Now that I’m working for Microsoft I get an interesting perspective on the inner-workings of one of the largest software makers in the world. I will share some of what I see and hear on the inside and hopefully provide some insight into the company you love to hate (or vice versa).

Well, it may come as no big surprise that Microsoft is driving with a vengeance to improve their online services to compete with the likes of Google and Yahoo. The brand for this armada of online services is Windows Live (http://www.live.com). The company is fully invested in these services and driving forward with the launch of 100’s of new services over the coming months.

My friend over at Jetteson recently tried out Windows Live Writer (which I’m using for this post). Although not an actual online service in the true sense, it represents a little bit of innovation from a company striving to be seen as an innovator and not a follower.

Live Writer is quite simple, yet is one of my favorite offerings in the Windows Live family. Here are some others:

1. Live Homepage - I love having the ability to aggregate my news and blog sources together on one site so I can scan them quickly (not a ‘new’ thing, but Live does it well). Live search is also very adequate (the image search really shines though).
2. Local Live - The map service that got me to stop using Google Maps because of it’s ability to do traffic overlays, address collections and the oh-so-lovely bird’s eye view.
3. OneCare - The all-in-one anti-virus, spyware, back-up, tune-up software app that makes life so much easier - and works great too.

Ok, I will post more about MS soon. The good, the bad and the ugly. Stay tuned.