See this photo:

Instead of multiple user tiles and two check boxes per account (one for “Remember me” and one for “Remember my password”), now there is a streamlined page focused on one account and one check box to “Keep me signed in”.

Why has the sign-in screen been simplified? Eric Doerr, Group Program Manager for Windows Live ID, explains:

• Changing trends in device ownership: As more people bought laptops and smartphones (which tend to be used by just one person), we heard more feedback that the tiles just got in the way, and what people really wanted to do was to just get to the service without interruption. We knew from our telemetry that fewer than 2% of users were using the tiles, but 100% of our users were interrupted by them in the old design.
• Consolidation on a primary account: Increasingly, customers are consolidating their Windows Live usage into one primary account. It used to be common for one person to have multiple accounts. As we’ve integrated Windows Live ID across other products like Xbox, Windows Phone, SkyDrive, and Office –the core account has become more valuable, and it’s become less necessary to switch between accounts.

In a future post, I will highlight easy solutions to common problems now arising, such as:

• My Windows Live password used to be stored in a tile. Now I don’t remember it.
• How can I manage multiple Windows Live IDs?

Wave 5, being the code name for the upcoming Windows Live version, is being developed at Microsoft right now—simultaneously with Windows 8. That is no coincidence. In the future, Windows and the Live services will cooperate even tighter.

For one year, Windows Live has been part of Microsoft’s Windows division. This shows how important the Web and data in the cloud are for Windows 8. According to a report by the news service WinBeta, Windows Live Wave 5 is currently in Milestone 2 stage, and parts that are already done are being integrated in Windows 8. More news about the cloud features in Windows 8 are sure to come out next week on the Worldwide Partner Conference. And then, there’s still the BUILD conference in September 2011 (formerly known as PDC).

Especially with synchronizing and storing data in the cloud using your Windows Live ID, Windows 8 will work for you. According to the current plans, features from SkyDrive and Windows Live Mesh are going to be built right into the operating system. I am looking forward which additional new Windows Live services are presented soon.

The micro-blogging service Twitter will make its comeback to Windows Live within 2011. This is what the developer beta for Windows Phone Codename “Mango” indicates.

Damaster, contributing to the Windows Live news site LiveSide, found out:

Today while I was setting up my Windows Phone “Mango” beta and see if I could add my Twitter account to my phone, I was greeted with this dialogue: “To add Twitter on your phone, you’ll need to connect it to your Windows Live account.”

We may conclude that Twitter will be available for Windows Live this fall, when Windows Phone Mango is shipping.

As Twitter changed their privacy policy back in summer 2010, the service connection to Windows Live had been removed. When the Windows Live team re-adds Twitter, advanced features like retweeting and replies will be available as well.

While my MVP award won’t get renewed for July 2011, it has been an amazing year with the Windows Live team and my Co-MVPs. The past months pushed me to the first seat row. I was able to get behind news in Windows Live quickly and efficiently. Having our monthly LiveMeetings was a perfect opportunity for me, for example.

I am still a Windows Live insider and following anything that’s happening to Wave 5 and beyond.
Thanks for an amazing year with you all!

Microsoft expert Mary-Jo Foley explains that the fifth wave of the Windows Live services is due in 2012 the earliest. In this wave, Hotmail could get revamped with HTML5-specific features too. For example, the Hotmail team is planning to support Offline storage.

If Microsoft makes full use of this technology, you would no longer need any separate e-mail client, as Hotmail would work even when you’re offline, offering you access to the messages already downloaded. This new HTML5-based Hotmail is said to replace Windows Live Mail as free e-mail client by Windows Live.

The introduction of Internet Explorer 9 was the start for a HTML5 initiative. The slogan “Beauty of the web” helps to understand the possibilities that web developers have thanks to the new HTML standard. Internet Explorer 9 is advertised as ideal platform for these features, as it was developed for Windows and supports native HTML5 applications.

With sticking to a standard that is supported by all browser manufacturers, Microsoft takes the correct direction. HTML5 definitely makes web developing easier. With their own services, Microsoft is becoming a model, after ignoring most web standards in the previous decade.

As opposed to the secure and rich-media messages that you can send with Hotmail, notes and private messages did not offer much functionality. So, these features were not used by many users, except for spammers, as usage analytics for the past time revealed.

Chances are slim that we will get any detailed information about Windows Live Wave 5 on the upcoming MIX11 conference. Internal documents reveal more than what’s published for the public. Yet.

As Microsoft is pushing toward Cloud Computing for many web services, the next logical step is to bring the richness of Windows applications to the Web. This is why you will be able to run the Windows Live Essentials 2012 (Wave 5) applications directly from the Web.  

