Facebook not on the friends list as Microsoft rolls out new Windows Live

Microsoft plans to connect its Windows Live online services to Flickr, Twitter, LinkedIn, Yelp and many other popular sites – creating a central place for Internet users to monitor and manage their far-flung digital lives.

Unless those lives are on MySpace or Facebook.

Microsoft tonight is unveiling overhauled versions of its Windows Live services, to be rolled out in the coming weeks. One new feature lets people see their photos, friends’ updates, reviews and other data from separate online services -- without leaving Windows Live.

Absent from the list, however, are the kings of social networking.

“They’re missing the two biggies,” said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Kirkland-based Directions on Microsoft. “Until those are added, it’s only moderately interesting.”

Chris Jones, a Windows Live vice president, declined to discuss any details of behind-the-scenes talks. However, he said that adding MySpace and Facebook would simply require those sites to make available the RSS feeds needed to pull data into Windows Live. Microsoft has created a hub on Windows Live where people can quickly choose feeds from other sites.

"We would certainly love to see Facebook and MySpace and others publish RSS feeds of their activities that could then be shared across Windows Live, and that's really their decision of whether they want to go and do that or not," Jones said.

In the case of Facebook, the situation is more noteworthy because Microsoft has a minority ownership stake in the company and partners with it on advertising. It's not clear if the companies just couldn't come to an agreement on the feed, or if they have something else in mind to further connect their online initiatives.

In an e-mail, Facebook spokeswoman Brandee Barker didn’t address Windows Live specifically. But she described Microsoft as “a great partner” and said the companies are “always exploring ways we can work more closely on various products and programs.”

One of the most popular features of Facebook is the “news feed” that provides a constant stream of status updates, photos and other information from friends. Facebook may be reluctant to make that feed available elsewhere because that could reduce the amount of time people spend on its site, said David Card, a Forrester Research analyst.

Or maybe this got Facebook's attention: Microsoft’s new services include "Windows Live Profile" -- with elements similar to Facebook.

For example, the Windows Live Profile is one of the places that will show information and status updates from Windows Live and third-party sites. That informational feed, dubbed “What’s New,” will also be available in revamped versions of Windows Live Hotmail and Messenger.

As part of the Windows Live revamp -- known informally as "Wave 3" -- Microsoft has overhauled such services as Windows Live Calendar, Events and the Spaces blogging service. Apart from Windows Live Profile, new additions include Windows Live People, a central place for managing contacts; Windows Live Groups, for sharing and collaborating; and Windows Live Photos, which includes an advanced slide-show feature.

Microsoft says the new services will be available in the coming weeks at www.windowslive.com.

The company has also overhauled Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Hotmail, its heavily used instant-messaging and Web-based e-mail programs. (Some users have reacted negatively to the Hotmail changes.) In addition, Microsoft is now offering as part of Windows Live some programs that were formerly bundled with Windows, such as Movie Maker.

Some of the Windows Live changes seem a competitive response to the big social-networking sites, Forrester's Card said. However, he added, “it doesn’t feel to me like it’s going to steal a lot of eyeballs away from Facebook or MySpace anytime soon.”

Microsoft’s Jones acknowledged that some people might see the overhaul as a competitive response to those sites. Asked if he sees it that way, Jones responded, “I see this as our response to customer needs and customer challenges.”

Those challenges include managing and overseeing a wide variety of online profiles and accounts.

The company’s new approach recognizes that most people will continue to use a variety of online services and social-networking sites. The idea isn’t to supplant those services, Jones said, but rather to give people an easy way of accessing information from them.

Charlene Li, industry analyst and founder of Altimeter Group, said she wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft and Facebook ultimately work out an arrangement to incorporate Facebook feeds into Windows Live.

“I imagine it’s a matter of time, because so many people are using Facebook,” she said.

This new Windows Live section will let users establish the connection to photos, updates, reviews and other data from their accounts on separate sites.