When you think of Web apps and services, Microsoft doesn’t immediately come to mind. Lately, though, the company has been rolling out a slew of them, including several that match or beat competing offerings from Google, Yahoo, and any number of startups you’ve never heard of.

Which of those Microsoft services are the best? We’ve tried them all, and we’ve selected five free hidden gems.You’ll notice that most of these services carry Microsoft’s “Live” brand. If you’re like most people, you’re probably thoroughly confused by the Live lineup, and by what Live actually means–especially since Microsoft has muddied the waters with the newer “Live Essentials” moniker. For the record, Windows Live is a central online location for accessing the Live services and applications. Windows Live Essentials is a subset of the Windows Live brand that houses downloadable applications, including Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Messenger, and others.

Windows Live SkyDrive

How’s this for a deal: Get 25GB of online storage, at no cost, with no strings attached. That’s what Windows Live SkyDrive offers. Just create folders on the site and upload files to it. You can share any of your folders with colleagues, as well. The site’s design is simple and straightforward.

That isn’t to say SkyDrive is flawless. You can’t use it as a virtual drive–it won’t appear on your PC as a drive, so you can’t save files directly to it within a program like Microsoft Word. That’s a minor point, though. You can’t argue with 25GB of free storage, especially considering that neither Google nor Yahoo currently has this kind of service. While Google is rumored to be working on a similar service called GDrive, Yahoo’s Briefcase provides only 25MB of space, and is shutting down at the end of March anyway. So right now Windows Live SkyDrive is as good as online storage gets.

Windows Live Sync

If you have more than one PC and you want to keep files and folders on them synchronized, you need this service. After you download and run a small piece of software on each PC, head to the Windows Live Sync Web site and tell it which folders on which PCs should stay in sync.

You can synchronize your personal folders as well as your shared ones. Whenever any of your PCs are connected to the Internet, they will automatically sync the specified folders with one another. In addition, you can connect to any synced computer from any other computer to browse through the remote system’s entire hard disk and to download files.

Note that unlike some of the fee-based sync services we looked at last year, Live Sync does not keep copies of your files in the cloud: It merely serves as a conduit between PCs. Since it involves no online storage, however, it puts no iimit on the amount of data you can sync. And, of course, it’s free.

Live Mesh

Here’s a free Microsoft service for people who do want to keep their files in the cloud. Though Live Mesh is more powerful than Windows Live Sync, it’s also a bit more complicated.

Rather than synchronize files and folders from PC to PC, you create folders in Live Mesh and then have all of your PCs synchronize with those folders. With this arrangement, you can access the files and folders from any Internet-connected computer. You have an exceptional amount of control over the synchronization, too–for example, you can choose to synchronize only the files modified in the last 30 days, or those under 500MB. Live Mesh supports remote control of any PC in your mesh, as well. So far, Microsoft has announced no plans to charge for storage–or to limit the amount of data you can store.

Microsoft researchers are working on a new browser called Gazelle which it promises will have some impressive new features and capabilities.  The firm released a research paper (PDF) late last week, saying that the new browser would offer significant security improvements compared to other browsers, including Internet Explorer. “No existing browsers, including new architectures like Internet Explorer 8, Google Chrome and OP, have a multi-principal operating system construction that gives a browser-based operating system the exclusive control to manage the protection of all system resources among web site principals,” Microsoft said in the report.The browser will change this tradition by being built on its own kernel, in effect allowing it to operate as an operating system. This means that Gazelle could intelligently identify traffic, and react to anything malicious.

“Our prototype implementation and evaluation experience indicates that it is realistic to turn an existing browser into a multi-principal operating system that yields significantly stronger security and robustness with acceptable performance and backward compatibility,” the researchers wrote.

The browser is only open for discussion at this stage, and there are no current plans for a release in any form.

“The implementation and evaluation of our IE-based prototype shows promise of a practical multi-principal operating system-based browser in the real world,” the researchers concluded.

In the letter, Veghte wrote: “Our plan is to deliver Windows 7 approximately three years after the January 2007 general availability launch date of Windows Vista.

