I recently got upgraded to the “New” version of Hotmail.

I’ve been scanning the blogs over the past couple weeks. All I’ve been seeing is hotmail bashing and hating. I say… they don’t know what their talking about.

Here is what the new Hotmail looks like.

  What's all the hate about…? It mainly seems to stem from Hotmail not rendering pages correctly in web browsers. So far i’ve had no problems with the upgraded Hotmail. I will say that it is much much faster then the older version.  So I really have no idea what everyone is having problems with.

Fresh & clean are the two words I think of when it comes to Hotmail’s UI. It falls in line with all the rest of the “Wave 3” releases. I really like the way Microsoft is going with these newer releases.

So leave a comment if you having problems with Hotmail… I’m not.

How many people know how use the networking features in Windows? (besides all the geeks out there)

I can tell you that very very few use the networking features in windows to their fullest extent.  The “Network and sharing center” in Windows Vista was a huge step forward. However users still largely ignored the network features.

In Windows 7, Microsoft has created a feature that everyone can use. Titled “Homegroups” , this feature allow for anyone to make a group of computers and devices on a home network.

The screen you see above is the Homegroup screen that is currently in the (6801) build of windows 7.

Homegroups makes it really really easy to share files and folders across local networks insanely easy.

All you have to do is click on one of the options in the sub list, and you folder or file is shared with your homegroup.

This works great for all different file types. I love using it for streaming high-def video around my network. I can’t wait to see how Microsoft develops this feature.

Before I get started let me just say one thing, I’ve used Vista since it was in beta form (longhorn). I’ve loved (almost) every moment of it. Vista is a much better system then most people make it out to be. My honest belief is that is was not Microsoft fault that Vista had so many problems at launch. I believe that the hardware manufactures  & driver suppliers is what caused the blow up. That said, i’m very glad that Microsoft is learning from Vista’s past & moving on to new and better things.

On to Windows 7, The build that I have been playing around with is the one that was handed out and PDC 2008 (6801).  I was a little hesitant to install it, remembering all the driver nightmares I had with longhorn. My fears where unfounded though, after the install process completed. I was greeted by the desktop with not driver issue in sight

Something some of you may notice is the taskbar at the bottom. The New “Awesome” bar is not turned on be default in build 6801. You can enable it by following the steps here.

One of the major issues with Vista, was the amount of time it took to boot up. Even on majorly geeked out computers such as mine (quad core\ 6GB ram). I am happy to report that this has been remedied in 7. I did a rough timing test on boot up, it came out about 25-30 secs. Much much better then the 1-2 minute boot up for the same computer running Vista. You can start clicking on Icons as soon as the desktop shows up. Microsoft as said that it has accomplished a 15 second boot up running a new build of Windows 7.

For a pre-beta release, Windows 7 is looking very good. I’ve been using it as my primary OS for a few days now. I haven't seen any of the Freezes, Crashes or Conflicts that I did in Vista. I’m going to wager that this the most stable beta ever to come out of Redmond.

I’ll continue posting as I dive deeper into Windows 7, I’l leave you with a few more screenshots.

“Awesome Bar” Grouping

Libraries (aka Win-FS)

Yesterday I got a nice surprise in the mail, The Sprint Branded version of the HTC Touch Diamond. As one of the sexiest devices running Windows Mobile I am very excited to try it out.

Thanks to Noah @ www.Phonedog.com for giving me a chance to check out this phone!

You Can see his Video & written review for the Diamond @ the links below.

http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-videos/sprint-touch-diamond-full-review-part-1.aspx

http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-videos/sprint-touch-diamond-full-review-part-2.aspx

http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-reviews/htc-touch-diamond/at-a-glance-198634.aspx

I now have the complete Windows\Microsoft ecosystem, From Vista to Win Mo right down to Zune & Xbox. The Coolest part about using this phone is that I can now take the awesome Windows Live experience with me wherever I go. 

So far The Diamond has proved to be an excellent companion whither on the road or @ work. It runs on Sprint’s High Speed 3G network. Which I luckily live a coverage area for. The Diamond is great for anyone who wants to make Windows Mobile more user friendly. It also improves Win-Mo’s “Touchabilty” ( I am so trade marking that word). You rarely ever have to pull out the included stylus. One of the only things I would change would be the on screen keyboard (its a bit cramped). But this point in negated by the fact that Sprint offers the Touch Diamond’s sibling, The Touch Pro… Which offers a full slide out keyboard.

