e-mail for viruses and worms) to all 170 million MSN Hotmail customers worldwide. MSN also announces it will bring increased storage (250MB inboxes), the ability to send attachments up to 10 MB and MSN Calendar for free to MSN Hotmail customers in multiple markets and will introduce MSN Hotmail Plus.
June 18, 2004

  • MSN announces a new advertising program in the United States called MSN Creative Connection.
June 9, 2004

  • MSN Canada and Bell Canada’s ISP, Sympatico, announce the launch of a co-branded portal, Sympatico.MSN.ca. They also announce that Sympatico Internet Access subscribers will receive MSN Premium as part of their subscription.
May 7, 2004

  • MSN and FOXSports.com announce a new partnership that will provide customers with exclusive editorial content, innovative customization and exclusive online video. The new alliance makes FOXSports.com the primary sports content destination on the MSN network.
May 5, 2004

  • MSN Messenger for Mac Version 4.0 becomes available for download for Mac users in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and Sweden.
  • MSN announces support of IronPort Systems’ and TRUSTe’s Bonded Sender e-mail accreditation program to help enhance e-mail filtering to better protect MSN and MSN Hotmail customers from spam and help ensure that legitimate e-mail gets through.
April 23, 2004

  • MSN Messenger announces the availability of MSN Instant Games Clubhouse, a subscription, interactive gaming service for MSN Messenger in the United States, as well as the forthcoming release of MSN Messenger 6.2, the next version of MSN Messenger, which boasts more than 120 million users each month.
April 22, 2004

  • MSN reports more than 350 million unique users per month, over 170 million active Hotmail accounts, and more than 120 million customers that log into the MSN Messenger instant messaging service each month, as well as 8.2 million MSN subscribers.
March 25, 2004

  • A study unveiled at the fifth annual MSN Strategic Account Summit concludes that online advertising can produce significant increases in product branding and offline sales. In findings released based on studies conducted between November 2003 and January 2004 of consumer-packaged goods brands, results recommend levels of online spending that are dramatically higher than the average. Researchers determined that online advertising generated lifts in sales ranging from 7 percent to 12.5 percent.
March 23, 2004

  • MSN and QUALCOMM Inc. announce MSN Mobile services enabled with QUALCOMM’s BREW solution. MSN Mobile services for the BREW solution will enable consumers to access MSN Hotmail and MSN Messenger services in a rich and familiar way via select mobile handsets.
March 22, 2004

  • MSN and MLB Advanced Media (http://mlb.com) announce a wide-ranging multiyear deal that offers Major League Baseball fans a range of options for following their favorite team online in the United States.
Feb. 24, 2004

  • Openwave Systems Inc. and MSN announce an agreement to bring MSN Mobile services to mobile operators and handset vendors worldwide. The companies announce they have built and are including MSN Mobile software in the Openwave Phone Suite V7 phone software platform.
Feb. 16, 2004

  • A special online marketing campaign conceived and developed by MSN allows Visa Extras, a customer rewards program from Visa USA, to reach out to small businesses via a branded Web site for owners of small companies. The site, located at http://yourbusiness.msn.com, debuts in the United States.
Jan. 26, 2004

  • MSN launches a beta version of the new MSN Toolbar in the United States. With the new MSN Toolbar, people will have access to the most popular MSN services, including more convenient access to MSN Hotmail, MSN Messenger, My MSN and MSNBC.com, as well as the Web via MSN Search. The MSN Toolbar offers features that include a customizable Pop-Up Blocker and the new Highlight Viewer tool.
Jan. 8, 2004

  • MSN and Network Associates Inc. announce the broad availability of McAfee Security’s anti-virus and personal firewall services as part of MSN Premium subscription service for broadband users in the United States.
  • MSN announces that subscribers who receive high-speed Internet access via Qwest Communications International Inc. will receive MSN Premium as part of their subscription.
  • Verizon Online and MSN team up to offer MSN Premium to Verizon Online’s DSL customers at no additional charge.
Dec. 16, 2003

  • MSN announces the availability of MSN Encarta Premium as a stand-alone Web service or as a feature of the upcoming MSN Premium.
Dec. 3, 2003

  • MSN announces new customer milestones for MSN communications services with more than 145 million customers worldwide visiting MSN Hotmail and 110 million customers worldwide logging on to the MSN Messenger instant messaging service each month. MSN also announces a new version of MSN Hotmail including improvements for reporting and managing junk e-mail, contact lists and schedules. These changes include a more consumer-friendly, Outlook-like interface, more integration for customers of MSN Messenger, and a new Today page and new contact-management features.
Dec. 1, 2003