“You’ve also let us know you don’t want to face the kinds of incompatibility challenges with the next version of Windows you might have experienced early with Windows Vista.

“Our goal is to ensure that the migration process from Windows Vista to Windows 7 is straightforward.”

Well, if Intel is anything to go by, it won’t be the migration from Vista to Windows 7 that will be the problem, it will be the migration from XP to Windows 7 that most computer users will be worried about.

Source: http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/windows-7-date-is-confirmed-410016

1. Conform to better web standards

Internet Explorer (IE) is anything but a fully compliant web standard browser. Every other browser, including Opera and Safari is standards compliant. What this means is that IE users can’t “see” the page exactly how the web designer wanted it to be viewed. But due to the widespread, albeit declining, popularity of IE, more sites are designed for IE users which means that the site appears broken in other browsers. A newer version of IE, with stricter regard to web standards will save viewers, as well as web developers, countless headaches. Nowadays, a website appears broken in Firefox once in a blue moon, ie. never.

Nowadays, more and more websites are being developed within the guidelines of web standards, so IE users risk having a “broken browser” while other users are happily browsing. Microsoft should concentrate on adhering to stricter web guidelines. Their IE 8 Beta is a step in the right direction.

2. Let’s see some innovation in Internet Explorer

Graphical updates aren’t innovative, Microsoft. Let’s be honest. What new features have we seen lately and those that are actually useful? While Microsoft is scratching their heads, Mozilla has come up with the “awesome bar” in Firefox 3. You can search your entire browsing history just by typing a word in the address bar, and Firefox displays the most relevant results. It has saved me the trouble of having to type in common web addresses that I regularly visit.

Then there is the crash recovery feature in Firefox, which automatically restores your previous browsing session in case of a power out or if Windows crashes(which it does often). And the best thing that Microsoft has come up with in IE 8, is Activities and Safari-like Webslices.

3. Build a robust and more secure browser

Face it. If the underlying code is flawed, hackers will continually find ways to exploit holes, no matter how many patches you push out to frustrated customers. Although noting is perfect and even though a security hole surfaced in Firefox 3, but having a robust and reliable base from the ground up will go a long way in terms of security and reliability, and less development time spent on fixing and patches.

But is Microsoft alone to blame? It appears that hackers deliberately target IE because of it’s widespread popularity. That way, if they can successfully exploit a hole, they have greater chances of infecting a wide array of PCs. But that trend is soon to change, with Firefox’s increasing popularity.

4. Open source and a plethora of plug-ins

While IE may never go open source, but Microsoft can at least work to have a wide range of plug-ins for their users. Another reason for Firefox’s growing market share is that is is highly customizable with the tons of plug-ins available. With a simple download, Firefox can be anything you want it to be. A full-fledged and much better RSS feed reader or even a blog editor, which I use . And even the look of Firefox can be changed with themes.

It is impossible for a single company to meet the needs of millions of users and that’s where open source comes in. With the combined resources of hundreds of developers, Microsoft can ensure that its browser will appeal to everyone’s needs.

5. Have a faster and more efficient rendering engine

According to a PCWorld.com test report in May 2008, Firefox took a mere 3.61 seconds to load a page from the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark site. IE 8 (Beta) isn’t much far behind, at 10.2 seconds, compared to the dismal 50 seconds it took IE 7 to complete the benchmark. Even I feel a new sense of speed after switching to Firefox 3. Pages load much faster on my turtle-speed net connection than IE 7. Kudos to Mozilla for building a great and free browser.

I use Firefox 3, do you?

The best thing I did was moving to Firefox 3. To read a complete review of Firefox 3, I recommend heading to the Winsupersite. And if you’ve made up your mind, you can Get Firefox with Google Toolbar. Yes, I get a commission every time someone downloads.

Gates left Harvard after two years to found the firm that became global powerhouse Microsoft. He later received honorary degrees from Harvard and other universities.

After retiring, Gates will remain chairman of the Microsoft board of directors and its largest shareholder.

“I don’t think anything is going to drastically change the day he leaves,” said Matt Rosoff of the private analyst firm Directions On Microsoft.