Being a windows mobile phone, the Diamond offers Windows Live apps that make keeping in touch with your friends easy and free. Also just yesterday Microsoft announced Live mesh for mobile. Which has the potential to be awesome in the near future.

So if you are looking for a new Windows Mobile Phone, Give the Touch Diamond & Touch Pro a lookie. I also hear gossip that these two phones are heading to the other major carriers (AT&T & Verizon) so there will be a network for anyone… even though Verizon rocks Sprint’s & AT&T’s socks when it comes to network coverage :P

Thanks again to Phonedog & Noah for letting me check out this great phone!

My life has been crazy busy lately, I’ve been running back and forth between two Jobs, Doing a ton of design work..etc..etc.

I have new title and new responsibilities as an editor for Phonedog.com, which is awesome by the way. Working for phonedog is soooo much more fun then working @ my day job. There is even a chance that I may get travel to some of the bigger phone shows! That is awesome, because I’ve wanted a job where I can travel around the country.

I also had the pleasure of recording a podcast with Marcus of the windows Live team. That should be up shortly on his space.   

Right now I am engrossed by all the happenings of PDC & am very happy that Live mesh is going beta!!! So stick around this blog once the Live mesh update hits later this week and I’ll tell you all about it.

PS: if anyone @ Microsoft wants to slip me a copy of Widows 7… I would be most grateful  ;)  

These days you are always hearing something about “Cloud Based” services

Live Mesh has a little identity problem… Its not quite sure what it wants to be when it grows up. On one hand it is almost an “cloud OS”. On the other hand, it is an awesome way to keep your myriad of computers & devices synced up! But no matter what it career path it chooses, it will still be awesome.

As it stands right this minute, Live Mesh is the best syncing and remote desktop there out there. Having tried most of the remote desktop services (go to my pc, pc anywhere…etc…etc) None of them come even close to Live mesh ease of use.

That is the main screen for Live Mesh in your web browser, which shows all of the devices on your “ring”. I am the techy in my family, so all those computers belong to my family & extended family. That connect button allows you to connect to that computer like I was sitting in front of it. This allows me to help my family with tech support issues, even though I live 2 hours from home.

You also get 5 GB of online storage for your “Live Desktop”

Here you can store any file you want, Plus you can sync “down” from the cloud to any of the devices that belong to your mesh. You can also run Live Mesh right from you desktop once you have it installed.

Sync folders across your mesh is very easy, Live Mesh Integrates it self into the windows explorer shell. So all you have to do is right click on the item you want to add to your mesh.

After you do that, it will be automatically be added to your Live desktop, within seconds!

  You can even pick which you devices you want the folder to sync to.

Live Mesh is currently in “Tech Preview” which is MS’s fancy word for pre-beta.  But if this in only the pre-beta, what can we expect in the full release? It blows my mind to even think about what MS is cooking up.

If you want to try out the Live Mesh goodness, head on over to

www.mesh.com

enjoy!

Photo Gallery does a lot of things right, But one of the things I like best  is the quick, easy and powerful edting.

Most photo sorting programs have built in editing tools. But to be honest.. Most of them are ether way to simple, or just plan junk.  Photo Gallery strikes a nice balance between Powerful & easy to use. For hardcore editing Photoshop is still the ideal tool.. but for quick and easy editing,Photo Gallery is awesome.

To get started just select the photo you want from the gallery.

the select the “fix” tab from the top menu

You will now have a bunch of options on the right hand side of the photo.

This Photo need is a little washed out & needs to be cropped. Click on the crop icon and then drag and drop that grey box that appears until you are satisfied with the results.

Now that we have it cut down to size, lets work on the color.

Photo Gallery also provides a quick “auto adjust” button in case you don’t want to mess around with each setting.

Now lets compare the two photos.

This was just a small sample of what photo gallery can do. I’ve found it can rescue the pictures that you thought where too bad to be saved.

Check out for yourself!

