Windows 7

Mary Jo Foley offers up part one of the complete text of an internal Microsoft memo about Windows Live/Windows 7 integration. Unfortunately, it's horribly old--from August of last year--and may thus be completely dated from a relevance standpoint. Still, internal memos are always interesting. Here are some pertinent bits regarding Windows 7 specifically: TO: Windows Live Experience Team; Live Platform Services Team FROM: Chris Jones, David Treadwell, Brian Arbogast RE: Planning Windows Live Wave 3 BIG BETS While we will target a seamless experience on Windows Vista, we will make a bet on the Windows 7 platform and experience, and create the best experience when connected with Windows 7.  We will work with the Windows 7 team and be a first and best developer of solutions on the Windows 7 platform. Our experiences will be designed so when they are connected to Windows 7 they seamlessly extend the Windows experience, and we will work to follow the Windows 7 style guidelines for applications.  We will work with the Internet Explorer 8 team to make sure we deliver an experience that seamlessly extends the browser with our toolbar and other offerings. Seamless Windows Experience For customers who are upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7, we will explore ways to make it easy for them to get Windows Live – particularly for photos, calendar, and movies where our applications complete the experience. The Windows 7 platform provides new enhancements that allow us to deliver even richer experiences for customers. We will invest in differentiated features that “light up” on Windows 7, and in this theme we will identify these “signature elements” – gestures, ribbon, or other – that make our suite best on Windows 7. We will explore innovations in graphics and presentation, including window management and high-DPI support, that make our applications feel distinct and “pop” on the new platform. What experience will we provide when we “light

byPaul Thurrott