Windows Live Thumbtack – The Ultimate Bookmarking Tool?

Justin Kerr — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:18:11 -0600

The Windows Live team has been pretty busy lately, and they certainly aren’t resting on their laurels with the launch of yet another web 2.0 service called “Thumbtack”. With Thumbtack users are able to save, edit, and share copies of online articles from web pages by either pasting them into the interface, or using the optional bookmarklet. The content is then hosted in an online storage bin for easy sorting and searching. Though this service has been done before by companies such as Evernote, Thumbtack’s current offering of free unlimited storage provides an excellent alternative for web scatterbrains such as myself who have always found bookmarking articles cumbersome and often tend break over time. After creating a note in Thumbtack you can click the article to access the original page, but if it’s vanished from the web, your clipping remains intact. It is also worth noting that competing free services such as Evernote only offer 40 MB of storage per month.

Currently browser support for the service is limited to Internet Explorer and Firefox. While compatibility for web kit browsers such as Chrome and Safari is noticeably absent, it’s also worth pointing out that some features have been stripped from the Firefox interface as well. These features include mass copy and paste between collections and the canvas view mode which gives users a virtual workspace. Even though this service may not be entirely unique per say, it is a promising addition to the Live Service lineup and in my case, and excellent alternative to bookmarking for archiving my favorite articles.

Is Microsoft winning you over with its online services? Let us know what you think.

Microsoft Looks for Blue Skies Ahead with its Azure Cloud Computing Platform

Mark Edward Soper — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:49:54 -0500

It was called "Project Red Dog" during development, but this week Microsoft revealed its favorite color for its cloud computing development platform is actually blue - Azure, in fact.

Windows Azure Services Platform was introduced at this week's PDC, and includes the following key components, according to eWeek:

Windows Azure (service hosting, management, low-level scalable storage, computation and networking)
Microsoft SQL Services (databases and reporting)
Microsoft .NET Services (.NET Framework workflow, access control, and so forth)
Live Services (file and media synchronization between PCs, phones, apps and website)
Microsoft SharePoint Services and CRN Services (business content, collaboration, and rapid solution development)

Applications developed using the Azure platform can be tested offline, and can be deployed locally or to the cloud, thanks to the incorporation of existing Microsoft technologies. Azure will first be made available through Microsoft data centers. Developers can use HTTP or other common Internet standards to access Azure services. Learn more at Microsoft's Azure Services Platform website.

What's the appeal of Azure for Microsoft - and developers? According to the Information Week blog, Azure offers scalable pay as you go services. It might not be "The End of Software?" as Information Week wonders, but Azure is the latest sign that services, not shrinkwrapped packages of Microsoft whatever, may be the wave of the future for profitability in Redmond - and for maximum flexibility in uncertain times for developers.

With Amazon.com already in the game, Windows Azure is playing catch up. Will the sky remain the intense "October blue" of azure for Redmond, or will its vision of cloud computing be clouded over by the competition? Developers, you can register for the Community Technology Preview to find out for yourself (and your company). But, whether you're a developer or a user, feel free to click the Comments button to tell us what you think about Windows Azure and cloud computing.

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Windows Live Thumbtack – The Ultimate Bookmarking Tool?

Microsoft Looks for Blue Skies Ahead with its Azure Cloud Computing Platform