If you had been closely following LiveSide’s Wave 5 and Windows 8 coverage, this is probably not something new to you, but rather an update on Microsoft’s current progress with Windows Live. WinBeta.com today reported a status update on the development of Windows 8 (currently at build 8042), as well as some information about the upcoming Windows Live Wave 5 and its relationship with Windows 8:
About a year ago, Windows Live became a part of the larger Windows organization. This union reflects the online and cloud nature of Windows 8. A ton of new *.live.com services are being worked on and will be tightly integrated with Windows 8. At the moment, Windows 8 and Windows Live are not synchronized in terms of development. Windows Live is currently in a Milestone 2 coding phase, with Milestone 1 bits currently being deployed into Windows 8. Don’t expect Microsoft to re-invent the wheel when it comes to this, as the company is simply leveraging the codebase of Windows Live to make things work in Windows 8. We can safely assume that we can hear more about Windows 8′s cloud features during the Worldwide Partner Conference next week as well as during the BUILD conference.
Indeed, LiveSide can independently confirm that the next version of Windows Live is currently in Milestone 2 stage of development (with build numbers starting with 16.2.xxxx). If you check the version numbers for the latest Hotmail and SkyDrive updates, you’d notice that it is currently at the “M0” stage (with build numbers starting with 16.0.xxxx).
Based on leaked builds of early versions of Windows 8, we’ve known for quite a while that Windows Live and Windows 8 will be integrated tightly, particularly in the areas of cloud syncing and cloud storage through the use of Windows Live ID (i.e. integration of Windows Live Mesh and SkyDrive’s capabilities). In addition, from the demo of Windows 8 at the D9 conference, we’ve also seen the “Live Tiles” for a built-in Messenger Social and a Messaging hub, potentially housing a possible unified communication service (i.e. the integration of Windows Live Messenger). And we’ve yet to see how the rest of the Windows Live Essentials suite will fit into Windows 8. From WinBeta.com’s post above, it also seems like more Windows Live web services may be coming. It’ll certainly be interesting to see what Microsoft has in store for the future of Windows Live. Stay tuned!