The Ramblings of Rob Cooper: Microsoft

Holy Crap! 5GB Free Online Storage (Courtesy MS SkyDrive Team)

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:51:58 GMT

Just received this on the Google RSS Reader, I actually said "Wow" out loud. 5GB storage for free, integrated into the Live Platform, "wow" indeed.

Thanks guys on the SkyDrive team! Thanks very much!

Technorati Tags: microsoft, live, skydrive, online storage

Live 2008 Final Beta are Released!

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 17:49:31 GMT

We are almost at release stage with the suite of Live applications from Microsoft.
In the bundle is:

Live Messenger (Instant Messaging)
Live Mail (Mail Reader with Integrated RSS - Great Outlook Express Replacement)
Live Photo Gallery (Online Photo Storage and Organization)
Live Writer ("Universal" Blogging Tool)
Live Family Safety (Make Sure the Kids are not Being Naughty!)
Live SharedView (Desktop Sharing Tool)

As well as the host of services offered by Live such as (and not limited to):

Live Spaces (Profile/Blog)
Live SkyDrive (Free, Secure File Hosting)

I personally use the Live Messenger, Live Writer, Live Spaces and Live SkyDrive applications/services a lot. And I have to say, I love them.
We all know that Spaces & Messenger are great, they are pretty mature already due to their massive amount of usage. The two you may not be so familiar with are Writer and SkyDrive.

Live Writer

Live Writer is designed to be the blogging tool you use for all of your blogging needs.

I only had one single gripe with Writer. When posting to Google Blogger, you were unable to post images from within Writer, well guess what folks, this has all changed with the final and third Beta release, image uploading to Picasa is now supported!. This is a huge plus in my eyes.
Here are the main selling points for me:

You can write straight from your desktop, no signing into websites.
You can write and save drafts for posting later.
Categories and tags (from many providers) are supported.
You can quickly and easily post content to several blogs providers.
It's genuinely easy to use!
Install process is almost one-click, and it never fell over.
NOTE: it was slow though, I was sat looking at "checking for installed products" for a while - be patient!)

The culmination of all of that is a one-stop tool for all your blogging needs! Sold!

Live SkyDrive

I got wind of the existence of SkyDrive via an RSS feed. So I thought I would check it out, at this point I was using Messenger and Writer extensively, and really impressed with both, so was keen to see what else the Live guys at MS where offering.

Live SkyDrive is basically a free file hosting solution, all you need is a Live ID. And you can post up to 500MB in your account. You can then make these files available to the public, or contacts (which also need a Live ID for authentication) or just keep them for yourself.

I have found the transfer speeds can be a little slow in today's terms (30k/sec download) but hey, it's free, and I think it is all ad-supported, but I never noticed anything obtrusive. So thank you very much Microsoft!

Technorati Tags: Live, Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery, Writer, Family Safety, SharedView, Spaces, SkyDrive

Another Great Addition to the Windows Live Platform.. SkyDrive

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 08:15:40 GMT

I have recently started using the new SkyDrive Beta, and I have to say, I like it.

You get a generous 500MB limit, transfer speeds are fast, and you can publicly share files. This is great coupled with everything else on the Live. Even though Messenger and SharedView offer their own file-transfer mechanisms, the SkyDrive can be used with both, as well as used to upload files for use in blog posts.

You can upload files for yourself, your friends on the Live Network and files for everyone! (See image).

It was only a couple of days ago where I was on someone else's blog, and they wanted to post a file. So they had to look around for a free host to hold the file for them. They found one, but it nagged anyone downloading the file by adding a 1 minute delay before you can get your hands on the goods.. You don't get that with SkyDrive!

So anyone using the Live's Services, check it out!

Technorati Tags: SkyDrive, Live, Upload, File Host, Sharing

del.icio.us Tags: SkyDrive, Live, Upload, File Host, Sharing

Windows Live Writer

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 17:20:25 GMT

Ok here goes, I figured all the cool kids are doing this blogging business so I should jump on the bandwagon and have a go too!

So here I am, typing away into Live Writer, which looks like a reasonable bit of kit. TBH, I do actually like the way MS is headed with all the "Live" stuff, most of it is pretty sleek, and some of it could actually have some great business use!

Well, we shall have to see how it pans out!!

Take Care All,

Rob