Top 10 Windows Live apps

Hoping that you'll access your online life through its gateway, Microsoft is aggressively building a new Web empire. Take just about anything that was stamped with the MSN brand and replace those three little letters with the Windows Live label. No, Windows Live is not an online version of the computer operating system. Instead, the slew of Windows Live services offers dynamic Web 2.0 appeal and strong integration, calculated to serve up seamless surfing.

Listed in random order, here are the 10 Windows Live tools that we find handy whether we're mapping trips, checking e-mail, chatting with friends, or prowling the Web for meaty content. This list is likely to change; many of these are beta previews of products that will be altered over time, and new tools and products are added almost weekly. Windows Live faces stiff competition from Google and Yahoo. (Check out more members of the Windows Live family here.)

CNET rating

8.0

1. Windows Live Local beta

As long as you have the whole world at your fingertips, why not put your mark on it? Windows Live Local innovates with a feature that even the venerable Google Maps and the flashy Yahoo Maps beta lack. It's not Local's water-balloon-throwing-distance views of urban landmarks that set it apart from the pack. Windows Live Local beta invites you to label locations with pushpins, notes, and images, then save your route and share it with others for later reference. Read editor's take

2. Windows Live Mail beta

The old-school Hotmail will soon enter the dot-com dustbin, and Windows Live Mail will take its place. In our tests of the beta version of Microsoft's new, free Web mail, we enjoy its drag-and-drop ease of use and Outlook-style layout. Fear not, however; if you've cherished a Hotmail address for the past decade, you get to keep it. Read editor's take

CNET rating

8.0

3. Windows Live Messenger

If old Star Trek episodes made you dream of commanding a fleet by videophone, grab a Webcam and fulfill that fantasy with Windows Live Messenger's full-screen video chat. This IM app offers live file sharing with security scanning, so you and your co-captain can share top-secret documents. Windows Live and Yahoo have formed an alliance allowing their IM users to chat with each other. Messenger also lets you chat via voice for free or pay to call telephones around the world. Too bad there's no option (yet) to get your own Windows Live telephone number. Read editor's take

4. Windows Live beta

The Windows Live beta is designed to become the hub of the Windows Live lineup, serving up a personal home page where you can access Windows Live Search, Favorites, Contacts and more, while adding interactive Gadgets cooked up by creative developers. You can drag around the modules to fit your fancy. Read editor's take

5. Windows Live Search beta

Google has earned entrée into that exclusive club known as the Oxford English Dictionary. Microsoft's search engine enjoys no such honor, but it's developing new capabilities that are sure to raise the profile of the former MSN Search. Windows Live Search organizes your lookups in unique ways, allowing you to search within a search, glide through results with fewer mouse clicks, find RSS feeds, and view a dynamic display of images. Read editor's take

6. Windows Live Favorites

Where, oh where did your little dog go? Did you bookmark, say, a shamefully cute blog picture of a terrier with a can of beer in his paw, only to lose the puppy among the dozens of other Web pages saved within Firefox and Internet Explorer, at home, and at work, and who knows where else? If you take 10 minutes and import all of those saved pages into Windows Live Favorites, you'll be able to organize everything on a single page, search by keywords, and access them anywhere you have Web access. Read editor's take

7. Windows Live Spaces

Watch out, MySpace. The renovation hitting Windows Live Spaces makes the blog service more like a social networking site, with dynamic Gadgets and game-playing goodness thrown in. We're intrigued by the promises; however, we can't figure out how to get all of our friends from MySpace and Friendster to take the time to set up a Spaces account. Read editor's take

8. Windows Live Toolbar

We still prefer the Firefox Web browser to Internet Explorer, but if you must surf with IE, Windows Live Toolbar plugs you into a world of features. You can use the Toolbar to drill down into an online search or to consult tiny pop-up windows that map addresses spelled out on a Web page. The Toolbar adds all kinds of icons to IE that take you to other Windows Live properties and help you find news, videos, recipes, places to shop, games, and even the latest earthquake locations. Read editor's take

9. Windows Live Academic Search beta

Need to look up the latest studies on (ouch) carpal tunnel syndrome? How about the effects of violent video games on children? Windows Live Academic Search organizes studies from scholarly scientific journals, helping you add weight to that term paper, dissertation, or business proposal. The Academic Search beta can also send you RSS feeds in your area of interest. Read editor's take

10. Windows Live QnA beta

What's the greatest video game ever? How about the easiest way to make dill pickles? Should I buy a hard-top or soft-top convertible? Ask a question on Windows Live QnA, and you shall receive a reply from other users. Similar to Yahoo Answers, this question-and-answer service taps into the wisdom of armchair experts and ranks users' reputations to establish trusted sources. Read editor's take