“If he thinks something is important and tells Steve Ballmer, Ballmer will listen to him.”

Still, Gates’ bespectacled nerdish visage is an integral part of Microsoft’s image and his departure is symbolic, according to analysts.

“The challenge Microsoft has when the founder departs is remembering its heart,” said analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.

“At some point the firm has to take the essence of what made Bill Gates successful and make sure that is preserved. Whether it is a company or a person, once you’ve lost your heart there isn’t much left but a shell.”

Analysts say there are signs Microsoft has been struggling since Gates stepped away from managing operations several years ago.

The Windows and Office software on which its fortune is built have stumbled.

Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system released in January of 2007 has flopped with customers, many of whom are clinging to its predecessor Windows XP.

“They are in trouble on the desktop (computer software),” Enderle said. “Microsoft started as a desktop vendor and suddenly it is its weakness.”

Meanwhile, Apple’s Macintosh computers have been gaining popularity.

While Windows is still used on 90 per cent of the world’s computers, Macintosh computers using Apple operating systems have grown rapidly.

The software giant also sees its bottom line threatened by Google, which offers free online programs that compete with Office and other packaged software sold by Microsoft.

Microsoft failed in a recent bid to buy Yahoo for nearly US$50 billion in order to combine online resources to better battle Google in the internet search and advertising market.

Enderle said he didn’t see Gates’ fingers in the attempted takeover, and Gates was likely to have been among board members who backed pulling the plug on acquisition talks.

Microsoft’s server and tools division is its most profitable unit. It’s entertainment unit, which sells Xbox video game consoles and gaming software, has yet to make a profit.

“You could see Microsoft struggling after Bill Gates steps out of day-to-day roles,” Enderle said.

“A founder takes such a larger-than-life role and directs a company in very subtle ways that are often forgotten when a founder leaves. That gap, for a lot of companies, has been almost terminal.”

Exhibit A: The “Multi-Touch” technology that Microsoft plans to offer in Windows 7. As my colleague J. Nicholas Hoover reports, the technology is designed to allow users to open and close windows, launch applications, and perform other functions by touching the screen and using an assortment of hand gestures.

That’s uh, interesting, if it works; the history of failed direct input technologies is long and inglorious.

But, like Vista’s seldom used Flip 3-D interface, it’s nothing more than a resource-hungry novelty that will be used infrequently by people who spend most of their day on a PC. It’s simpler, faster, and ergonomically better to use a mouse for most functions.

Microsoft also previewed another gimmicky new function in Windows 7 called Concierge, which is basically a circular pop-up menu. Whoa, that’s worth buying another 2 GB of RAM!

So what’s the harm? Users not drawn to such bells and whistles can just turn them off, right? That’s only partly true. Vista requires considerably more processing power and memory than Windows XP, whether or not you use all its features.

And most users don’t want or all these googahs, especially if they require hundreds of dollars worth of additional hardware. In fact, computer users — in business or at home — in general want a machine that can handle word processing, e-mail, and the Internet, and that’s about it.

That’s why Wal-Mart’s $199 Linux PC sold out within days of its appearance on the retailer’s Web site. That’s why a story I wrote about a software tool that lets users strip all the gunk from Vista proved to be one of our most popular articles of the year.

Microsoft appears to be in denial about all of this, if early glimpses of Windows 7 are any indication. The company once again has adopted the kitchen sink approach to OS design. MinWin, apparently, was nothing more than a science fair project.

Microsoft’s problem is that its business model has come to rely on selling operating systems that cost more than the hardware on which they reside. It knows this can’t be sustained indefinitely, there’s too many new options in the marketplace. Apple is resurgent, Google’s eyeing the desktop, and there’s those Wal-Mart Linux PCs.

But Ballmer and company have apparently decided that they can sell a few more big fat operating systems until they get this whole Internet thing figured out (or buy their way into it).

It’s a risky strategy. (Otellini to Ballmer, circa late 2009: “Steve, the users are revolting!” Ballmer to Otellini: “Tell them to bathe!”)