My desktop was in need of an update, so I whipped something quick. They turned out so good, I thought I would share them,

I’ve included some flickr links to the full size, for anyone who wants use them as desktops.

enjoy

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/2910728947_c733065939_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/2910729177_21e996493e_o.jpg

At Long last… & I do Mean LONG last, Zune Is making it’s first foray into the phone market.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed today in an interview that a Zune “experience” will be showing up Windows Mobile phones. It’s about time… Steve offered not a hint of a timeline. I would hazard a guess that it will arrive long before, Windows Mobile 7 Shows Up.

You know what the best part about this is… Unlike a certain other phone maker. This “App” will run on any Win-Mo phone, on any carrier that it happens to be on. So the possibilities are endless & predict that this is only the tip of the iceberg. I’m still holding out for a dedicated Zune Phone, We know you want to MS, so just do it!

Read more here,

     http://zunited.net/index.php/topic,5490.0.html

Something interesting I found today, When You have multiple Linked Live ID’s online such as I do. I have one for my main ID and another for my brand new hotmail address (Is there anyway to combine Live ID’s?). When you switch from one to the other online… It switches your desktop clients too. So If I’m signed in to my main ID while I update my Live Space, And then switch to my hotmail ID. It will sign me in on my desktop version of Messenger, Writer..etc..etc as my linked ID.

Cool stuff & just one more way Windows Live makes connecting you digital life easier.

Quick, what's the difference between “web apps” & just plain apps?

Besides web apps being in the “cloud”, There is one key difference between them.  When a developer creates a product for use on the desktop. They create a program that contains a .exe file and the supporting files. The end user downloads a “static” program ( non-dynamic). When the developer wants to update the program. they must make the needed tweaks & post the full program online for the end user to re-download.

Now imagine, if developers could create dynamic apps. Anytime an update would be needed, it could be delivered quickly & discreetly.

How it would work,

Every time you would log in to any of the “Live” services, any updates would be silently installed in the background.  Sort of the way webmasters would update a website.  You wouldn’t be prompted to install anything, just like surfing the web. This way Live could roll out much more frequent updates. It would also allow for quick bug fixes, just fix it in the background. Apps would check for updates anytime they where connected to the web. However, it not work like Windows Update, where the user has to manually check for and apply updates.

Why would this be good for Window’s Live?

Messenger,Photo Gallery, Writer..etc..ect could all benefit from this.  MS could catch and fix bugs or add updates, in half the amount of time it currently takes. It would also make sure all the users are using the same version of the app. Also since MS has confirmed that Windows Live will be replacing, Windows’s built in tools In the Upcoming Windows 7. It would send the adoption rate for WL through the roof.

Enough of what I think… What do you think?

The Zune Social came back online today earlier then expected. Even during the short “blackout”, I got the idea of how iPod users feel like.

I’ve always taken Zune’s social networking aspects for granted. After using it for 2 years, I’ve been accustomed to getting song ideas from my online friends. So I’m always checking up on their Zunecards to see if there's anything good. 50%-60% of my library was built around my friends. How many iPod users can say that? Huh, Huh?

People (iSheep) always get all up in arms when you start talking about the Zune’s social elements. “It doesn’t have a web browser or touch screen, So it sucks.”  I have a touch screen phone that has a great browser, and I need a Browser on my MP3 player…..?

So it all boils down to, Zune is for people who love music. And that want to connect with other people who do also.  All I know is that I’m happy with my Zune and its current features. Anything above and beyond that? I’ll take it as it comes.

PS: I am so, trade marking “iSheep” 

I’ve been using Window Live Photo Gallery, for little while now. It is a HUGE upgrade over the old one. The feature set is well developed & most of them are very useful. Like all beta’s there is some room for improvement. So check out my suggestions.

Auto-Tagging

I love the “people”  tags in WL Gallery, just take it one step farther and you would have a killer feature. Have some sort of algorithm that would “learn”. The people in your pictures. It would tag them as you imported them right from the camera. It would also scan your current library & suggest tags. That way you “teach” it who the people are.

Batch Editing

This is simple, allow users to select a group of pictures to edit. Currently you can only edit one at a time.

Visual Photo Search

A more visual way to search for photos. Would be very helpful for people like me, who have ton of pictures. The ultimate ideal would be something like this.

