There are many people against the latest Microsoft advertising campaign. I don’t know why, maybe because it is evaluated at around $300 mil. And for this amount of money, people want something extraordinary. But still I can’t justify people’s reaction.

Regarding the campaign, it seems like the next phase was a similar move as the Mojave experiment. But only this time the project was machine oriented and not operating system. It all starts with the tag line: I’AM A PC. And based on this line, these new ads are trying to connect people from all around the world.

I was impressed by the diversity and at the same time familiar faces that are in the commercials. All persons featured in these ads have different backgrounds but share a similar passion for PC. In this initiative I will follow Microsoft and I will also say that: I’AM A PC.

And it doesn’t have to be Apple made to be a designer or web developer. I can design using Windows and a whole range of Windows based software applications. I like PC, I enjoy PC … I’AM A PC.

I’m sure that by now, everyone knows about the famous deal between Microsoft and the one and only Jerry Seinfeld. A deal worth $10 millions with hope in gaining great reviews and a better view regarding Vista operating system.

The first commercial is called The Shoe Circus and it features Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. Enjoy!

From my point a view, the commercial is a success. It has good messages and a very nice story. Also Jerry and Bill are quite good. They look like they don’t fit and that is the beauty. Although Bill is not the best actor, but watching the ad we can all approve that the man has charisma.

Let’s take a look at Jerry’s first line. “Quality shoes at discount prices, why pay more?”
In this line you can find a description to Microsoft Vista. The motto refers half at Microsoft Vista, half at Apple. Because we all know that Apple has big prices, and we also know that Vista is a competitor in the pc/mac market share. So, that motto is not randomly placed there.

During the whole length of the commercial, some dialog lines are targeted at Vista but not directly. The ad has nothing aggressive and it is an enjoyable clip. It does not look like a classic commercial, but that gives an edge, curiosity and acceptance to the viewers.

I highly recommend this ad, if not for the product but for the amazing opportunity of seeing Bill Gates shaking his booty. Cheers!

PS: Soon I will debate the second commercial or mini-film from Microsoft.

Acting Rating:
Originality Rating:
Bill Gates’ shaking Rating:
——————–
Graphic Rating:

My workflow for writing a blog post was composed of multiple previews and changes. So basically, I was busy 60% of the time writing, and around 40% editing and placing the pictures and other additional tasks. That was up until today.

I want to introduce an awesome product for blogging. This is a new thing for me, and I want to share this nice piece of software that is helping me write this post. The application that I’m talking about is Windows Live Writer - made by Microsoft.  It is a simple desktop software that is does the writing activity more pleasant.

The first question that pops in readers’ mind is: why do you need something like that?
There is no standard answer for this question, but I will try to give my reasons. One of the most important fact is that in this way, by using an external and independent editor, my stats regarding visits will be more accurate. This is helpful when you are trying to see what type of content is more popular and other user behaviors. Other reason will be that I’m no longer forced to use a browser that will sometimes crash due to extensions (Firefox) or lack of stability (others).’

Regarding the program, Windows Live Writer is easy to install. But one nice part is that the configuration is painless - just 2 clicks away. And the benefits are much more than accurate stats - you can see the preview while typing your post, nice and clean interface. You can easily insert video files, pictures, tables (which is painful in Wordpress) and not to mention the Insert Map function.

Also you can add multiple plug-ins from Microsoft’s web site and you can extend this application. But you don’t need me to tell you this - you can find out for yourself. Anyway - Kudos for Windows Live Writer team for this productive piece of software.

User Interface Rating:
User Experience Rating:
Features Rating:
——————–
Graphic Rating:

Back in February 2008, Microsoft bought the maker of TrueSpace 3D, Caligari Corporation. This move was made so that Virtual Earth team would have resources for 3d environments. A good move I think, because TrueSpace at that time was a good and competitive product. It is true that it didn’t had a good marketing campaign, but the program had features and strong capabilities to help Microsoft Virtual Earth.

It seems like a couple of weeks ago, based on Microsoft solid financial situation, the last version of TrueSpace 3D - 7.6 -, was released for free. Along with the application, the PDF files and also video tutorials were posted as free. Smart choice for Microsoft, which hopes to gain new users, that in the future will contribute to Virtual Earth 3D environments.

