New Home Page Launched For Windows Live
By: Nathan Weinberg
Microsoft has launched a new beta home page for Windows Live, available now at home.live.com.
Presumably designed to eventually become the default page you get when visiting at live.com, the page tries to both be clean and simple while showing off what Windows Live has to offer, and it succeeds.
You can see your inbox (though it doesn’t work for me yet), start an IM conversation, find a contact, access Live Spaces, and find out about other services like OneCare, SkyDrive (more on that in a minute), Gallery, Favorites, Live Maps and head over to MSN.
I love that it works identically in Opera, no missing features or design bugs. The Hotmail inbox doesn’t work there, either, but I’m starting to think that feature never works.
Not sure yet if this is going to completely replace the customizable Live.com homepage, or if it’ll just be the default Live.com experience and the personalized page will be an opt-in for advanced users. The lack of any link at all to the personalized homepage might be an unfortunate hint as to its future.
The page has a few nice little touches, like the date in the upper right hand corner and the weather in the upper left, and, of course, the useful Live Orb menu. What’s really cool, as LiveSide discovered, is that the page gets brighter during the day and darker at night. Sweet.