  • MSN announces that in November 2003, MSN Shopping saw a 50 percent increase in consumer spending and site traffic compared with the same period last year. MSN also announces that MSN Shopping increased its U.S. advertising merchant base by 30 percent in 2003.
Nov. 17, 2003

  • MSN announces SmartScreen Technology for spam filtering, to be made available across e-mail platforms for customers using the latest versions of MSN and MSN Hotmail, as well as Outlook and Exchange.
Nov. 2, 2003

  • MSN debuts an innovative, custom online marketing program for American Honda Motor Co. for the online launch of the 2004 Honda Accord. The campaign includes extensive use of video and consumer participation to capture the attention of the millions of consumers who frequent MSN.
Oct. 17, 2003

  • MSN announces a partnership with Network Associates Technology Inc. to provide McAfee VirusScan and McAfee Personal Firewall Plus to subscribers of MSN Premium, available in early 2004.
Oct. 14, 2003

  • MSN debuts the beta version of MSN Video — a free, ad-revenue supported, streaming video service available to everyone on the MSN network. As part of the service MSN will offer free access to high-resolution, on-demand news, sports, entertainment and other video, including programming from NBC News and MSNBC.com that isn’t available anywhere else on the Web.
Sept. 24, 2003

  • Nielsen//NetRatings announces that CNBC on MSN Money has attracted the largest audience among financial news and information Web sites for the past six months, underscoring the ability of MSN to drive traffic to its partner content.
Aug. 27, 2003

  • MSN announces beta availability of MSN Premium and MSN Plus. Both subscription services will be available in winter 2003.
July 30, 2003

  • MSN launches the HighSpeed Marketplace, a broadband Internet access marketplace that provides information about plans and pricing from multiple high-speed providers within the United States including BellSouth Corp., Charter Communications, Comcast Corp., DIRECWAY, Mediacom Communications Corp., Qwest, Sprint and Verizon Online.
July 27, 2003

  • The number of unique worldwide users visiting the MSN network reaches 350 million, a 17 percent increase over the previous year.
July 16, 2003

  • MSN launches MSN Messenger 6, which allows consumers to create their own online identities through customized display pictures, backgrounds and emoticons. Consumers also can now compete in live online games, send photos to friends and share animated emoticons.
June 4, 2003

  • MSN releases improvements to MSN 8, including improved spam- and virus-filtering software, easier access to parental controls, and customization options for the on-screen dashboard.
May 23, 2003

  • Microsoft redesigns the CNBC on MSN Money personal finance service with an expanded collection of tools and resources to help consumers review, understand and improve their finances. According to Nielsen//NetRatings, CNBC on MSN Money attracted the largest audience among financial news and information Web sites in March and April 2003, surpassing Yahoo! Finance and AOL Personal Finance.
May 14, 2003

  • MSN doubles worldwide availability of its MSN Hotmail Extra Storage Internet subscription service to 25 markets. MSN Extra Storage allows subscribers to store five times more e-mail on MSN Hotmail and 10 times more photos and files on MSN Groups than before.
May 13, 2003

  • MSN and Verizon debut the co-branded Verizon Online DSL with MSN 8 service. This relationship combines the speed of a DSL connection from Verizon with the latest Internet software from MSN, giving customers a more useful online experience.
May 12, 2003

  • MSN Messenger Service reaches a record high of 100 million active users per month worldwide. MSN Messenger is also rated the No. 1 instant messaging (IM) service in 11 countries, according to independent third-party rating organizations.
May 9, 2003

  • Microsoft and Gateway Inc. join forces to offer MSN 8 Internet Software and MSN 8 dial-up access preloaded on all Gateway consumer PCs in the United States. The relationship between the two companies makes Gateway the first computer manufacturer to offer both MSN 8 Internet Software, which can be used with any Internet service, and MSN 8 dial-up Internet access.
Jan. 9, 2003

  • Microsoft and Good Housekeeping magazine announce that MSN 8 Internet software is now backed by the Good Housekeeping Seal. The announcement marks the first time an Internet software product has earned the Good Housekeeping Seal.
Dec. 26, 2002

  • MSN Shopping rings up a record $10.7 billion (U.S.) in the fourth quarter and is rated the No. 1 shopping portal site according to Nielsen//NetRatings.
Dec. 3, 2002

