Alpesh Nakar's Blog

Whoever came up with this site must be applauded for their efforts. It makes it easier for me to compare results!

Bing is all over the news and I am loving it more and more.

Just look at the Microsoft Translator work in Bing. Awesome. Same query in Google – fail!

I really loved the translation service. Too good!

Google, get real! Bing wins again. I am no where near Brisbane, CA! What’s up with Google? Can’t geo locate me?

Google wins this one though Bing does ‘suggest Current Time In Brisbane’ in the left sidebar. Google could not identify my city correctly, but picked up the time perfect! Reading my system clock???

I have just created a page for everything Bing, keep an eye out for that page. It will be updated as I come across Bing resources. It’s located here

In other news reported it seems that Google is feeling the heat! It’s too early we all would agree, but this news is for real! Check them out too!

I’d be giving http://www.bingandgoogle.com/ a go!

I have been using Live Mesh for quite some time now and have already reached 60% of my allocated quota

Today I received an email from The Live Mesh Team with a list of fixes implemented in the latest Live Mesh release.

Fixes

· Live Mesh is now available in all English-speaking countries (not just the U.S.)

· Removed the User Account Control (UAC) requirement when installing and using Live Mesh with Windows Vista SP1

· Index for Desktop Search now works with Live Mesh folders

· Fixed bug where an underscore in a Hotmail account name returned an "Invalid Hotmail Address" error

· Fixed bug with Silverlight 2 Beta 2 failing to load in Silverlight Media View

· Fixed bug where the notifier tooltip incorrectly indicated that Live Mesh Remote Desktop was unavailable for a computer running in non-admin mode

· Fixed bug where the Live Mesh folder icon was not displayed in the e-mail inviting someone to share a folder

· Fixed one of the bugs that caused Live Mesh to fail to start

· Fixed problem with Live Mesh returning errors when waking from sleep/hibernate

Have you signed up for Live Mesh? Ping me if you want an invite.

I have just signed up for Office Live Workspace, although it is only available for U.S only. My live id is configured for U.S. and so is my browser.

What do you get for signing up?

Anywhere Access

• Save 1000+ Microsoft Office documents in one place
• Access them from almost any computer with a Web browser
• No more flash drives or sending yourself documents via e-mail

Share with Others

• Invite people to your workspace
• You control who can view, comment, and edit your documents
• Stop manually merging versions from multiple people

Extend the Microsoft Office Experience

• Open and save files directly from Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Synchronize contact, task, and event lists with Outlook
• No need to learn a new program

 My Impression of Office Live Workspace

I can say this is a skinned version of SharePoint. If it is not built on actual MOSS 2007, atleast the framework has been.

If you have used SharePoint, then you will see what I mean. If you haven’t used SharePoint (as an end user), now you are! All in all a good start.

My initial impression – this is built on SharePoint! This was confirmed when I was able to synchronise my workspace contact list with my Outlook.

 

 

 

This is a two way sync with Outlook 2007. In addition to contact list, I am able to synchormise my task list and calendar. All this we wanted with Google Apps and we had to rely on 3rd party providers. It is all built in here if you have Office 2007.

What you have got here is a document management system with limitations in terms of space, but  you still have basic functionality of being able to check-in, check-out, document version history, comments.

You can create different workspaces – trip workspace, class workspace, etc.

 

Only thing missing is the Picture Library at this stage.

If you have Outlook 2007, then you are in for a treat with these lists. To edit other types like, Word, Excel, PowerPoint you would need to have Office 2007 suite. At this stage I cannot confirm how much you can make use of Office 2003 with Office Live Workspace, since I don’t have Office 2003 installed.

Download Office Live Workspace Update for Windows Vista | Sign up now

Examples of how you can use Microsoft Office Live Workspace

Windows live is happening! Check out the Windows Live Messenger’s  Button Maker.

Use the button builder below to create a button that fits your personal style or even just your mood. Add the button to your Windows Live Hotmail, Outlook and other email signatures, Windows Live Space, or blog, and your friends and family can simply click your button to add you to their contact list.

All you have to do is:

1. Choose a style
2. Pick a color
3. Select a message
4. Enter your ID
5. Click next

That’s it! Go and make some buttons and share them with your friends!

Update: I forgot the link, here it is

Have you seen this yet?

The Windows Live™ Messenger IM Control lets people on the Web reach you in Messenger by showing your Messenger status on your web site, blog, or social networking profile.

The IM Control runs in the browser and lets site visitors message you without installing Messenger first.

It is supported in IE6, IE7, and FireFox 2.0 on Windows and FireFox 2.0 on Mac OS and supports 32 languages.

I am going to leave this on my blog for few days, ping me and say hello!

Setup Here

I have had hassles installing windows live suite, especially at work. If your Windows Live installation does not start or the installation program stops responding (hangs) and does not finish then what do you do?

There could be number of reasons as listed in the KB 940065. It has also listed steps to correct them. If all fails, uninstall windows live services. They have a download package, which will uninstall windows live services.

Download | Related KB 940065

Yes Windows Live Writer 2008 has been released. At the time of installing WLW 2008, I got a notification saying you need to update the Windows Update agent.

I did not want to run the Windows Update, so I went hunting for WUA. This is where I found the information on downloading.

If you want to download WUA directly, here are the links:

Download x86 version | Download x64 version | Download ia64 version

Read more on WLW.

Update: Jump into Windows Live here | Configure Windows Live Writer Options here | Get your Windows Live ID

Update: Only for RSS Subscribers. Direct Link to WLW is in a protected paged, available only for RSS Subscribers. Subscribe now to receive exclusives!