Imagine editing videos with Movie Maker, tagging your friends in Photo Gallery, writing blog posts with Writer — from any computer, right inside your Windows Live account.   The Essentials installer will be trimmed down to create some Windows-integrated shortcuts in the Start menu and Quick launch bar (IE9-pinned sites…).  Harrison Hoffman, Product Manager for Windows Live, says:

I would like to see Windows Live continue to work with more web services to build in deep integration, like we’ve done with Active Views in Hotmail or Facebook in Photo Gallery/Movie Maker and Messenger.  That’s the kind of stuff that really shines for me.

The development version of the Windows Live website reveals how the Windows Live team is progressing on making this possible.  This is what Movie Maker looks like in this internal Web currently:

The technique that is used to bring the Essentials applications to the Web is — you guessed it — Microsoft Silverlight.  Silverlight allows to access the host computer’s graphics card, which is essential to edit videos or make possible the effects used in the user interface.  It also grants access to your local disk, so you can edit files from your computer, even while the actual Essentials app is running in the Cloud.

Windows Live Writer is one of the programs currently in the process of being ported to the Web.  John Thornton, Lead Program Manager for Windows Live Writer, says:

Until now, folks had to set up Writer on each and every computer that they use.   In Wave 5, you’ll just need to sign in to your Windows Live account with your web browser and launch any Essentials app you need, for example Writer.  Your blog account and editing settings will already be there — regardless of which computer you are using to launch the app.  We’re currently looking into how to make possible to run plug-ins that extend Writer’s functionality, in the cloud.

Please note that the shown screenshots don’t have any new features included yet.  The development team is still working on implementing the feature set planned for Windows Live Wave 5.

What do you think about this news?

Update: Please remember that this post was published on April 1.

I am using Messenger 2011 with multiple endpoints signed in (MPOP). When I sign out on one endpoint or close a chat window there, it gets closed on all other endpoints as well. Is there a switch (registry or so?) to disable this behavior?

Here’s the explanation and answer. I thought I’d share it with you because it is interesting:

From Messenger 2011, you can choose to sign out from only the current location, or all other endpoints. Chat windows on the other hand are closed across all online endpoints. There is no switch to disable this behavior. But there is an option in the “History” category to “show my last conversation in new conversation windows”. This should let you resume a conversation from a new endpoint if it was closed from another.

After the closing date, you will not be able to browse nor open any of the existing spaces anymore. If you had a Windows Live Space, you cannot access its contents after this date.

You want to backup your data? Remember that until March 16, you can still make use of the Windows Live + WordPress.com partnership and transfer all your Spaces content to a fresh WordPress.com blog. Find transfer instructions at Windows Live.

Of course it is also possible to download the contents from Windows Live Spaces, and it is as easy as transferring it.

What you can expect by moving to WordPress.com

All of your posts, comments, and links will transfer, and you will have the option to share your blogging updates with your Messenger friends.

On WordPress.com, you’ll get tools to help you track how your blog is doing and who’s visiting. You’ll get tagging that enables people to find you, and for you to find like-minded people. It includes great blog comment functionality, and trackback spam prevention to help keep your experience clean. Check out more.

Thanks for using Windows Live and we hope you enjoy the new blogging experience.

Sincerely,

The Windows Live team

On the presentation slides, you could read known brands like Windows Live, Windows 7, Xbox, Bing and Office. However, according to the Microsoft expert Paul Thurrott, Zune wasn’t left out coincidentally. According to this idea, the offers marketed under the “Zune” brand will get transitioned to Windows Live.

My sources tell me that the Zune brand is on the way out and that all Zune products and services will be moved into other businesses, including Windows Live. Zune will essentially cease to exist under this plan.

This rumor is similar to some recent developments in the internal Zune team structure. The employees were divided into separate hardware and software teams. Opposite to Zune, the “Windows Live” brand had success in establishing, and is actively promoted by Microsoft.

However, these rumors were silenced for the moment, with an official statement by the Zune team on Facebook. This is what they say:

We’re not ‘killing’ any of the Zune services/features in any way. Microsoft remains committed to providing a great music and video experience from Zune on platforms such as Xbox LIVE, Windows-based PCs, Zune devices and Windows Phone 7, as well as integration with Bing and MSN.

It remains to be seen how long this applies, and how extensive this statement is to be taken.

Since several months, the Zune marketplace is open for European users, and central part of Windows Phone 7. Until now, Microsoft did not invest any money to make Zune better known in Europe. In the U.S., the brand is much better known. This is related to the Zune multimedia player, concurring with Apple’s iPod.

Thereby, we see three major points: Connecting to Social Media got stronger, future-proof steps toward Cloud Computing were made, and connected with these two, the Wave 4 updates for all Windows Live services and Essentials.

Wave 4

The first half of the year was dominated by Wave 4, the fourth development wave of the Windows Live services.

With this update, the Windows Live team focused efficiently on selected products: Messenger, Hotmail and Photo Gallery were much revamped and enhanced, Office Web Apps were developed from scratch.

