Got Vista? Then check out these two Live Search gadgets for your Vista Sidebar and stop waiting for that browser to load! Today we’re announcing the launch of two new gadgets that bring some of the most popular Live Search services directly to your desktop:

Live Search Gadget - [Download]

 

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Not everyone has the financial ability to give money to the causes they care about. That is where the i’m Initiative steps in - it enables Windows Live Messenger users to make a difference by directing a portion of Messenger’s advertising revenue to a cause of their choosing.

If you are like me there must a be ton of questions flying around in your head about how it works, so I have used my favorite blog format (FAQ) below to hopefully help answer all your questions. If you still have questions please head on over to the Windows Live Messenger Newsgroup where I will be happy to answer them for you.

Wonderful! How does it work?

1. Use Messenger 8.1
2. Add the i’m emoticon to your display name by entering the code of the cause you would like to support (hint: I suggest adding it at the end of your name so you still appear in the correct alphabetic order in your contacts list)
3. Send and receive IMs
4. A portion of the advertising revenue generated by your usage of Messenger will be donated to your cause. So the more IMs you send and receive the more money will be donated to your cause.

note: currently the donation only applies to Windows Live Messenger users in the United States. If you are in the US and you are IMing with a contact in another country your IM activity will be counted towards the donation.

hat does the i’m emoticon represent?

It tells your contacts that you are making a difference, it is short for “i’m making a difference”.

What are the i’m emoticon codes and causes?

• American Red Cross — ready to help, code = *red+u
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America — providing a positive place for kids, code = *bgca
• National AIDS Fund — fighting AIDS, code = *naf
• National MS Society — joining the MS movement, code = *mssoc
• ninemillion.org — helping 9 million refugee kids, code = *9mil
• Sierra Club — exploring and protecting the planet, code = *sierra
• StopGlobalWarming.org — stopping global warming, code = *help
• Susan G. Komen for the Cure — finding the cure, code = *komen
• UNICEF — helping kids survive, code = *unicef

Can I put the I’m emoticon in my personal message? and send it in IM?

Yes you can. However you must also place it in your display name for your IM activity to be counted towards the donation.

My favorite cause isn’t listed. What can I do?

Please send us feedback here.

What is the minimum amount that will be contributed to each cause?

Each of the causes above will receive at a minimum $100,000 in the first year.

If there is a minimum there must be a maximum for each cause. What is it?

There is no maximum. The more IMs you send and receive the more money will be donated to the cause you select.

Can I contribute to multiple causes?

You can put multiple causes in your display name, however only the first one listed will count towards the donation. If you can’t choose just one, feel free to change the first one as often as you wish.

How does Messenger even generate revenue\money anyway?

Windows Live Messenger is a free service to users. We do include advertisements in the client that help pay for the service and our salaries. With the i’m Initiative you get to decide where a portion of the revenue goes.

Some of my contacts can’t see the i’m emoticon What gives?

In order to see the i’m emoticon you must be using Messenger 8.1 final. You can tell your friends to get it here.

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Are you interested in being part of a select group that is invited to help beta test a new service that lets PC game players connect with their friends on the Xbox through the LIVE gaming network? If you are, please read on.

The registration period for this upcoming beta testing opportunity will only be available for a limited time. To be considered you will need to complete the Games for Windows - Live Beta application survey.  Please only submit the survey once.  Multiple entries will not improve your chances at being chosen.

To fill out the survey:

. Click here to access the survey.  If you experience issues accessing the survey and you are using IE, please close your browser windows and clear out your cookie cache then try accessing the survey again.

2. You will be prompted to login with your Windows Live ID if you haven’t already done so.  If you have registered previously on Connect, you will skip to step 5 if you login with the same Windows Live you used to register previously. 

3. If you have not previously completed the Connect registration form, you will be presented with the Terms of Use agreement, then you will navigate to the Connect registration page. You must agree to the Terms of Use agreement prior to registration. 

4. Once you have completed the Connect registration page, you will navigate to the survey page.

5. You must complete all of the questions and submit the survey to be considered.

Those who are selected will be contacted with more details in the coming weeks.  All eligible beta participants will be entered in a drawing(s) for prizes.

If you know of someone else who may be interested in participating please direct them to https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=363

If you have any questions please contact gbetasup@microsoft.com.

Thanks!

Microsoft Game Studios Beta Team

Detroit through the years is a mashup that lets you view layers of aerial imagery of downtown Detroit from 1949 to today. The 1949 imagery is particularly impressive in its quality. It’s visually unsettling to switch into 3D and overlay building models from 2006 with imagery from the 40’s as I’ve done in the screenshot below. Hint - in 3D view, SHIFT-B toggles buildings on and off while SHIFT-D toggles their details.

