Hi everyone,
Last week we released the new version of Windows Live Gallery. It has some really great features that I'll be talking about in more details in the coming days:
- Ability to sell and buy items using Microsoft Points
- Ability for 3rd party companies to host their own store fronts within our site
- We will be hosting customizable items like (Customizable Messenger Display Pictures)
- A ton of UI Improvements
- Improved Rating and Reviews
- Integration with Forums
- Performance improvements
Do I need to go on?
Please check it out and let me know if you have any feedback or comments.
Ok listen up all you gadget developers in Canada. There is a contest being held on Windows Live Gallery to build the greatest sidebar gadget.
1st prize is a 40" widescreen LCD HD TV.
Unfortunately the contest is only available for Canadian residents. 
Here is the link to the contest page:
http://www.microsoft.com/canada/msdn/gadgetvsgadget/default.aspx
There used to be a time when browser toolbars used to come with a fixed set of buttons. That seems like a couple of centuries ago. Now these toolbars are providing users with more and more ways to configure the toolbar to suit your needs.
Our own Windows Live Toolbar also has a custom button feature which allows users to create a button and plug it into the toolbar.
However Gallery takes it a step further. We've created a custom button wizard which asks you to fill in a simple form and we take care of the rest. The toolbar button is created for you in a blink of an eye. Heck we'll even enable you to share your creation with millions of users. You just have to press a button.
Check it out by clicking here.
And let me know what you think.
We recently upgraded the top developers on Windows Live Gallery to the silver tier. The most obvious indication of this is the silver medal that now appears in front of their name: 
This provides them with recognition and also gives users greater confidence that items from this developer are of a higher quality.
Here are some of the people who made the cut:
Although the silver tier is not limited to gadget developers. Gadgets are the most popular items right now, so the results seem to be skewed towards those item types.
If you want to break into this elite group of developers, submit your items now and build up your reputation. A good reputation is like money in the bank.
For new developers, our dev center is a great starting point.
People who liked customizing Windows Live Messenger may have used http://www.ilovemessenger.com. That site has now been deprecated and replaced with, you guessed it: Windows Live Gallery.
Although there isn't a ton of content available yet but you can still find some gems like the dummy emoticon (my personal favorite): 
You can use it to make fun of others point of view.
If you're a busy person, you can get your own personal secretary free of charge: 
And of course I have to do some cheap publicity of my own item, the Angel display picture: 
Ok so I didn't create it. But I did upload it, so that's got to count for something.
With a one click install using these items is really fun and easy as long as you are signed into Windows Live Messenger.
So give the site a try and let me know how you liked it. Maybe you'll end up submitting some items of your own.
After doing a little more investigation I realized that item approval in some cases can take more than 2 days. That explains why Scott's writer plug-in or plugs-ins (he actually has 8 of them!) took so long to get approved. As I said the approval time will get reduced in the next few days. And we'll continue looking for ways of reducing it further in the future.
I can't provide too much insight into our review process since it can open it up for gaming. However there is help available on why an item may get rejected which does provide some information on what kind of reviews the item goes through.
I got quite a few views of my blog yesterday but I wasn't exactly overwhelmed by questions or comments. One of the comments I got was from "Scott Lovegrove" about the ridiculously large delay in getting items approved on Windows Live Gallery. So I thought I'd try and tackle that issue today.
Currently it takes roughly one to two business days for an item to get accepted. If you're talking days and that too business days then you're hopelessly out of touch with the internet age. People want instant results.
One of the reasons for such a long delay is that all items go through a manual review. That obviously slows things down significantly.
Acknowledgment is the first step towards recovery. We at least realize that this is a problem and we're trying to address it as soon as our feeble minds will let us. For now the only advice I can offer is to show some patience and keep submitting quality stuff on gallery. We will reduce the approval time really really soon. And we'll be working tirelessly to reduce it further for the longer term.
If you feel your item took longer than 2 days to get approved, leave me a comment with your item name and I'll personally look into it.
Windows Live as you should all know by now is a new set of online services (client and server) provided by Microsoft.
It has things like Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Spaces, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Toolbar and so on. As you can see there is nothing revolutionary or earth shattering here, these kind of services and applications have been around for years. What is new is the seamless integration or should I say eventual seamless integration between these services. Kind of like Office.
Another big aim of Windows Live is to enable the user to customize or personalize these services. This is where Windows Live Gallery comes in. The aim of this site is to build a community around people developing and consuming customization content for Windows and Windows Live Services.
For people who have started using Vista, Windows Live Gallery provides sidebar gadgets. One of these sidebar gadgets, a cpu monitor gadget has already gotten over a million downloads!!!
Messenger junkies can find emoticons, winks, display pictures etc. One of my favorite is the dummy wink which you can use to make fun of other people's point of view.
I'd really like to hear what you guys think about this site.