What you see above is the “Cooliris” plug-in for IE & firefox. It allows users to search certain websites in a visual way. I love using it to look through flickr. If MS would adapt this to the desktop client,It would be purely awesome. Just tell the suits upstairs to acquire the company (I kid). http://www.cooliris.com/

That’s enough ideas for one night, if you have any ideas be sure to post them in the comments.

Before I get started, let me say this. I’ve tried the “wave 3” Windows Live toolbar, I liked it. But it is still a work in process. I’ll try again once it gets out of beta. Luckily Microsoft has another toolbar up it’s sleeve, that should catch your eye. The MSN\Window Live toolbar is amazing. Built on Silverlight technology, it looks good as well as being a powerful toolbar.

I don’t usually pay that much attention to MSN. But this toolbar made me sit up and go whoa! It’s simple and easy to use, but it is also a powerful thing to have around. MS would do well to make this the default “Windows Live” toolbar. So what is this toolbar? Its a one click portal to everything you might need on the web. On one hand it’s a quick & easy news source. It’s News source is Microsoft's & Universal’s joint venture  MSNBC. Which is a nice balance between far far left CNN…..& far right Fox News (just had to put that in there). 

A nice touch, when there is a significant news event. The News tab will glow bright red and pulsate until you click it.

Example, when I woke up this morning. It was glowing red, to tell me that Wachovia Bank was being bought out by CITI group. These updates are instant and dynamic. 

It’s a great news toolbar, but flip (literary!!) to its other side and its a portal to Live search from anywhere.

    This feature is killer, unlike Google's toolbar. It allows you to refine you search in any of the above categories.

Of course it wouldn’t be complete with out a link to the online Window’s Live services.

I’ve gotten so used to it, that it is now the only way I click through to spaces\hotmail. The UI is so simple and intuitive that it makes using & getting to Window’s Live a breeze.

Something else I love, The dynamic weather icon you can see in the right hand corner. Press it to bring up your area’s forecast.

As you can see the UI & effects are simply beautiful. You can also view stocks, but who in the right mind would want to do that these days!

So there you have it, an awesome toolbar for IE. This toolbar is free and available from

 http://www.newmsntoolbar.com/

There is one thing that I would add to this toolbar. Spell Check!! add that and I could delete my Google toolbar for good!

Talk about a fast turnaround, Photosynth went from being a Microsoft research project. To a Photo Gallery built in plug-in a few short months.

What is Photosynth?  That I’m not quite sure… It’s a cross of video’s, photo & 3D image’s. Photosynth takes your photos and creates a “3D Scene”. It is based on Microsofts “Silverlight” technology & also based on the “Seadragon” program. Basically all the techno-mumbo creates an awesome experience.

I believe that Microsoft made and awesome choice by including choice by adding a “photosynth” option to  photo gallery. See how to make one below.

1: Go out a take TON of photos of the thing you want to “synth”. Photosynth works best on things that have a lot of texture, not color. So white walls or anything that is one color won’t synth well. To get an good Idea of what works & want does not check out my synths.

2: Load the photos into Live Photo Gallery, and make sure they are all right side up. You can play around all you want with the color and contrast, But don’t crop the photos.

3: Select all the photos and then select “Make photosynth” from the drop down “extras” menu.

I took these photos of a laid-up locomotive at a museum today in my hometown. Which is located here.  http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=qrqqrf8p1fk6&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=27978679&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

After you select the photos, press make photosynth & sit back and relax as your photosynth is created. The time this takes varies greatly depending on your computers specs. Photosynth makes a lot of use of your video card, so a faster card will greatly shorten the time needed.

After the process is complete, you may view your “synth” online. If you don’t have Silverlight you will need to install it, Along with the Photosynth viewer.

I got the above synth to 98% “Synthy” which measures the completeness of the synth.

check it out at the below link.

  http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=ae45beab-e6b1-44ed-9c3c-e3a0d6fc2f42&i=0:0:7&z=419.9064799999999&g=0&p=0:0&m=false&c=0.11103:3.67388:0.0777241&d=-0.443756:1.79707:2.07074

enjoy

Photosynth is free and you can get it at www.photosynth.com

Photo gallery has one of the best panoramic photo makers I’ve ever seen. It is built on Microsoft’s “ICE” technology ( Image Composite Editor) which is extremely powerful. In Live photo galley "stiching" your photos together to make a panoramic is super easy.