  • Microsoft announces an alliance with Unicast Communications Corp., a leading provider of online advertising solutions, and support for Unicast’s Online Format Suite on MSN.
Oct. 24, 2002

  • MSN launches MSN 8, the most innovative version of MSN, which delivers a comprehensive and useful set of software services through advanced communication tools, powerful browsing tools and innovative software, and enhanced online safety tools.
Oct. 14, 2002

  • Microsoft launches a $300 million U.S. marketing campaign for MSN 8, the biggest marketing campaign undertaken by MSN. In addition, MSN announces its total monthly subscriptions have reached 9 million.
Sept. 22, 2002

  • MSN announces its alliance with Eyeblaster Inc. and PointRoll Inc., two leading developers and distributors of rich media advertisements. Advertisers now can place media ads with moving and expanding images, full-page overlays, and interstitial windows or other features across the 12 most popular channels on MSN, including CNBC on MSN Money, MSNBC and the MSN Autos online automotive service.
Sept. 18, 2002

  • MSN and Brightmail Inc. form a strategic alliance to significantly reduce the amount of spam for the 110 million users of MSN Hotmail worldwide.
Sept. 4, 2002

  • A PricewaterhouseCoopers audit confirms that more than 300 million unique users worldwide visit MSN. MSN Messenger also reaches a milestone with more than 75 million users worldwide.
Aug. 22, 2002

  • Microsoft announces the release of MSN for Mac OS X, the first Internet subscription service for MSN built specifically for Mac users. The service, to be available in early 2003, will offer communications services, advanced browsing features, free Mac-specific customer support and enhanced online safety features.
July 16, 2002

  • Microsoft unveils MSN 8, a new version of MSN that offers enhanced online safety features, valuable communication services, and advanced browsing and productivity software. The new version will be included in the MSN Internet Access broadband and narrowband subscriptions and will be available in the United States as a separate subscription to consumers who use other ISPs in October 2002.
June 19, 2002

  • MSN and Verizon Communications announce plans to deliver co-branded high-speed Internet service in Verizon’s 31-state service area, reaching nearly 34 million customers. This makes MSN the preferred online service to more households in the United States, via a DSL connection, than any other online service.
June 2002

  • MSN announces its first sponsorship of the 49th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. As exclusive sponsor of the Cyber Lions awards, MSN honors creative excellence and champions the power of online media.
May 23, 2002

  • Verizon Wireless and Microsoft announce a groundbreaking strategic alliance to deliver co-developed and jointly marketed wireless data services featuring MSN services and content, Windows-powered devices, and enterprise solutions to consumers in the United States.
February 2002

  • MSN Hotmail Extra Storage is introduced for the first time internationally, in Canada, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.
  • The Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 (SLOC), NBC, MSNBC.com and MSN launch the official Olympics Web site, the largest event site in sports history, to coincide with the lighting of the Olympic Torch in Olympia, Greece.
December 2001

  • Taking a big step into subscription services, MSN introduces MSN Hotmail Extra Storage in the United States, which offers consumers 10 MB of MSN Hotmail storage space, 30 MB of MSN Groups storage space, the ability to send and receive attachments of up to 1.5 MB, and exemption from the 30-day sign-in policy, all for $19.95 per year.
Oct. 15, 2001

  • MSN unveils MSN 7, which delivers an exceptional online experience for anyone on the Web. Separately, MSN and LINKdotNET launch MSN Arabia as the 34th MSN market. It serves consumers in nine key areas: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Sept. 20, 2001

  • MSN and Charter Communications Inc. sign an agreement to offer MSN content and services to Charter’s Pipeline and high-speed customers.
Sept. 6, 2001

  • MSN and ESPN.com, the world’s leading sports site, team up to provide access to ESPN’s online sports content through MSN.
Aug. 23, 2001

  • MSN announces that MIGway will be the first company worldwide to distribute MSN Mobile services such as MSN Hotmail and MSN Messenger via two-way short message service (SMS) across Europe.
Aug. 9, 2001

  • MSN launches the MSN Advantage Marketing Program, a formalized worldwide program for its digital marketing offerings focused on delivering comprehensive products, technology and services that provide better results for brand and direct-response marketers.
Aug. 6, 2001

