Tuesday Miscrosoft MIX: Atlas, Windows Live Mail, More
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Written By Reprise Media | March 21, 2006 | Share This
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Microsoft invited a panoply of guests to join them at their MIX ‘06 conference in Las Vegas (described as a “72-hour conversation between Web developers, designers and business leaders” - sounds like a Guinness feat), which kicked off this morning with a Bill Gates keynote stressing that the future of the web lies beyond Windows. Gates said that with the rise of technology that gives consumers more access to information while away from their PCs, it’s important to develop online applications designed with more mobile users in mind.
Microsoft also took the opportunity to announce a couple of product releases: an updated public preview of Internet Explorer 7 (still in beta preview, so buckle up) and a new build of Atlas, a developer tool that simplifies the process of injecting AJAX-type usability into web applications. AJAX programming makes it possible to refresh only certain elements within a browser window - this is the stuff that powers many draggable online interactive maps, for instance - but (not surprisingly) it can get pretty complex for developers to use. Atlas, ideally, would make powerful AJAX capabilities less of an ordeal to implement.
Win Some, Lose Some Elsewhere in the blogosphere, another Microsoft beta product is receiving a cooler reception. Philipp Lenssen can’t get Windows Live Mail to work right, and he’s got the video to prove it. We caution that the product is in an invite-only test for Hotmail users, but the report makes it seem really buggy. It can only be accessed from IE 6, the search function apaprently can’t search text in the bodies of emails, and clicking on a web link in an email does…nothing. We repeat, this is only a test.
Microsoft: “Ich bin ein Berliner” Is it just us, or does Germany seem to be getting a lot of these neat internet television goodies before anyone else? BBC says that Microsoft and Deutsche Telekom will work together to bring broadband TV service to several German cities later this year. Using Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) technology and blistering broadband speeds, the network will deliver high defenition, interactive and on-demand programming in addition to regular old TV shows. We hope they’ll remember all their German favorites.
Topics: Conferences & Events |