Your Windows Live ID is essentially your online identity for all of the Windows Live services, Xbox Live, Zune and other third party websites (such as Expedia.com) that utilize Windows Live ID. If you're using Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger, your Windows Live ID stores all your contacts and email messages. Your Windows Live ID is definitely something you don't want to have compromised and I've got several pointers - or best practices - in keeping your Windows Live ID safe.

Do not hand out your password! Don't give anyone your password to your Windows Live ID. Handing out your password to anyone is simply asking for trouble. Don't even give out your password to friends or family. I can't imagine a reason why they would need it. Just don't give out your Windows Live ID credentials at all.

Be careful giving your Windows Live credentials on non-Microsoft websites. There are some websites out there that will claim they "require" your Windows Live ID credentials for their service. Some sites use this tactic to gain access to your Windows Live ID.

Fact: Microsoft will only ask for your Windows Live ID credentials on login.live.com and nowhere

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Microsoft today has made available a new tool for photographers using Windows for their digital photos: Microsoft Pro Photo Tools V1. This application lets you quickly edit the metadata on digital photos you've shot with your camera - including RAW formats.

Microsoft Pro Photo Tools also allows photographers to use geotagging for their photos. Geotagging is the ability to "tag" something with location information - and in the case of photos the location of where your photo was taken. You can quickly add location data from a GPS device or Live Search Maps to a photo's metadata.

Download: Microsoft Pro Photo Tools V1 (x86)

I use Windows Live Photo Gallery to manage all my photos. I'd like to note that changes in any specific photo' s metadata using Microsoft Pro Photo Tools will be reflected of course in Windows Live Photo Gallery - including title and tags.

You'll see here I've added a title, description, and keywords (aka tags) in Microsoft Pro Photo Tools to one of my photos.

In Windows Live Photo Gallery, you can see the title and tags I've

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Mother's Day is fast approaching and what better way to show your Mom you care than to enter her in a photo contest!  While I'm still working to get my Mom to join the online community, we have a fun way you all can recognize your own Mom and help her learn how to share all those family photos on her PC with the family and friends! Portraits of Mom is a contest that lets you showcase Mom using Windows Live by either posting her picture to Windows Live Spaces or visiting one of our temporary retail locations to have her photo taken by a professional. Anyone who doesn't work at Microsoft can enter their Mom's photo into the contest for a chance to win awesome prizes.

Visit http://www.portraitsofmom.com/ and use Windows Live Photo Gallery to upload your favorite photo of your Mom. Show off your photo on your Windows Live Space, and tell your Mom she's featured along with all the great Moms on the site. Then get her friends and family to vote for her picture posted on http://www.portraitsofmom.com/. If you don't have Windows Live Photo Gallery, you can download it for free along

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Jeff Dossett, Executive Producer and General Manager at MSN, is doing something amazing. He, and two other elite mountaineers, are heading up to the summit of Mt. Everest build awareness of (PRODUCT) RED and to inspire individuals to do amazing things. Windows is an Official Sponsor of this expedition along with Dell, MSN, MSNBC.com and several supporting partners.

 

A Windows Live Space has been set up called Everest Team INSPI(RED) for you to show your support for their endeavor and to follow their journey with blog posts, photos and videos. You will also be able to sign the guestbook and share your personal inspirations.

 

The (PRODUCT) RED Theme Pack is also available where you can download Windows Live Hotmail Signatures as well as Emoticons and Winks for Windows Live Messenger. You'll find the links to the downloads on the right sidebar of the Everest Team INSPI(RED) Windows Live Space under "Show your support!". And a desktop gadget is available for Windows Sidebar in Windows Vista to track the elevation of the expedition on their way up Mt. Everest.

 

As of yesterday - the team is at 16,000 feet! Hopefully their amazing journey will inspire

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As you may have read, the Beta release of Windows Live OneCare 2.5 is now available on Microsoft Connect for folks to start testing. I of course went ahead and installed Windows Live OneCare 2.5 to give it a spin myself. So what's new with Windows Live OneCare 2.5? After installing the Beta myself, I didn't notice anything different over the non-Beta version. I decided to ping the Windows Live OneCare team to see what we can expect with Windows Live OneCare 2.5. They tell me that the Windows Live OneCare 2.5 release is mainly what they call an "under-the-hood" release. That means that we won't see any big  new features like the great OneCare Circle introduced in 2.0.  Going forward with the Windows Live OneCare 2.5 Beta - continue to expect the improvements and changes to remain "under-the-hood" and not very noticeable in the UI.

In testing the Windows Live OneCare 2.5 Beta, I noticed after installing it on one of my PCs and signing in with my Windows Live ID that contains my OneCare Subscription - it was not displaying my OneCare Circle. This was because

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Yesterday, our friends on the Windows Mobile Team have announced Windows Mobile 6.1 at CTIA Wireless 2008 in Las Vegas. Windows Mobile Program Manager Mel Sampat made the announcement on the Windows Mobile Team Blog which also includes information on devices and carriers that will get upgrades to Windows Mobile 6.1. Keep your eyes on their blog for more Windows Mobile 6.1 information in the near future. You can also watch Microsoft President of Entertainment and Devices Division Robbie Bach's CTIA Keynote from CTIA Wireless 2008 by clicking here!

I've had the pleasure of running around with Windows Mobile 6.1 on my Samsung BlackJack II for the last few weeks and would like to share some notable improvements and new features I've taken notice of with you.

The first thing I took notice of with Windows Mobile 6.1 was the new Home Screen. The Home Screen has been redesigned to accommodate easier navigation with "tiles". This is pretty much my most favorite feature and improvement in Windows Mobile 6.1.

Click to continue reading "Experiencing the goodness that is Windows Mobile 6.1"

Written by Brandon LeBlanc on April 2nd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Windows Mobile 6.1 and Samsung BlackJack II and Windows Live for Windows Mobile and Live Search for Windows Mobile and Windows Mobile Device Center and otherSoftware and Featured News and Windows Live and Windows Mobile and Live Search and Windows Vista.