  • MSN UK unveils the world’s first Internet bench in the Abbey Gardens of Bury St Edmunds, the birthplace of the Magna Carta. Users simply plug their laptop into the modem sockets on the inside of the bench arms, power up and start sending e-mail, shopping online or surfing the Web.
July 26, 2001

  • MSN attracts more than 250 million users a month worldwide and is the No. 1 destination in 11 markets, including the United Kingdom, Mexico and Canada. In addition, MSN Internet Access subscribers in the United States now total more than 6.5 million.
June 21, 2001

  • T1msn, the No. 1 portal in Mexico and a joint venture of Telmex and Microsoft, acquires Yupi Internet Inc., expanding its leadership to the U.S. Hispanic market and throughout Latin America by delivering YupiMSN to Spanish-speaking Internet users.
May 29, 2001

  • In the wake of America Online Inc.’s rate increase, MSN launches its first $50 million “switcher” campaign to persuade consumers in the United States to drop their AOL service and sign up for MSN Internet Access.
May 14, 2001

  • The number of active users of MSN Hotmail, the most popular free Web-based e-mail service, surpasses 100 million worldwide.
April 26, 2001

  • Microsoft and Qwest Communications International Inc. team up to deliver MSN broadband services, making MSN Broadband available in 33 U.S. markets and accelerating deployment of DSL service in the United States.
April 11, 2001

  • MSN Internet Access subscriptions reach the 5 million-subscriber milestone.
April 4, 2001

  • MSN launches MSN Music U.S., which delivers a free, easy way for music consumers to search for, listen to and discover music they like.
March 16, 2001

  • MSN Messenger becomes the single most-used, free instant messaging service in the world with 29.5 million active users worldwide as measured by Media Metrix Inc.
Jan. 4, 2001

  • MSN reaches more than 4 million MSN Internet Access subscribers in the United States and 230 million unique visitors worldwide every month.
December 2000

  • Over 10.8 million fans worldwide watch the exclusive MSN webcast of Madonna’s first online performance and her first live performance in over seven years at the Brixton Academy in London. In addition to breaking its own record of largest webcast ever, MSN also wins the Best Web Event of the Year award at the Net Sounds Conference in London.
Oct. 25, 2000

  • MSN Explorer launches, combining the best of MSN content and services with the best of Microsoft Internet software to form a single integrated experience that helps consumers get more from the Web.
  • MSN launches the biggest worldwide consumer campaign undertaken by Microsoft to promote awareness of MSN as a global brand.
July 17, 2000

  • MSN becomes the No. 1 Web destination worldwide with 201 million unique users. The number of MSN Internet Access subscribers in the United States reaches 3 million. MSN becomes the first major Web site to offer consumers instant voice messaging from PC to PC.
April 2000

  • MSN Hotmail is featured in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest free Web-based e-mail service provider, with more than 67 million active users.
  • MSN Internet Access reaches the 2.5 million dial-up subscriber mark in the United States.
March 2000

  • MSN launches its first Hebrew site, MSN Israel.
Feb. 14, 2000

  • Microsoft introduces the now-trademarked Butterfly logo with a large consumer advertising campaign to support the recharged MSN and demonstrate its unique vision of The Everyday Web.
January 2000

  • MSN launches across six countries in Asia — Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and India — making it available in 33 markets and 17 languages, a broader global presence than any other online portal.
December 1999

  • MSN hosts what becomes the biggest webcast music concert in history at the time, as Sir Paul McCartney makes a historic return to the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England.
  • MSN Hotmail is launched in Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Italian, increasing the number of languages in which it is available to seven. MSN Messenger Service launches in 24 new languages, for a total of 26.
Nov. 22, 1999

  • MSN introduces eShop, a service that helps consumers find, compare and purchase a broad range of items online.
October 1999

  • Telmex and Microsoft join to create T1msn, which becomes the leading Spanish-language Internet portal in Mexico.
July 22, 1999

  • MSN introduces MSN Messenger Service, which reaches more than 700,000 people in its first six days of availability.
Oct. 1, 1998

  • The MSN portal becomes available to consumers in 22 markets worldwide after adding Austria, Belgium (French and Dutch), Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Latin America, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland (French and German) and South Africa.
Summer 1998

  • NineMSN is created in Australia as a joint venture with Channel Nine.
March 1998

  • MSN launches the first local-language European MSN sites in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. MSN UK launches MSN Street, Europe’s first wired street, in London.
Dec. 31, 1997

