Vista - WIndows Live Essentials Beta Refresh but still a lot of work to do

In this Beta Refresh I don't see anything important new, just a couple of
estethics touchs but the real important things to do are yet to be done (If
you ever do them):

1) Still ugly and old stationery themes, not a single good theme like in
Apple Mail

2) Still too few options for the photo mail, I can't really adjust photos to
make a great composition like in Apple Mail

3) No autodiscovery of addresses, phone numbers, names, e-mail etc. in the
e-mail body, to easily add them in calendar, address book or to do list,
always like Apple Mail

4) Still no consistency between all the Windows Live apps both on and off
line: Windows Live have some themes, Messenger have only few of them but not
dynamics, Mail doesn't have them at all and Photogallery doesn't have themes
or color schemes at all! Integration, integration where are you?

5) Please! I understand you choosed to eliminate icons but a lot of people
here have told you we don't like textual!
It's not intuitive at all to use, you have to memorize all the position
commands instead of identify them at first look.
At least let us choose between plain text, text and icons or only icons, but
don't decide for us!

6) I would like to see offline reminders for the calendar, it will be LOTTA
useful!

Hi, Sonic.

I guess it all depends on how YOU use WLM versus how I use it. The things
you mention are of little importance to me. (Except maybe for #5 and #6.)
Since I never use Hotmail, and don't have multiple users on my computer or
my own network, and have only POP3 accounts...

For me, it's great that they’ve fixed at least four regressions that had
been making WLM 0908 very clumsy to use.

1. Next unread folder (Ctrl+J) works again! I have my mouse buttons
programmed for Ctrl+J and Ctrl+U (Next unread message) and now I can
navigate through all my mail and news without touching the keyboard, just
like in OE/WM and earlier WLM builds.

2. Spell-check works! I can Add words to the custom dictionary "on the
fly", rather than having to use Notepad.

3. The Folder list in Newsgroups is now right-aligned, like in WM, so
that we can see the important part of the NG name, rather than the endless
repetition of microsoft.public...

4. Signatures work again, just like in OE/WM/earlier WLM.

And they've added a few features that I had been clamoring for:

5. There is now a Sync button on the Toolbar in Mail (and it has a
drop-down menu). Saves only a single mouse-click, since we could use Tools
| Sync before, but it's handy to have it there, just like on the Toolbar in
News. (On the News toolbar, the name changed from Sync All to Sync
Everything, but that doesn't bother me; it still syncs both Mail and News.)

6. The Calendar works. I haven't used this much, but maybe I will now.

I'm ambivalent about the new colors. I agree with the comments that the
Subject (in the Message List) is more important than the From, especially in
Mail, and should be bolded more noticeably. The

That's not all the good and bad (from my perspective), but it will do for
now. Overall, I like this new build a lot. ;<)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2009 1202 in Win7 x64 6801)

"Sonic" <Sonic@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:7A54A448-3A55-47EB-9D78-91EDD212DDA9@xxxxxx

Hi,
no I don't think it's something subjective: apart if anyone use it or not,
stationery IS ugly, old and unuseful and it might be done better. The same
for photo mail. Also, consistency is a great issue in the interfaces matters
and the lack of consistency across applications IS something wrong.

Also, all the functions I said are really useful and help improve and fasten
your workflow.
It's not important if someone write 2 simple mails at day, because there are
a lot other people that works with WLM and, for example, have the possibility
to autodiscover addresses, phone numbers, mail etc. automatically in the body
of a mail to flawlessly add them into address book etc. is REALLY helpful.


"R. C. White" wrote:

you made some good points.

#2: I think they've gone backwards with photomail. In the beta of the OLD
version there much more options for borders and edges. The current ones are
ugly and not elegant at all.
#5: I've made this point before, but they took the time to hide the file
menu. Then they essentially replaced it with another iconless toolbar. This
move makes no sense. If they want to change the UI, then give us the
ribbon!! ..and where are the menu tree icons?? stupid stupid stupid.




"Sonic" <Sonic@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:7A54A448-3A55-47EB-9D78-91EDD212DDA9@xxxxxx

I agree with the icon removal, especially since so many mentioned it after
the last build. If they want to use the ribbon, like Office 2007, fine, at
least there is some consistency. I think icons are easier/quicker to
recognize than words. I am running WLM in Windows 7 64 bit build 6801, and
it (WLM) looks "dead", or "anemic" at best, as someone else posted. Maybe
I'll try it in Vista for awhile and see if it looks any better there. I'm
afraid I cannot condone the direction WLM appears to be heading.



"osu9400" <osu9400@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:#$qYRsGYJHA.652@xxxxxx
you made some good points.

#2: I think they've gone backwards with photomail. In the beta of the OLD
version there much more options for borders and edges. The current ones are
ugly and not elegant at all.
#5: I've made this point before, but they took the time to hide the file
menu. Then they essentially replaced it with another iconless toolbar. This
move makes no sense. If they want to change the UI, then give us the
ribbon!! ..and where are the menu tree icons?? stupid stupid stupid.




"Sonic" <Sonic@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:7A54A448-3A55-47EB-9D78-91EDD212DDA9@xxxxxx

I don't see how stationery is important to most email.
If the email is read as plain text, the stationery is never seen.
--
Ronald Sommer

"Sonic" <Sonic@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:49776ED0-ABE6-458D-9DFA-E58A0E490C27@xxxxxx