Services Emerge Under 'Live' Brand

As part of an ongoing effort to earn more revenue from online services, Microsoft announced Windows Live, a collection of services for consumers that consists mainly of rebranded MSN services, and Office Live, a set of small business services, such as Web site hosting and online collaboration. Both will offer some free services supported by advertising, which will impact competitors that rely on online advertising, particularly Google and Yahoo. In addition, some of the services compete directly with offerings from Microsoft partners and customers, particularly ISPs, application service providers, and utility software vendors.

At first glance, the announcement looks like a mere rebranding of Microsoft’s online services business, which has had only moderate success, with the names of its two most popular products, Windows and Office. Neither set of services requires or is particularly well-integrated with its namesake software, and both sets of services will be sold separately or offered for free. In the long run, however, Microsoft promises tighter integration between these services and its desktop software, as well as published APIs that third-party developers can build on—a key tactic in the success of Windows and (to a lesser degree) Office.