  • Microsoft purchases the Hotmail Web-based e-mail service, with its 8 million users, and integrates it into MSN.com. MSN integrates Passport services, which offer single sign-in services to participating Web sites.
June 15, 1996

  • MSNBC, a joint venture between NBC and Microsoft Corp., launches its 24-hour news and information television channel along with its interactive online news service distributed on MSN in the United States.
March 25, 1996

  • MSN reaches the 1 million dial-up subscriber mark in the United States.
Aug. 24, 1995

  • The MSN network of Internet services debuts in the United States.
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Posted By: Darren Straight
Last Edit: 08 Jul 2009 @ 11:14 PM

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Celebrate 10 Years of MSN/Windows Live Messenger

 
 08 Jul 2009 @ 10:33 PM 

Wow I can’t believe it, it has been almost been 10 years since MSN/Windows Live Messenger was launched. Windows Live Messenger (called MSN Messenger/MSN Messenger Service back then) was released to the public on a warm, sunny Seattle day on July 22nd 1999.

With more than 330 million active users every month, Windows Live Messenger has grown quite a bit over the last 10 years! But for a 10 year celebration it’s not all about the numbers – even more important is how Messenger enabled friendships, changed lives or just brought a lot of fun to a quick chat with a good friend or family member.

 Back in the old days of the MSN Messenger Service 1.0 the System Requirements for the software were:

  Windows-based PC Macintosh
Computer/Processor 486DX/66 or higher PowerPC
Operating System Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT 4.0 MacOS 8.0 or later
Disk Space 2 MB available 2 MB available
Memory 8 MB of RAM 16 MB RAM
Browser Internet Explorer version 3.0, Netscape Navigator version 3.0, or higher Internet Explorer version 3.0, Netscape Navigator version 3.0, or higher

MSN Messenger Service 1.0

However now days with Windows Live Messenger 2009, the System Requirementsare much more demanding, some would say that’s a bad thing as Microsoft are making the software bloated, while other would say that the amount of features in Windows Live Messenger is worth it! :)

Windows Live Messenger 2009 System Requirements

  • Supported Operating system: Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (32-bit edition only), or Windows Vista (32-bit or 64-bit editions). Note: Windows Live Movie Maker is not supported on Windows XP
  • Processor: 1 GHz or higher for Windows Vista; 800 MHz or higher for Windows XP
  • Memory: 128 MB of RAM (256 MB or more recommended) for Windows XP; 512 MB for Windows Vista
  • Resolution: Minimum 1024 x 768
  • Internet connection: Internet functionality requires dial-up or broadband Internet access (provided separately). Local or long-distance charges may apply.
  • Browser: Windows Live Toolbar requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or later
  • Graphics or video card: Windows Live Movie Maker requires ATI Radeon 9500 (or higher) or nVidia GeForce FX 5900 (or higher).The following components are needed for specific Windows Live programs, and may be installed for you if they’re not already on your computer.
  • For Writer: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or higher*
  • For Photo Gallery: SQL 2005 Compact Edition and Windows Imaging Codecs*
  • For Photo Gallery and Movie Maker: Some components of DirectX9
  • * Not needed when installing on Windows Vista.

MSN Messenger Service 1.0

One thing for certain though, is that that Windows Live Messenger is definitely a universal tool in the world of Instant Messaging. Read more at The Windows Live Messenger Team Blog. Or visit http://windowslive.uk.msn.com/messenger/birthday for some fun, especially on the 22nd of July 2009.

MSN/Windows Live 10 Years Celebration!

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Posted By: Darren Straight
Last Edit: 08 Jul 2009 @ 10:33 PM

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Microsoft ends Windows Live Butterfly Program

 
 02 Jul 2009 @ 6:26 PM 

Well I guess all good things come to an end, or at least that’s what some people say.

But it looks like that one good thing has unfortunately come to an end, that of which I’m sad to see go as I was a part of it, that is that the rumors circulating earlier this week about the MSN/Windows Live Butterfly program closing have come true.

A Microsoft spokesman sent Mary Jo Foley the following response when she questioned Microsoft about the closing of the MSN/Windows Live Butterfly beta testing program.

“The Butterfly group has been involved in beta testing MSN and Windows Live products for a number of years.  Rather than continue the program as something only focused on beta testing, we’re offering the group a variety of options to engage in the broader Windows Live community, including the opportunity to join the MVP (Most Valuable Professional) program and continued and future access to beta testing opportunities.”

