2008 - Vol. 5 - Issue 2 - Windows Live
Windows Live Code Focus Edition
Note: If you recently signed up for a subscription and are now creating a new account, please make sure to use the same email address.
Note: If you recently signed up for a subscription and are now creating a new account, please make sure to use the same email address.
Windows Live Code Focus Edition
Building compelling applications and Web sites just got easier.Microsoft is opening up Windows Live Services to developers everywhere. This edition of CoDe Focus shows you how to use Windows Live Services to draw users to your Web site, get them hooked, and keep them engaged.
From the consumer products associated with the MSN Butterfly, the Windows Live Platform has steadily grown and evolved.In this article you will discover some of the history behind the Windows Live Platform and explore where it is heading now and might be destined to go in the future. This article will explore the opportunities for you as a developer in this brave (nearly) new world.
Windows Live Messenger is one of the central offerings nestled among a suite of products and services under Microsoft’s Windows Live brand.For years online chat has been progressively and swiftly revolutionizing how you communicate with your friends, family, coworkers, and businesses you deal with. It is the foundation of the original chat room concept and the heart of instant messaging applications. Online chat-also called instant messaging or just “IM”-connects people for one-to-one or group chat, for social networking purposes, or for business directives, such as enabling access to technical support, customer services, or sales. Now, Windows Live Messenger supports a rich set of features for Web applications through the Windows Live Messenger IM Control, the Windows Live Messenger Presence API, and the Windows Live Messenger Library. The collective features of these products go beyond the simplicity of a chat application, making it possible to embrace this new era of social networking by leveraging your built-in Windows Live network within any Web application.
Now in its sixth major release, Virtual Earth offers an entire world of opportunities for innovative Web-based mapping.Microsoft’s premier Web-based mapping solution has undergone upgrades to it user interface, compatibility, and functionality making it an ideal time to get started with the platform or upgrade your existing application. Let’s explore what’s new and what has changed in this latest release.
Ready to build a Web experience your users will love? Windows Live Services are the building blocks of your new site. Get started right now with the Windows Live Quick Applications.
Do you have a cool personalized application that you want to offer to over 400 million users? Do you want to light it up with Live controls or create a mashup with Live resources? Windows Live ID now offers a simple way for third parties to get Live ID authentication in your Web or rich client applications, letting you reach millions of Live ID users, integrate with Live Controls, and access Live services.
The smart way to share data between computers and other people is to place it in an online Internet store, which the other parties can access, but you want to make sure only the right people can access your data. This article will help you understand how the Windows Live delegated authentication system is used to access certain Windows Live data stores and the technologies Microsoft is building to make this work easier for you.
Microsoft® Silverlight™ Streaming by Windows Live™ is a free streaming and application hosting service for delivering rich interactive applications (RIAs) over the Web.In this article I’ll show you how to get started with Silverlight and how to upload your applications and rich media to the Silverlight Streaming Service.
Plugins for Windows Live Writer are simple to create and can provide many extra features.This article will show you how to start writing plugins for Windows Live Writer, including how to get started, how to debug, and how to package the final plugin.
Windows Live Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio enables developers to incorporate a set of Windows Live services into their Web sites using Visual Studio and ASP.NET.Using the Contacts ASP.NET Server Control, your users can easily share their contacts between Windows Live and your Web site. With the SilverlightStreamingMediaPlayer ASP.NET Server Control, you can show videos on your Web site from your Silverlight Streaming account with just drag-and-drop. The IDLoginStatus and IDLoginView ASP.NET Server Controls provide Windows Live ID authentication at your Web site for your users. Microsoft released its second community technology preview (CTP) in December, 2007. You can download this CTP from http://dev.live.com/tools.
When developing with Windows Live services, you open your application to a whole new world of software integration. In this fascinating realm of mash-up mania, developers can find tools for adding maps, searches, video, chats, and even social networking services directly into their applications and ultimately right into their users’ browsers. The benefit of adding services like Virtual Earth and Silverlight Streaming are obvious-creating dazzling content and facilitating rich user experiences. Yet services like these are still limited to specific contexts within your program. They are perfectly wonderful for beefing up the user experience in Web sites, but wouldn’t it be great if the folks at Microsoft provided a service that helps you administer user accounts and customize services around your Web site? Well indeed they have, and its name is Windows Live Admin Center (admincenter.live.com).
Have you ever wanted to implement search capabilities on your own Web site but didn’t want to implement the logic and deal with issues such as storage and indexing? The Live Search team now offers two different ways to utilize Search on your site: using the Live Search Box or using the Windows Live Search API.