The Windows Live era dawns

Although it has taken Microsoft five years to develop the next version of Windows, the software maker seems to crank out a new Windows Live service every five minutes.

And, to some degree, that's the point.

Last autumn, MSN executive David Cole and his colleagues pitched to chief executive Steve Ballmer and chairman Bill Gates the idea that the company could launch online services a whole lot faster than complicated software such as new operating systems. They presented their plan with many of the online services that have been introduced in recent months as part of Windows Live.

"They were amazed," Cole said in a recent internal email to MSN workers. "And they said if we could pull off that many releases, it would be monumental for the company and for our customers."

Not long after that presentation, Gates touted the idea to the world, announcing the "Live" era of software with a launch event in San Francisco.

Recognising that the company needs to be more nimble, Ballmer has pushed all of the company's units to think about long-term advances, things that can be delivered in the intermediate term, and "twitches" that can be made every few months. In many ways, Windows Live has become the ultimate "twitch".

When Microsoft first talked about Windows Live in November, most of the products on the table were existing MSN services that had been rebranded.

Since then, however, Microsoft has added more than a dozen new products under the ever-growing Windows Live umbrella. In his email, Cole said that Microsoft's goal is to continuously update and launch products in a "rolling thunder" approach, as opposed to Microsoft's usual strategy of formal unified product launches.

Most of the products, he said, will launch to the public in an early beta version. Some, such as Windows Live Mail, are already in public testing with roughly 900,000 customers using the product. Others, such as a user-created-video site, code-named Warhol, have yet to publicly emerge.

"Think about this: Over the next three to six months, we'll ship more innovative technology into the marketplace than during our entire 10-year history," Cole wrote in his email.

Cole, who plans to go on a yearlong leave of absence next month, sent the email on 3 March, ahead of last week's Rabble. Rabble is an all-hands meeting for the company's MSN unit, which is largely responsible for the Windows Live effort.

On the business side, Microsoft's new ad-serving engine, AdCentre, is at the heart of the effort. The engine, aimed at helping the company increase its ad sales and rates, draws on user demographic information to help drive more targeted marketing pitches.

The unified Windows Live services should...

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