For those of you that don’t know, The Windows Live Butterfly awards program (formerly the MSN Butterfly program) was a program whose members were given the benefit of new Microsoft software and services to test before the beta releases went public and they were in direct contact with the program managers for MSN and Windows Live products.

Microsoft had initiated the Windows Live Butterfly program in order to recognize the contributions made by those who have excelled at beta testing, showing themselves to go above and beyond what Microsoft looked for from beta testers. Prospective butterflies were selected by the Windows Live product team and were nominated for a term of one year, after which they could be renominated.

As a Windows Live Butterfly Program Member I’m sad to see this come to an end, it’s a real shame, I’ve met and made great friends with many people through the Butterfly Group both face to face and online, and the butterfly group has helped me in lots of ways, I will miss everyone on it including of course the employees at Microsoft that talked in the newsgroups, I just hope we can all stay in contact someway!

Maybe  we could update the Windows Live Butterfly Map - http://www.butterflymap.com/ (Courtesy of John O’Brien a MVP from Soul Solutions and the co-founder of Via Windows Live)  to all current Windows Live Butterflies along with contact details!

Some memories:

MSN/Windows Live Butterfly Plus Toy

MSN/Windows Live Butterfly Plus Toy

First Ever MSN/Windows Live Butterfly Meet Up in London

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Posted By: Darren Straight
Last Edit: 02 Jul 2009 @ 06:26 PM

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Windows Live Local Van in Downtown Washington D.C.

 
 13 Jun 2009 @ 7:05 AM 

Looks like the The Facet Technology Mobile 360 Van (Windows Live Local Van/SUV) which was being used by Microsoft for it’s Street-Side Technology Preview for it’s Windows Live Local Beta back in 2006 (here / here) is still on the road, this time in Downtown Washington D.C. in the United States. Looks like this is a new Van/SUV make, look at the new encasing on the roof?

If you see this curious looking SUV around downtown D.C. today, don’t expect a news crew to pile out of it.

I asked the driver of this vehicle what, exactly, his ride does. He said it’s equipped with 12 cameras that take pictures in front, behind and to the sides of the truck as he drives along, collecting data for a new Microsoft-owned mapping technology that will be featured in Ford Motors’ new GPS systems.

Bing, maybe?

Via: Washington Business Journal (Thanks Justin)

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Posted By: Darren Straight
Last Edit: 13 Jun 2009 @ 07:05 AM

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Microsofts New Search Bing goes Live!

 
 02 Jun 2009 @ 12:37 PM 

Microsoft’s new search engine at http://www.bing.com has today gone live!

Microsoft designed Bing.com to help you overcome search overload and make faster, more informed decisions when searching online.

Microsoft says that research indicates that 66 percent of people are increasingly turning to search engines to assist in making decisions — above and beyond simple navigation or information retrieval, for which today’s search engines were originally built. No longer satisfied with the status quo of search, Microsoft designed Bing as a Decision Engine to provide you with intelligent search tools to help you simplify tasks and make more informed choices, from mapping out the fastest route to get home to researching a product purchase or planning a trip.

Bing provides great general search results, relevance, a big index and speed — all of the hallmarks of a good search engine. However, because sorting through search results can often be time consuming, Bing organizes popular results in a different way, designed to help you get the answers you’re looking for without having to guess the right way to phrase a search term.

According to Microsoft here are a few of the features of Bing:

Making Search Easier

Almost any search engine can provide basic results, but with Bing, we’ve improved many aspects of the search experience.

  • Home page. Because you may not always know about the range of content a search engine can find for you, the Bing home page includes a beautiful new image daily, information hotspots embedded in that image, and clear links for starting your searches for video, news, shopping, travel, images or maps.
  • Autosuggest. Bing examines what you are typing in the search box and will automatically suggest similar terms or common refinements related to the term you are typing. For example, when searching for “California,” you will see common related searches, including “California DMV,” “California lottery” and “California ski report.”
  • Best Match. The Bing Best Match feature is designed to make finding relevant information easier by cutting down the number of clicks and getting you to your final destination faster. Best Match results include customer service numbers for retail sites, the ability to track a package right from the search page, deep links to common pages within the site and much more.
  • Document Preview. Nearly one-quarter of searches result in rapid click back, when you realize that the search result was not what you were looking for.2 Document Preview lets you hover over a search result to see a preview of the site’s content, which helps you determine whether the site is likely to contain the information you’re looking for — before you click.
  • Instant Answers. Bing provides Instant Answers that immediately return highly relevant direct answers in response to a specific search. For example, entering a flight number will return the most recent flight information and display it prominently in the results, saving the hassle of going to a separate page. Other Instant Answers on Bing include stock prices, local weather, sports scores and more.

