HelpWithWindows Newsletter

01. Microsoft Launches Windows Live Hotmail

by Arie Slob

Hello Windows users,

Early this week Microsoft announced the availability of Windows Live Hotmail, the successor to the company's popular MSN Hotmail Web-based email service. Hotmail has been around since 1996 and according to Microsoft has more than 280 million active accounts.

According to Microsoft, Windows Live Hotmail will deliver a safer, more powerful and productive e-mail experience than previous versions with flexible access via the Web, on a mobile phone or with an e-mail client. Microsoft also announced that later this month Windows Live Hotmail customers will be able to access their Windows Live Hotmail e-mail and contacts using Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 or Office Outlook 2007 via the new Microsoft Office Outlook Connector beta.

"We're thrilled to deliver Windows Live Hotmail to the more than 280 million active MSN Hotmail accounts around the world," said Steve Berkowitz, senior vice president of the Online Services Group at Microsoft. "Windows Live Hotmail represents an extremely compelling end-to-end e-mail experience that makes it easy for customers to get best-of-breed e-mail access across PCs, mobile devices and the Web. Windows Live Hotmail is a cornerstone online service for Microsoft and a critical part of our online advertising business because e-mail is a key point of influence for consumer purchases. We're pleased to announce the launch of the service to advertisers in addition to consumers on the eve of the Microsoft Strategic Account Summit."

Windows Live Hotmail begins rolling out on May 7 and consumers can sign up for a new Windows Live Hotmail account. Current MSN Hotmail customers can update their existing account to Windows Live Hotmail by logging into their account and clicking on the green Join Windows Live Hotmail button.

Microsoft has been beta-testing the new Windows Live Mail for months, but many beta testers weren't happy. Microsoft had planned the new Windows Live Mail to be a stylish Web 2.0 application to challenge Yahoo & Google mail, but the end result was a Web client that beta testers weren't happy with.

The main complaint was that it was just too slow. The new Windows Live Mail was designed to feel more like a desktop program than a traditional Web page. However, to 'create' this new feel, a Web application such as Windows Live Mail has to download a significant chunk of code before it can open a single message. This can take a few seconds with a broadband connection, but the experience dial-up users have is horrendous. When traveling I've had to use dial-up on occasion, and you just couldn't get your mail to display in any reasonable time. Many hotmail users (according to research, around 30 percent), particularly outside of the US still use dial-up for their Internet access.

To overcome this, Microsoft focused on the development of a 'classic' mode, which looks & feels more like the traditional Web page, and doesn't require the code-download that the full version requires.

The problem Microsoft faces is that the old Hotmail was always seen as an easy mail solution for the technology challenged, and Microsoft now has to find ways to keep these users happy. This is also reflected in the name change. Microsoft had wanted to rename Hotmail to Windows Live Mail, but after user feedback, the 'Hotmail' moniker was re-established so the new name is now Windows Live Hotmail.

Windows Live Mail

Microsoft is also working on a new Windows program, Windows Live Mail (formerly Windows Live Mail desktop). Windows Live Mail will run on Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista. What is more, Windows Live Mail will be a successor to Outlook Express and Windows Mail on Windows Vista. According to Paul Major, Director of Windows Live Hotmail, in the future Windows Live Mail will be the only supported free email client, so only a few months after Windows Vista was released the mail client in Vista is set to be replaced. So to cap it off: what was Windows Live Mail is now Windows Live Hotmail, and Windows Live Mail desktop is now Windows Live Mail. Outlook Express and (Vista's) Windows Mail are being phased out. Got it?

According to reports, Windows Live Mail will feature contextual advertising tied to the contents of users' e-mail, would be interesting to see how that goes down with users. Windows Live Mail seems to be driven by a desire to get more income from advertising, something hinted on by Bill Gates this week in a speech before Microsoft advertising customers.

Microsoft expects a first beta of Windows Live Mail to be available in a few weeks from the Windows Live Beta's Web site.

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02. Windows Updates

In the past two weeks, Microsoft issued a number of updates for Windows Vista:

KB936825 - Install this update to resolve issues with Secure Digital (SD) on computers running Windows Vista.
Update for Windows Mail Junk E-mail Filter [May 2007] - Install this update for Windows Mail to revise the definition files used to detect e-mail messages that should be considered junk e-mail or that may contain phishing content.
Update for Windows Vista (KB936824) - Install this update to resolve an issue where an Apple iPod may be corrupted by using the Safely Remove Hardware feature on a system running Windows Vista.
Update for Windows Vista (KB931099) - Install this update to resolve an issue in Windows Defender where SpyNet requested samples fail to submit data to Microsoft after you consent to submitting them. Microsoft analyzes the collected samples for potential risk in order to help protect you from malicious and potentially unwanted software.

03. Microsoft Security

Microsoft Windows Security Bulletin Summary for May, 2007

The security update for May 2007 includes one update for Microsoft Windows and one for Internet Explorer.

Severity Rating: Critical

04. Recent Support BBS Postings

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How to see who is currently logged on the domain controller - Windows Server System
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05. Windows Vista: Which Edition Should You Get?

With the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft is offering users a choice of six product versions, not counting the 'special' versions for the European Union and Korea (the so-called N and K editions), so which version should you get?

Read Full Article

06. Latest Microsoft & Windows News from around the Internet

Latest Microsoft & Windows News from around the Internet

07. How to Set up and Use Automated System Recovery in Windows XP Professional

Windows XP's Automated System Recovery (ASR) is an extension to the conventional backup-and-restore. It provides a framework for saving and recovering the Windows XP operating state, in the event of a catastrophic system or hardware failure. Windows XP ASR recovers the target system in a two-step process.

Read Full Article

08. 09. Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar

The Microsoft Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar provides a variety of tools for quickly creating, understanding, and troubleshooting Web pages.

Supported OS: Windows Server 2003; Vista; XP

Download [ENG - 623 KB]

10. Windows Vista Volume Activation 2.0 Technical Guidance

Technical documentation focusing on planning, deployment, and operational guidance. It includes the Volume Activation 2.0 Step-by-Step Guide, Volume Activation 2.0 FAQ, Volume Activation 2.0 Technical Attributes List, and Standard User Product Activation zip file.

Download [ENG - 1.3 MB]