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May

31

Games for Windows: In the Driver’s Seat

Category: Vista News | Leave a Comment

Today’s demo video is all about Games for Windows.  In this video (shot using Canon’s new high-def HV20, which is Certified for Windows Vista), I talk about what “Games for Windows” means and how it helps ensure that games with this logo are easy to install and play, compatible, and safe.  Within the demo,  I use Lego Star Wars II  and Company of Heroes to show the install process on a Toshiba Satellite P100, which has an NVidia GeForce® Go 7900GTX graphics engine.  I also cover the different features within Windows Vista that support gaming, such as Games Explorer and parental features. Other hardware highlighted in the video are the Wireless Xbox 360 Controller for Windows, the Microsoft Reclusa gaming keyboard and Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0. 


Video: Games for Windows Demo


Also, we’re still running the Look for the Logo sweepstakes, so go and enter to win thousands of dollars of Certified for Windows Vista products every week. Check back for future posts and more videos!


Click here for general information on the Windows Vista Logo Program.


Past Certified for Windows Vista demo videos include Digital Memories and Wireless Networking.

May

30

Blogging with Windows Live Writer

Category: Vista News | Leave a Comment

Today I had the pleasure of sitting down and talking with Charles Teague, who is a principal development lead on the Windows Live Writer Team. Charles was part of the original group of folks who came over from Onfolio when Microsoft acquired the company a few years ago. That same group of people lead by Charles and J.J. Allaire who worked on Writer at Onfolio are still working on Windows Live Writer today.



Download Windows Live Writer Beta 2.


As you probably have heard by now, a new beta of Windows Live Writer has been released - Beta 2. In fact I am writing this blog post in that very beta of Windows Live Writer. If you thought the last beta of Windows Live Writer rocked, the Beta 2 is loaded with some impressive new features that will make blogging with Windows Live Writer even better! You can now edit tables in Windows Live Writer and they have made some great improvements to inserting hyperlinks and images. You’ll notice with this beta that the quality of images when inserted into a blog post and published is preserved a bit better than what the last beta was doing with those images. If you have WordPress (or TypePad) you will notice you now have the ability to add and manage pages on your blog. Check out the Windows Live Writer Team’s blog post outlining the features and improvements with Beta 2.


One thing I noticed right off the bat after playing with the new beta is that those irritating “Style Detection” errors are gone. Or so they appear to be. Charles tells me that a temporary post may still sometimes be required when configuring your weblog (but that it will be really unusual). The new beta will ask you before publishing out anything to your blog to prevent those style detection errors from getting through. You will then be able to choose if you want Writer to publish out or not to detect your blog’s theme style.

Charles also highlighted for me the new Provider Customization API in which providers can customize Writer for adding functionality for their blogging platforms. With Windows Live Spaces, you get direct links to edit your Space and view statistics for your Space. WordPress and TypePad have both jumped on board to take advantage of this API as well.



Windows Live Writer takes full advantage of Windows Desktop Search in Windows Vista (and Windows XP). You can search for a published (or unpublished) blog post from Windows Live Writer directly from Windows Vista’s Start Menu.


Its important to also note in regards to all the awesome plug-ins available over Windows Live Gallery are fully backwards compatible with Beta 2 of Windows Live Writer. That means you shouldn’t have any problem installing the plug-ins from the gallery. And in Beta 2, Windows Live Writer gives the user a better way to grab and install plug-ins. You also don’t need to exit Windows Live Writer after installing a plug-in - plug-ins install live without having to quit the application. My personal favorite is the Insert Video plug-in by ScottIsAFool that allows you to embed video from online video sites like Soapbox or YouTube.


Overall, the Windows Live Writer Team has made some incredible enhancements to Writer with Beta 2. I intend to adopt use of Windows Live Writer for much of my posting to the Windows Experience Blog here on out!


A special thanks to Charles for taking the time to meet with me today.


You can leave feedback for the Windows Live Writer Team by going to feedback.live.com or if you’d like, leave a comment here and I can forward them on to the team.

May

30

Three new Windows Live betas now available

Category: Vista News | Leave a Comment

Today our Windows Live team is releasing new betas for several Windows Live applications:  Windows Live Messenger 8.5, Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Writer.  All three are now available for download.


A little about each one:


Windows Live Messenger 8.5


Windows Live Messenger 8.5 presents a brand new look-and-feel that’s more in tone with Windows Vista.  While this update largely affects the back-end, it also adds several new emoticons and integration with Windows Live OneCare Safety Center.  You can expect performance enhancements in there as well.


Windows Live Mail


As mentioned before, Windows Live Mail is the successor to Windows Mail in Windows Vista (and Outlook Express on Windows XP).  Windows Live Mail is also the successor to previous betas of Windows Live Mail desktop.  It sports a brand new UI that more aligned with what’s being adopted across Windows Live.  Windows Live Mail will allow syncing with Windows Live Hotmail, serving as a client-to-service bridge.  The first beta of Windows Live Mail will offer:



And, there will not be any graphical advertisements in Windows Live Mail at this time.


Windows Live Writer


Windows Live Writer is a tool for composing blog posts and publishing them on several of the web’s biggest blogging platforms (such as Windows Live Spaces, Community Server, WordPress, and TypePad).  Windows Live Writer allows for custom plug-ins to be installed from Windows Live Gallery that extend its publishing abilities amongst blogging platforms.  Today’s new beta of Windows Live Writer comes with features like inline spell checking, the ability to add categories, table editing and easier image insertion.  Windows Live Writer’s new beta will be available in the following markets: US (English), US (Spanish), India (English), UK, Spain, Germany, Japan, China and France.


Remember, these applications being released today are betas and not final versions.  You can submit feedback on any of the betas at feedback.live.com.


And lastly, I expect Brandon will have screenshots on his blog soon.

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