The purchase was a similar move as Google’s Sketchup aquisition, but compared to TrueSpace, Sketchup is just a kid. TrueSpace has professional features and capabilities along with a quite powerful community. And with this free release, Microsoft can start educational programs in order to make its name and services popular.

Keep in mind that this is not a free version of the application without some features, it is the full commercial application for free. So, if you are interested into 3d, you can check Caligari home page and download your own version of a powerful 3D application. Cheers!

From the start I will tell you that there is no such thing as the perfect search engine. But I will try to explain what is good in major search engines, and should exist as features in the next perfect search engine. I will start to list the search engines quoted in this topic. Some are familiar some are no names, but for sure all have at least one good feature. Here we go: Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Live, Ask, Quintura, Powerset, Wikia and Cuil.

First page features:

AUTOCOMPLETE: [Google, Yahoo, Ask, Cuil].
This is standard right now, because this feature helps the user select faster a certain search term based on initial letters. The drawback is that sometimes it can slow the user and confuse him at the same time.

PRIVACY / EULA: [All subjects have this feature].
I think that this feature is a must on the front page of any search engine. The user must know the legal limitations in order to decide whether the service is worth using or not.

WEB / IMAGES / VIDEOS: [All subjects have this feature].
One strong feature is diversity. If the search engine can provide different type of data, then the first screen should display this capability.

Results page features:

RELATED SEARCH: [Most of the subjects].
The user is undecided. Sometimes he doesn’t know in what category is the search result situated. So the related search will help him in narrowing the results and finding relevant data.

SEARCH TERM HIGHLIGHTED IN RESULTS:[All subjects have this feature].
I’m glad that this is a standard feature. It is very good to see how the search term is displayed inside result’s content. This also helps the user to stay on focus on a certain domain.

ORDERED RESULTS:[Quintura, Ask].
This is a feature that is not implemented in most search engines. I think it is a major drawback, because a simple number in front of the result will make the user remember easier the search result. Also this will give a certain structure to the overall look of the results page and it can sustain a better user experience.

Global features:

GREAT USER EXPERIENCE: [Quintura, Powerset, Cuil].
It seems like the newcomers have some advantages in this field through some innovation or improved features. Quintura for example has it’s own interactive tag cloud while Cuil and Powerset have other interaction features. Wikia has its own features but I don’t think that for now are in the search results benefit, except for the following.

SCROLLING ACTION: [Wikia].
This is a feature that I like very much. It is an automatic results display while scrolling. In this case you don’t have to press on a page number from pagination, in order to see other results. Awesome feature and pretty accessible.

IMPROVED RANKING ALGORITHM: [None so far].
There are many ranking systems but what’s the point? We need a ranking system based on quality not links quantity. Also a better system against copy/paste sites. This will make the search results more relevant and the users happier.

CONTENT:[We can combine all together].
The content is huge. But its quality is the problem. If the search engines can sort their data, then the search process will be less painful and more productive.

Overall there are some needed features and some standards to be implemented. Also I believe that it will take some time until a new competitive search engine will appear. Cheers!

Microsoft and pictures … this is not a clear image for daily web surfers. But it happened. Microsoft Labs along with University of Washington created a powerful software application related to the visual world. And guess what? … It is FREE.

True innovation
It looked promising from the first preview in 2006. But now, when it is officially launched, this application rocks. The application is called Photosynth and it is a software that creates 3d spaces from 2d images. For example, the application can create a virtual space from photos that have the same subject. It is necessary to have multiple photos from different perspectives in order to recreate an accurate environment. In order to view the environment, you have to install a small plugin for your browser… and after that it works flawless.

The experience is great and the applications is innovative and unique. Sorry, not so unique. It seems like Google made a similar version of Photosynth a couple of months ago. Anyway, back to Microsoft Photosynth.
From my point of view this application is awesome. It is the next thing for pictures, after Flickr. The developers from Microsoft Labs can easily set-up a visual encyclopedia with descriptions for each environment. Also Photosynth can be used in schools as an interactive study way for geography.

Conclusion
I have no complains but only kudos for the developers behind this awesome application. Truly inspiring and visionary application. Keep up the good work.

Innovation Rating:
User Experience Rating:
User Interface Rating:
——————–
Graphic Rating:

Yes, I know that all of you are used to the Windows look, … but this time is radical. Now, we have more gradients and at the same time a lighter color scheme. Oh, I was talking about microsoft.com/windows, not the Windows operating system.

