Microsoft to Open Its Online Gaming Service to Windows Users
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Xbox Live, Microsoftâs gaming network that serves some six million Xbox users, is scheduled to be opened to PC gamers on May 8.
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Microsoft Corp.  introduced two  new online services to its Windows Live line-up on Tuesday and  said it plans to release more Web offerings this year to beef  up its Internet strategy.
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MSN, Microsoft Corp.'s  Web  portal, said on Tuesday it will make a big push to stream live  concerts to its users after signing an exclusive global  partnership with Control Room, the company behind the web  broadcast of last year's Live 8 event.
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Microsoft officially launches a set of tools that it hopes will become a kind of YouTube for videogames.
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Microsoft Corp. introduced two new  online services to its Windows Live line-up on Tuesday and said  it plans to release more Web offerings this year to beef up its  Internet strategy.
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To make amends for trouble over the holidays, Microsoft will offer Xbox Live users a free game from Xbox Live Arcade.
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Microsoft is launching an online video-sharing service to compete with YouTube.
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Microsoft is hoping its Web-based TV service will attract ageing users to surf the Internet, read e-mail and view digital photos - all without a computer.
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With the next-generation console battle about to heat up for the holidays, Microsoft Corp. is hoping that going wireless will help draw in consumers to its Xbox 360 system.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft is using the same tactic for its online services that made its Internet Explorer browser ubiquitous among Internet users. With new beta technology it's releasing Wednesday, Microsoft is tying its Windows Live services directly to its Windows OS. A new unified installer for Windows Live services will help users download Wednesday's updates of photo-sharing, mail, instant messaging, online safety, and other services, the company said on its Windows Live Wire blog. The new installer also will automatically update those services on Windows Vista and XP going forward. "This new suite of applications is a new way that we can make connecting, communicating, and sharing anywhere a terrific experience on your Windows PC," according to a blog post by Chris Jones, vice president of the Windows Live team at Microsoft. "Together with our Web services, we have a complete suite that combines the best of the Web and the best of Windows and works the way you want." As Microsoft tries to catch up to rivals Google and Yahoo in building out a portfolio of online services so it can sell more advertising, it's no surprise the company is tying those services to what remains its most popular product, Windows. Most people probably don't need more than one set of free online services just as they don't need more than one browser, and the strength of tying IE to Windows was that people used the browser over Netscape just because it was there. But what worked for IE may not work so well in the world of Web 2.0, where things move much faster than they did 10 years ago. When Microsoft cut the frequency of IE upgrades and enhancements, customers became restless for a better product; enter the Mozilla Firefox browser two years ago, which now has a nice niche for itself. Microsoft also is fighting two well-respected and entrenched competitors that started their businesses on the Web and have loyal followings in their own right. Creating user-friendly Web-based clients for everyday applications also is more complicated than creating a browser --Â and not so easily commoditized, said Matt Rosoff, analyst with Directions on Microsoft. "With Internet services, there is a lot more differentiation possible," he said. Using the Windows Live unified installer also is still an option -- not a requirement -- of the OS, so the services are not as tightly linked to Windows as IE was, Rosoff said. While he would not be surprised if Microsoft eventually made integration between the OS and Windows Live services even tighter, the company must be wary of inciting the antitrust gods with such a move. "They have to be careful with that sort of thing," Rosoff said. In addition to tying Windows Live to Windows, Microsoft also added new features to specific services in Wednesday's beta refreshes. Windows Live Photo Gallery now allows users to share photos directly on its Windows Live Spaces social networking site and its Soapbox on MSN Video video-sharing service, the company said. It also enables people to import photos from digital cameras and have them automatically organized into events based on date and time within the service. In other enhancements, Windows Live Messenger 8.5 includes additions to security and performance, while the Windows Live OneCare Family Safety update extends support to its Mail, Messenger, and Spaces services. More information about the updates and the ability to download them is available on Microsoft's Windows Live services Web site.
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The US software giant Microsoft said it would launch its Internet search service on Thursday amid the fierce competition with rival Google.
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SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. is hoping to tap the explosive popularity of online video sharing by joining startups and major Internet rivals with its own video service.
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The new version of Windows is about to make its debut for businesses. Here's what you can expect.
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Microsoft Corp. is hoping to tap the explosive popularity of online video sharing by joining startups and major Internet rivals with its own video service.
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Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said the next version of Microsoft Office will give users new ways to access their applications online.
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Internet services are expected to team up against Microsoft in a Tuesday announcement.
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Higgins-project developers are creating a tool equivalent to Windows CardSpace but need Microsoft's go-ahead for certain features.