Microsoft merging Office Live, Windows Live
Microsoft confirmed on Friday that it is pushing together its Office Live and Windows Live efforts.
The company isn't changing the development cycle or the leadership of the teams working on the products, but it is promising that consumers will be able to get to both sets of services from a common Web location.
Microsoft didn't say exactly what that spot will be, but the Windows Live branding is expected to be the one that survives the combination, I'm hearing. (But what about Officeliveworkspacecommunity.com? Does Microsoft really want to give up that prime, easy-to-remember address?)
Although it declined to clarify whether Thursday's job cuts affected the Windows Live and Office Live teams, the company said there were no changes to the top ranks of either group.
The merging was first noted on Thursday by ZDNet blogger Mary Jo Foley.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
"But what about Officeliveworkspacecommunity.com?"
It will be:
Officeliveworkspacecommunityhomeedition Officeliveworkspacecommunitypremiumedition.com
Officeliveworkspacecommunityultimateedition.com
Officeliveworkspacecommunityhometeatheredition.com
This are easier to remember!!!!
ps: Save the hate comments and mail please, it is just my thoughts your entitled to your own.
Over all its a smart move by them. Anything to increase usability for their web products is welcome.
Microsoft didn't say exactly what that spot will be, but..."
I recently went to microsoft.com to search for four products I wanted to buy for installation by download. I'm not an OEM, I'm not an enterprise account, I'm just the buyer demographic called Home / Home Office. I searched microsoft dot com but couldn't find my products, so I had to go to two of their competitors' sites to spend my crummy $450.00. A month later, I discover Microsoft carried the products I had needed, but I just didn't know where to find them.
Live has died a fatal death. The English language is back. Those are my two sentences of Marketing Consultation for Redmond. I hope the Marketing clowns to whom they pay big salaries will be the ones getting the axe. They're worse than worthless - they went out of their way to insure they lost as must sales revenues for their employer as humanly possible. And they succeeded.
Another big success was this one - this is such a hoot - no one I know who owns Vista uses Windows as their right click Default Mail because no one could figure out the difference between Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail and Hotmail at first. By the time we figured it out, we had already set GMail as our default Windows Mail and left it there of course.
Who would have thought Mr Ballmer was such a Google fan? Good taste, Steve!
- by moucon February 25, 2009 10:59 AM PST
- They definitely need to combine the offerings - it's currently way too confusing to be useful. Two completely different things but are named almostidentically...and use a common-looking (but different) log on mechanism. Yuh- that's web-smart (NOT).
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(12 Comments)Make me wonder if MS is ever really going to understand the web.