Social Networking

Since the beginning of this year, Windows Live is active on Facebook and Twitter as well. In the meantime, many thousand fans use the provided offers to inform themselves or exchange Windows Live news.

With this focus, Windows Live reached out to more partners from the social networking sector, e.g. with Facebook and LinkedIn. The intended goal is not to be the best in all sectors, but to offer the best features in Microsoft’s central tasks. Partnerships are a way to shorten your ways on the web and to provide you with existing offers that you already use, now connected with Windows Live.

For instance, Windows Live Messenger 2011 puts the focus more on social networks. Using the new social networking view, you can follow all updates from your favorite services from one central location. In the new Windows Live Hotmail, the one click filter “News from social networks” helps you to remove clutter in your inbox.

Cloud Computing

In Photo Gallery and Movie Maker, it got much easier to share your fresh Photofused images, your slideshows or movies with your friends on social networks. Windows Live Skydrive gives you great flexibility — from numerous devices with Web access, you can upload and backup your data from wherever you are, share them with your friends, send them to collaborate with your colleagues or publish them to the public.

For the new year, Windows Live is again preparing various enhancements and news for you — Happy New Year!

• July 2010
  • On July 1, 2010, I found an e-mail in my inbox having the subject: “Congratulations 2010 Microsoft MVP!” I got awarded with the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Live expertise, and I took great delight from getting to know this.
  • The Windows 8 documents leaked by a HP employee have consequences on people spreading the leaks. Among others, some Live Spaces are closed.
• August 2010
  • The new Hotmail Wave 4 version is now enabled for all users worldwide. It introduces features like Sweep, Active Views and viewing messages in conversations.
  • Windows Live Essentials gets a new beta refresh. It adds correct Gmail handling to Live Mail as well as Facebook Chat to Messenger.
• September 2010
  • The public Internet Explorer 9 beta starts after 5 Technical Previews. The user interface has been renewed and made much sleeker.
  • Both the emergency service Microsoft Vine and the notification system Windows Live Alerts are shutting down.
  • The Windows Live team announces its partnership with WordPress.com to transition all Windows Live Spaces until March 2011, including automatic content migration.
  • On September 30, 2010, Windows Live Essentials 2011 is released, supporting Windows Vista and Windows 7.

• October 2010
  • In the Windows Live Messenger for iPhone app, more languages, support for iOS 4 and Facebook Chat are added.
  • Messenger Plus! 4.9 is published as intermediary update with limited support for Messenger 2011.
• November 2010
  • Google Streetview launches in Germany for the 20 most important cities. The first village to get Streetview is the Bavarian Oberstaufen.
  • You can now use Hotmail with your own e-mail address, using POP3 aggregation.
  • Facebook Messages attempts to reinvent messaging regardless of its source – email, SMS or web messaging.
  • mynetx.net interviews Harrison Hoffman, Evangelism Product Manager at Microsoft, about his personal thoughts regarding Windows Live.
• December 2010
  • The whistle-blower website Wikileaks keeps appearing in the news. For 2011, publications concerning major U.S. banks are already announced.
  • The antivirus solution Microsoft Security Essentials gets updated to version 2.0.
  • Monster.com and Orbitz are the first partners to launch Active Views inside your Hotmail inbox. They are running sandboxed Javascript to provide dynamic contents while you don’t have to leave the inbox.

Summarizing 2010, how has Windows Live developed in the past year? What were the major focuses for the development team? I will shed some light on this tomorrow.

I’m sure that in the past weeks, you have noted a message like the following appear when you tried to access your Space:

This message gives you the overview about your possible options. You may also download your posts and images from your Space in order to avoid losing your stuff when Spaces closes in spring.

Windows Live Writer is one of the first applications of the Essentials suite to enter the planning phase for its next release, called “Wave 5.” Now is the time to get involved into the plannings and add your ideas, wishes and bug reports, so the development team can integrate them into their plannings.

This is a call for ideas regarding Windows Live Writer. Consider the following two points:

1. Think about a feature that any Windows Live Writer blogger might find useful. Such as: “Posting to Tumblr.”
2. Now think about a wish that you personally would love to see integrated into the application. Such as: “Add a dictionary to look up words while writing.”

Please enter your ideas as comments below this original post.

On December 14, 2010, the Windows Live team has introduced a new subdomain of Live.com, featuring plug-ins for Windows Live Essentials. For example, you can find extensions for Windows Live Writer or Photo Gallery. These additional programs add new features to the applications. The name of the new site is plugins.live.com.

The process of adding your plugins to the directory has changed somewhat apparently, according to the Developer Information page. Instead of having to host the plugin files themselves, developers now have the choice of emailing the .msi files to Windows Live, who will then host and promote the plugins (or developers can choose to continue to self-host on SkyDrive and just send a link. The developer page has more information on the particulars of how to get your plugins listed.