14 DAY TRIAL // The evolution of Windows Live and its suite of applications and services continues even after the introduction of Wave 3 releases. One illustrative example in this context is the shell change delivered to Windows Live Spaces. The service received a minor cosmetic revamping that Microsoft started rolling out on February 4, 2009, and which should, by this point in time, be visible to all users. More specifically, the Redmond company modified the header of Windows Live Spaces in a move designed to make the UI more user friendly. In fact, Chris Keating, Microsoft product manager, indicated that the change was catalyzed by end user input related to the old header.
“We're making a change to Spaces that is a direct result of the feedback you gave us,” Keating stated, adding that users were not happy with the evolution of the header, and found it hard to find their way to additional Windows Live components. “We heard that earlier changes we’d made to the Spaces header actually caused you confusion and made it more difficult to navigate to other Windows Live services after viewing someone’s personal space,” Keating added.
Some users are already able to enjoy the new header. “[We have begun] to update Spaces to add the standard Windows Live navigation links across the top, so you have a consistent way to navigate to and from all the Windows Live services,” Keating revealed. However, users will notice that the header will remain largely the same, with the sole addition of a range of links and a search field. In this context, the link menu featuring Home, Profile, People, Mail, Photos, More and MSN is now residing at the very top of the page next to the search box.
“If you don’t see the new header yet, wait a day or so – we’ve got a lot of users to roll this out to, and it generally takes a little while to get updates out to everyone,” Keating said. “We hope that this change helps make it easier to stay in touch with your friends and family on Spaces and throughout Windows Live. As always, keep the feedback coming. We are listening.”