Making Search More Organized

Our research indicates that 72 percent of people surveyed said current search results are too disorganized.3 To provide order to the chaos of search, Bing analyzes search results for certain types of search terms and organizes them so they’re easy for you to navigate. These categories include travel, shopping, health, technology, autos, entertainment, sports, animals and more.

  • Explore Pane. Located on the left side of the screen, the Explore Pane lets you easily filter search results. Features in the Explore Pane include categorized search results called Quick Tabs, links to related searches and past searches in Session History. The Explore Pane also can be used in the local, travel and shopping experience for powerful refinement of your search results.
  • Quick Tabs. Half of all searches are eventually refined to find more specific results.4 Quick Tabs anticipate your intent when searching and offers easy access to some of the most common refinements for a given search. For example, when searching for a favorite musician, Quick Tabs let you filter results by albums, biography, videos and images. These tabs change dynamically based on the search term. Searches for a certain city name yield Quick Tabs for tours, travel and images; searches for a car model generate categories on reviews, accessories and videos.
  • Related Searches. When searching for a specific result, our research has shown that people also like to expand their search to explore related topics. After making an initial search, Related Searches provides a list of related search terms, helping you easily expand a search to find more great results.
  •  Session History. Nearly half of all searches are a repeat of a previous search.5 Session History provides easy access to searches from your current search session so that you don’t need to initiate a new query to get back to an earlier result.
  • Video search. Bing video search helps make finding, previewing and watching videos easier. Bing indexes content from video sites across the Web and our own index of full-length television shows. It also includes filtering tools to narrow a search to make it easier for you to find the exact video you’re looking for.
  • Image search. Bing image search includes infinite scroll, which lets you easily browse image results without clicking to a new page. Bing also has powerful filtering tools for images to make it easier to find just the right image.
  • News search. Bing news search lets you search the latest news from across the Web and receive news alerts.
  • Bing Maps. Bing Maps lets you easily find, discover, plan and share location information, including maps and directions and engaging bird’s-eye,6 3-D and aerial imagery.

Providing Tools to Help You Complete Tasks

Bing was designed to help you make smarter, more informed decisions faster. Bing focuses on four main areas:

  • Shopping. Bing combines many of the shopping features available across the Web into one intuitive and easy-to-use experience. In addition to providing many product search refinement tools, Bing also scans the Web for user and expert reviews, organizes them by product attribute, and then ranks the sentiment in the reviews as either positive or negative. This enables you to filter quickly through lots of information to inform a purchase decision.
  • Travel. BingTravel analyzes billions of pieces of airfare and hotel data to offer you flight Price Predictors and hotel Rate Indicators. Based on science, not marketing, Bing Travel enables you to make smart, well-informed decisions when planning a trip, every time.
  • Local. Today’s search engines don’t always help people make informed decisions about the quality of a restaurant or the best way to contact a local mechanic. Bing presents relevant content including user reviews aggregated from local content sites, hours of operation for local businesses, one-click directions, maps and traffic reports.
  • Health. Bing helps people find health information online. While there is no substitute for the expertise of a trained physician, Bing provides you with easy access to medical information from nine trusted resources to help you make more informed decisions about personal care.

So that’s what microsoft has to say but what about everyone else? Well here’s some quotes of what people have been saying on the web:

  • Gizmodo: “In the automatically generated top links for Gizmodo are months-old links to single posts about the second Bill Gates/Seinfeld ad and leaked box shots of the Zune 16GB and 160GB models. Really?”
  • Ars Technica: “The results for some queries blow my mind: how is it possible that the results can be so preposterously useless? Other times, though, a comparison with the old Live Search shows that Bing obviously has had its algorithm tweaked for the better.”
  • Mashable: “There’s at least three very different versions of Bing right now, and depending on where you are, your Bing experience will be very different. It’s a very weird decision from Microsoft, bound to cause a lot of confusion, but hey: it’s the Microsoft way.”
  • Technologizer: “Bing attempts to differentiate itself from what Steve Ballmer would call “the market leader” in search by focusing on helping users with four common action-oriented search tasks: making a purchase, planning a trip, researching a health condition and finding a local business.”
  • ReadWriteWeb: “The main difference between the two search engines is that Bing offers more options on the left, including special sections for symptons, medication, children, etc. It also offers ‘related searches’, which with health-related searches is typically helpful … With Google you can get more options too, but you have to click “Show Options…” – which we’re not sure how many users do.”

