‘Web 2.0’ Articles:

Windows Live … me too … me too

November 3rd, 2005 by jeremychone | Comments Off

Microsoft live me too me too

  1. Me (I) too … can blog about Windows Live.
  2. Me (Microsoft) too … can do AJAX Online Service.

TechCrunch has good profiles on Windows Live and Office Live.

Overall, "Microsoft Live" is cool for the Web. Microsoft even claims they will support Mozilla Firefox.

If you are a Mozilla Firefox user trying to access www.live.com, you will read:
Firefox Users. Firefox support is coming soon. Please be patient.
Microsoft Live will support Firefox

This is a good acknowledgment of the Mozilla Firefox browser ;)

Here is my quick take on Windows and Office Live:

Technical Side:

  • At first glance, although Windows Live is a cool AJAX application, it has nothing really revolutionary (at the exception of VoIP). Windows Live looks like a cool AJAX web portal. I am sure my.yahoo.com is working on something similar. And, this is definitely the direction the Web is headed.
  • The User Experience is pretty good for Web 2.0 geeks, but really scarce for the end-user (sisters, mothers, etc). Definitely a beta.
  • It will be interesting to see how Microsoft’s "Gadgets" evolves. Today, it seems very basic to say the least. I have tried the Flickr Viewer gadgets, and it is a good start.

Business Side:

  • I think their “Advertising-based business story” seems to be a lure, allowing them to fully get into the Web 2.0 game without getting busted by Wall Street. Google did a good job at reinventing the online advertising business, but I am not sure there is as much money as Microsoft claims.
  • However, I do think their subscription model, principally on Office Live, will be interesting to see.
  • It is also interesting to see the early stage of this service. Many things are very basic and still under construction (i.e. Gadgets). This Web 2.0 is pressuring all companies (even big ones) to quickly come out with cool Web2.0 stuff, even if they are fra from complete. The thought is that you just need to add the magic Beta stamp, and it is good to go.