Microsoft expands Windows Live into social networking

Microsoft Corp. is revamping its online Windows Live portal into a full-blown social networking sitealong the lines of Facebook, complete with photo sharing, news feeds and an instant messaging service.

The software company announced sweeping changesonThursday. Windows Live had previously been a portal centred around a search engine, with a few other services such as e-mail attached.

The new version of the portal will allow users to create a profile similar to those on other social networking websites, such as Facebook and MySpace, and will let them see news feeds about their friends, upload photos, joingroupsand plan events on a calendar.

Windows Live will also tightly integrate the software company's Messenger chat feature and Hotmail e-mail program. It will automatically build users' friends lists from existing contacts they have in both applications.

Microsoft has also partnered with other websites, including Flickr, LinkedIn, Pandora, Photobucket, iLike, Twitter, Wordpress and Yelp and will incorporate the third-party offerings on Windows Live.

The new portal will begin rolling out to U.S. customers over the next few weeks and will expand to 54 countries, including Canada, in early 2009. Some services, such as Microsoft's new online photo gallery and Messenger tool, are already availablein beta test format.

Some of Windows Live's other features include the ability to send photos, news, weather and traffic reports to wireless-enabled digital picture frames; "SkyDrive" online storage of 25 gigabytes; a Movie Maker application that lets users turn photos and videos into movies that can be transferred to discs or other digital devices; and a version of the portal for mobile phones.

Microsoft and its rivals Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. have been under pressure to get involved with social networking sincesuch websites generate huge amounts of traffic and are therefore valuable real estate for online advertising. Microsoftlast year bought a small, 1.6-per-cent stake in Facebook.

Google launched its OpenSocial initiative last Octoberto take advantageof criticism of Facebook, which was keeping its members' profiles closed off from the rest of the internet. OpenSocial, which eventually saw MySpace, Yahoo and others join,was aimed at promoting a universal standard for developing applications on social networking websites.

Facebook countered the move by announcing last December that it too would open up its website.