For some background on the guys behind this application, check out the article “Beating city hall with an online map” in the Detroit Free Press to see what else they are up to. Their website has links to some of their other map related projects as well.

As part of its overall services push, Microsoft has been quietly trying to figure out just what it can offer up to large corporations.

The software giant has yet to announce a broad set of “Live” services for enterprises. But the company has said it is working in that area, and it has launched several tests of possible services. Chief executive Steve Ballmer detailed one of those efforts at a meeting last week with financial analysts.

“We are in test with a service that essentially will help host Exchange and SharePoint and Office Communication Server for large account customers,” Ballmer said. He indicated that the company would test the service with three or four customers.

Microsoft would not provide further details on the service, including when it might be more broadly available or what role partners will play in its delivery. Company spokesman Tom Ryan did say that the company is building the means by which it and its partners can run hosted software.

“We want Microsoft customers to have rich choices,” Ryan said. “This certainly will be another choice for them.”

While much of the attention around Microsoft’s services push has focused on consumer web services and the battle with Google, both Ballmer and chairman Bill Gates have talked about the need for corporate services, though both have been short on details.

Microsoft has added services in a few areas, such as email and security, and it has been working to add host-ability into many of its server products.

Microsoft also has been dabbling in some entirely new areas, such as its managed services effort, which is handling a broader array of IT work for two companies. Since 2005, Microsoft has been managing the desktop computers for Energizer, handling things like helpdesk issues. Last year, the company added a second customer, XL Capital. The effort was initially part of its own IT department but has since been moved under the auspices of server and tools boss Bob Muglia.

“I wouldn’t be surprised at all that there are some other offerings that are going to emerge,” said Paul DeGroot, an analyst at market research firm Directions on Microsoft. “They’ll probably look different from what Microsoft has done so far. This process was harder than they anticipated.”

Ballmer also said in his speech to the financial community last week that it is hard to say just where things will go. “We will certainly roll that out,” he said of the hosted Exchange, OCS and SharePoint service, but then added: “How quickly and how big the impact, again a little less clear visibility, but a very important opportunity for us of a subscription nature”.

In some senses, Microsoft’s move to offer services to big businesses makes sense. Unlike in the consumer arena, where it faces an uphill battle to catch up to Google, the enterprise is more Microsoft’s home turf and an area where it already has broad relationships. That said, while most big businesses get software from Microsoft, they are more likely to get services from other companies such as IBM, Oracle and SAP.

Google has begun to show more interest in business services, however. On Thursday, the company announced a new bundle of application services aimed at businesses. The new hosted service, Google Apps Premier Edition, priced at $50 per user annually, includes email, spreadsheet and document creation tools, along with other business-oriented features.

Microsoft may see such revenue as a straightforward way to expand its business at a time when it is being pressured to grow faster.

“Microsoft is looking at the open-source thing and also looking at Oracle and IBM,” DeGroot said. “It’s looking at those companies and saying, why can’t we do that?”

But such a move is also fraught with challenges, such as the potential impact Microsoft’s service offerings will have on its partners, which get much of their revenue from services that they sell on top of Microsoft software.

Plenty of partners today, for example, offer either desktop management services, hosted Exchange or both.

“Microsoft has to be careful here,” DeGroot said. “It will be a significant area, I think, of partner conflict.”

The potential for conflict is not new for Microsoft or its partners. Software makers that write Windows applications have long worried about where Redmond would go next in terms of either adding features to the operating system or building new software products. The company has long eschewed offering any kind of long-term plan of where it would and wouldn’t offer products. “Basically, they don’t want to rule anything out,” DeGroot said. “I don’t think there is much likelihood partners will get much relief on that score.”

But the risk of uncertainty isn’t only for Microsoft’s partners.

The partners that sell Microsoft’s software have historically made much of their money by tacking lucrative services on top of software sales, which often have low margins, DeGroot said. To the degree their services revenue is threatened, partners could have an incentive to sell Linux-based options or other products that compete with Microsoft’s software.

DeGroot said that already it is sometimes the case that a partner can offer a Linux-based option to a customer that costs roughly the same to the business but offers more revenue for the partner because of the services opportunity. “In some cases they would much rather do Linux,” he said. “It’s kind of a dirty little secret.”

A move by Microsoft into hosting Exchange directly could push partners into directions that are not good for the software maker. If they can’t make enough money on Microsoft software and services, DeGroot said, “the partners may look for alternatives”.