The promise that comes with the Outlook Social Connector for MySpace is that the add-in is capable of putting the social network inside of Microsoft’s email client. A Beta development milestone of MySpace for Outlook is currently available for download, allowing end users to connect with MySpace friends inside Microsoft Outlook. Version: 1.0.0.5 of the add-in, released on March 8th, 2010, is compatible with Outlook 2003/2007/2010 running on Windows.

“MySpace for Outlook enables you to view activity updates for friends and colleagues in the People Pane, synchronize your MySpace contact list to your Outlook contacts, and get one-click access to profiles,” Michael Affronti, Outlook program manager, revealed. By bridging MySpace accounts, the Office mail client customers will be able to enjoy the evolution of the Outlook Social Connector through the addition of new connections.

Users of the latest iteration of Office Outlook will need to update the Outlook Social Connector before installing the MySpace add-in. While Microsoft is already test-driving the Release Candidate development milestone of Office 2010, only the Beta build is available to the general public. In this regard, users that are running Office 2010 Outlook Beta will need to uninstall the Outlook Social Connector that they grabbed from the Microsoft Download Center, and subsequently remove the OSC that shipped by default with Outlook 2010 Beta. Only then are testers required to install the Outlook Social Connector again (instructions are here).

Mike Jones, co-president, MySpace, enumerated a range of tasks made possible by the new MySpace for Outlook plug-in:

“•View MySpace friend activity updates in Outlook – The activity updates can be seen every time you open a friend's email or the MySpace Contacts List.

“•Create a special MySpace Contact List, bringing all of your MySpace friend info into one convenient location.

“•Utilize the new Outlook Social Connector ‘People Pane,’ which shows friend activity and status updates.

“•Access hyperlinks in the activity updates, allowing you to quickly jump to see various activities, such as posting a new picture, recording a new video, recording a new song, or making a new friend.

“•Get one-click access to your friends' MySpace profiles.

“•Easily email MySpace friends from Outlook.”

MySpace for Outlook Beta is available for download here.

Office 2010 Beta 14.0.4536.1000 is available for download here.

Outlook Social Connector 32-bit (Beta) is available for download here.

LinkedIn for Outlook 2010 is available for download here.