Microsoft started beta testing of Windows Live Mail Desktop this week. It will let people manage their e-mail offline without accessing a Web-based server, but they still must connect to the Web to send and receive e-mail. The software also allows users to instant message their address book contacts, post a blog, or read RSS feeds as well as read their Yahoo Mail, Gmail, and AOL Mail using POP3 and IMAP.
"..The concept isn't new. What is new is building a special purpose client for this and giving it away and supporting it through advertising," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft. Microsoft has had fee-based services that allow offline access to Hotmail for a couple of years, he said. Microsoft said paid-subscription customers who use Windows Live Mail Desktop won't see ads in the program, while free users will see some ads.
Windows Live Mail Desktop has a "Blog it" feature that lets users easily post messages directly to a blog. Users can also see whether a mail contact is online and start a conversation via text IM or a voice chat. The desktop software also allows, through Microsoft's desktop search, indexing and quick search of messages.
Microsoft's desktop e-mail move is seen as part of a larger turf war among Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google. "To some degree, I think it is a response to the threat from Google and other online companies," Rosoff said. "..Microsoft is leveraging one of its strengths (the Windows operating system)."