For more info, here are some interesting links:

Press Releases
Reviewer’s Guides
Fact Sheets

Community Sites

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Posted By: Darren Straight
Last Edit: 02 Jul 2009 @ 08:42 PM

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Microsoft Live Labs Thumbtack

 
 20 Jan 2009 @ 9:00 PM 

Microsoft Live Labs Thumbtack is an easy way to save links, photos, and anything else you can find on bunch of different Web sites to a single place.  Grab the stuff you want, put it into a Thumbtack collection, then get to it from anywhere you can get online.  Share it with your friends, or just keep it for yourself. It’s way easier than sending a bunch of links in an e-mail, and even easier than setting lots of favorites in your browser. 

Let’s say you’re trying to find an apartment and your roommate isn’t sitting next to you.  You could send a lot of links in an e-mail, and even attach some photos.  But that’s not going to show her everything at once—she’d have to click each link and go back and forth among the windows.  Instead, you could save every apartment to a single Thumbtack collection— pictures, prices and your own comments about what you like about each one—and then send a single URL to her.  She opens your collection and bam, all the information she needs is right in front of her, all in one place. 

The Bookmarklet makes it even easier to add to your collections–you can do it with just a click.  Plus Thumbtack has gadgets, like the address gadget that will automatically find the address of items in your collection and show you a map of exactly where that place is.  

Access it at: http://thumbtack.livelabs.com/

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Posted By: Darren Straight
Last Edit: 20 Jan 2009 @ 09:00 PM

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The A-Z Alphabet Search Query May 2008

 
 28 May 2008 @ 3:51 PM 

Ever wonderd what website or page would be at the top of a search query list if you typed a single letter of the alphabet into a search engine? Probably not! But hey I wonderd for you, so here’s my results:

Live Search (United States)

Yahoo! Search (United States)

Google Search (United States)

After some research I came across the following page which also talk about these kind of results in more detail: The Google Alphabet – Search Engine Watch

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Posted By: Darren Straight
Last Edit: 28 May 2008 @ 11:27 PM

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Join a new Windows Live user community

 
 27 May 2008 @ 11:01 PM 

Just noticed this post on the Windows Live Messenger Blog:

We here at Windows Live love to create software that makes keeping in touch with your personal community fun and exciting. If you love to chat on Windows Live Messenger, use Windows Live Writer to post to your Windows Live Spaces page and post photos from Windows Live Photo Gallery then we have just the community for you.

We are looking for people to share their stories, tips or tricks, or product reviews of Windows Live with others. We’ll show the world what amazing things you can do with Windows Live.

You can start by taking this quick survey so we know where to get you plugged in.

Thanks for being part of our Windows Live community!

And there’s also this one on the Windows Live Hotmail Blog:

We’re looking for people who love using Windows Live products. More importantly, we’re looking for those of you who would like to share your experiences on Windows Live with others.

This is your chance to help build a community from the ground up. We’d like to showcase for the world the best of what you do on Windows Live. If you have stories, tips or tricks, or product reviews you would like to share with our entire Windows Live audience, we’d like to hear from you.

If you’re interested, take this short survey so we can find the best way to get you involved.

Thanks for participating!

Marty Collins
Community Manager for Windows Live

clip_image001

 

 

So yeah if you’re interested in joining a new offical Windows Live user community, then you know what to do, take the survey! ;)

Not much hidden info can be getherd from the survey, except it’s title is “MSFT Live Pre-Launch ID Survey”, shall be looking forward to what comes out of this!

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Posted By: Darren Straight
Last Edit: 27 May 2008 @ 11:03 PM

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Open signup for Dropbox Beta Invites

 
 24 May 2008 @ 10:06 PM 

Here’s a little present for all those of you out there that like to beta test web apps and such before they come out, the link below is an open signup beta invite link for Dropbox, the online storage site which let’s you synchronise your files and folders with your desktop computer.

http://www.getdropbox.com/beta/go

Of course if you love Microsoft :) or not :(  then don’t forget theres Windows Live FolderShare too! ;)

http://www.foldershare.com/clientdownload.aspx

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Posted By: Darren Straight
Last Edit: 24 May 2008 @ 10:06 PM

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