First, select the photos you want to use in the pano & select “Make panoramic Photo” from the drop down menu.

Here I’ve selected some photos I took at Universal Studios in Hollywood (That place was amazing!). The awesome part is that, once you start the process. The panoramic is made automatically. On my quad-core desktop it only took a few seconds. My older computer accomplished the task in about 30 sec.

Once its done, you will be presented with the “Raw” pano.

What a perfect day (I so envy all you so-cal-ers!)! as you can see this photo needs to be cropped. Which is available in the “Fix” menu.

There You have it, a fast, fun & FREE way to make awesome panoramics. Just one more reason to try out Windows Live Photo Gallery.

You can also check out all of the other pano’s i’ve made using Photo Gallery, by clicking on the slideshow below. Feel free to use them as desktops or whatever you like.

   
Windows Live Spaces

How many photos do you have on your computer 1,000  ,  10,000 or 100,000? I think I may have around 10,000 on my various external hard drives ( I have 3-4). It’s a daunting task even trying to look through all of them. I use Photoshop for all of the heavy-duty editing, but it is nice to have program that you can easily flip through all of your albums. Just name some of the photo organizing tools available today, I’ve probably used them all. They’ve all had bits & pieces that I liked, but they where always missing something.

Window’s Live brings all the stuff I liked about the others and adds a bunch of other cool stuff. Here is one of the most useful ones.

Facial Tagging: This a life saver when you have 1000’s of photos of people spanning years. Don’t panic if this option does not show up right away when you start Photo gallery. It takes a while for it scan you pictures for the 1st time. After its done scanning you can go through and tag as you like.

After you tag someone, you can sort the files by “People Tag’s"

Facial tagging also allows you to cross reference photos with multiple people in them. So you could look for all the “Andrew” Tags in all of the “Ryan” pictures.

Tell me in the comments if this was helpful.

Earlier this afternoon I received an very short email from Zune. Notifying me that the Zune service would be going down for “ scheduled maintenance” on Monday, September 29, at 12:01 a.m . What so interesting about this? not much.. unless you look across the aisle at MS’s other media powerhouse. That's right Xbox LIVE is going down for “ scheduled maintenance” at the same exact time.  While this is expected (Zune & Xbox LIVE use the same backend servers.) This could signal something else. I’ve always wondered why MS didn’t combine the Zune & Xbox marketplace’s from the start. My best guess as to this “ scheduled maintenance”? I would say MS is testing Zune-Xbox marketplace combination. We may not see anything until Nov, when the “New Xbox Experience” hits. Until then.. Keep you fingers crossed that MS shocks is all with an update soon the expected.

This is awesome… But that picture is so embarrassing. Oh well that's the price of fame, :)

Night & Day, that's the difference between WLM 8.5 & 9.0 Beta.

Even if you took a passing glance at the new WLM you would notice a lot of changes. Most of the time when a product is in beta, you would expect there to be a lot of unfinished features. That is not the case with WLM 9.0. If only all beta’s where this polished.

I’m going to run down my top Five features,

5 Look

WLM underwent a major makeover in the UI department. It’s window now makes full use of Vista’s “Glass”.

It also has some nice eye candy when it comes to the window transition & etc. They are even options for hiding unused toolbars, which give it a nice clean look. You can even set your own custom header, which the person your chatting with will see. Status indicators are also got a revamp. Your Contacts pictures now glow Red, Green Or Yellow. Depending on their status.

4

“High Def” video calling

I’ve used Skype for video calling for a long time, but this release of WLM has made me switch. As it now allows you to make FULL use of your webcam. Skype has “High def” video. But they have crippled it by locking it. By only allowing Logitech webcams to use it. WLM allows you to use any webcam you want.

3 “What’s new feed”

This feature has the most potential, as it can be expanded in the future. This feed allows you to keep updated when you friends make updates to their space or upload a new file to skydrive.  I think in the future it will be able to interface with the Zune software. So your friends can see when you make a new playlist or etc..

2

Photo sharing

Photo sharing has been updated, & I love it!! it is now totally dynamic & real-time. When you share a photo it is 10X faster then before.

You also see the photo at the same time the you friend does. Which make the process even more social.

1

WLM is only in beta! So it only means, it gets better from here. So I will be anxiously awaiting the next update. Keep up the good work WLM team!