Windows Live: More than just MSN rebranded.

For years we have been using Microsoft Network or MSN branded websites and services - Hotmail, Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger, MSN home - to name a few. However, these are all changing. They are all being re-branded as part of a major drive by Microsoft to bring them all together.

The reasoning behind it is simple. Before now MSN messenger and Hotmail held two different contact lists. Making it hard to keep either of them up to date. The Windows Live concept is to bring them together, along with a lot of other tools, to create a consumer-driven network.

"Windows Live came about when we began reexamining Windows, we have a set of experiences in Windows, and platform capabilities there that nicely position it to take advantages of services. We had a bunch of great Windows experiences and we had a bunch of great online and mobile experiences but they were siloed." - Adam Sohn, Microsoft Director of Global Sales and Marketing PR

Windows Live will be joined by Office Live (designed for small businesses) and Xbox Live (already in wide use with the Xbox games console).

So what does this mean for myself? Well, it basically means that all the online Microsoft services that you have probably come across from time to time will be streamlined together - they will become one network. This is great news for the consumer as you won't have to keep four or five contact lists up to date; it will be just one that all Windows Live services can access. The Windows Live network will also go much, much further than the MSN network ever did - providing easy-use security software, online storage, search tools, shopping and even a calendar.

Microsoft are even believed to have an online currency in the works - similar to PayPal in the sense you can pay for goods and services without giving everyone your credit card details but that works on the Xbox Live system of Points. Soon you could be comparing the amount of Points an item costs in online stores rather than pounds.