Microsoft keeps on updating the visual style on its online properties. Now the whole windows area from Microsoft.com is changed. From Windows Vista to Windows Mobile, now all Windows related fields are redesigned and have a common style. I like it. It is not something extraordinary and it is not grunge … which is a good thing. Good work guys!

Looks like still content is king, but design is coming strong!

I was just surfing on Techcrunch and in one of the comments there was a link with the new design for My MSN - Microsoft’s version for Netvibes, iGoogle, My Yahoo! and my favorite Feedly. Oh, I must mention that the post was regarding My Yahoo! small retouching session.

So, I followed the link and discovered that Microsoft is working to improve My MSN image. As I was telling you several months ago, Microsoft is going through a big redesign process.
Back to My MSN. This service is not on everybody’s favorite list. That is because MSN is not exactly a trend setter or innovator. Regarding the new design, a big annoying thing pops into my eyes: GLOSSY buttons. C’mon guys, admit that Vista was not a big hit and go on. I mean, every mature designer will tell you that glossy is history.
But, beside that, the overall look is OK, not far from the existing one. It has more spacing and obviously more options. The response time is a little bit bigger than Netvibes and My Yahoo but it might be my connection. I really like the big and spacious header. It is quite clean and I’ve seen it used in many designs. Big headers are now not a problem but a solution in creating a good user experience.

Some recommendations
In the end I would say that the buttons can have a simple style, the white background behind the content should be changeable, the text in some content boxes should have a proper typography.

I think that the final product should be more polished but, it is a good move.

User Interface Rating:
User Experience Rating:
Design Rating:
——————–
Graphic Rating:

“Expression Design is a tool for creative professionals and developers who want to build graphics for application user interfaces, the web, or any other medium. Expression Design offers powerful features to help you express your creativity.” - this is how Microsoft is describing Expression Design 2.

Expression Design is an attempt from Microsoft to fight on the design software market against Adobe. It is not clear what product is the target, because Expression Design 2 has both vector and bitmap features. But for comparison and because there are many vector tools and features, I will say Adobe Illustrator.

The first thing that is shocking to user’s eyes is the user interface (UI). We don’t have the same old Word look. This time Microsoft made a clean dark fluid interface. I would say that it is the best interface from Microsoft so far. On the UI are displayed only the main tools and the color and layers panel. This is a big win for Expression Design compared to the not so friendly Adobe Illustrator. Also you can dock, float, minimize or hide your panels in order to be more productive.

Another big win is that Microsoft’s application comes with a good pack of templates and effects. At least the stroke presets are numerous and with various style. You can select from several categories the fill type that is suitable for your project. Compared to other applications (Photoshop), I was impressed by the time used to apply a filter. In Photoshop you wait and wait, but in Expression Design is very fast.

The work with layers is a little bit unproductive but, the application is responding well when dealing with documents composed of many layers. You should not expect the variety of tools and options from Illustrator. This is, for now, a lighter software which happens to make the vector creation activity more pleasant and less complicated.

I salute Microsoft’s initiative and I wish Expression Design to be more competitive and productive.
Kudos for the development team and keep up the good work.

User Interface Rating:
Features Rating:
Ease of use Rating:
——————–
Graphic Rating:

Well it actually does.
I know that it was a topic about a year ago about the rendering engines in operating systems. Some of the Mac addicts were promoting the wonderful aspects of the text rendered in MacOS. Well I’m not so Mac addict. I mean I truly appreciate the effort in having good designs and nice materials used in their products, but regarding the technical side - the software side … I don’t know about that.

This may sound weird, but even though I am a designer, my work is done on a pc using Microsoft XP. I know that this may sound strange for graphic designers, but I believe that higher quality is found in pc software applications and also great diversity.
Back to the subject, several months ago I’ve worked for a few weeks on a Vista based PC. I must admit that the rendering engine is awesome. Every line of text was properly rendered without any bold effect applied from nowhere like on Safari for example. Even with small font size the rendering engine behavior was flawless. So, now I was back on the Vista and made some rendering test and I achieved better results on Vista than on MacOS. The testing subject was Apple.com. It seems like Microsoft does the job on Apple’s site even though the Mac based machines are sold more quickly now than PCs.

Kudos for the developers for making this great rendering engine!

Graphic Rating for Vista Rendering Engine
Text Render Rating:
Readability Rating:
——————–
Overall Rating: