Must Read: Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet: Beating the iPad mini (review)

Topic: Windows

Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

Summary: Windows Live Essentials 2011 (Wave 4) is out to download. But some might be happier with the older, simpler Wave 3 programs.

Zack Whittaker

By |

 |  Image 2 of 7

There is a lot to take in from the word go. You have social updates, highlights, recent events, things about you, not to mention the dwarfed contact list on the right hand side. Surely this as an instant messenger, it should at least highlight the fact it is one? With advertisements and notifications every few seconds, your eyes will jump about the page making you exhausted within seconds.

To read more about the final release of Windows Live Essentials 2011, visit the ZDNet iGeneration blog.
  • Thumbnail 1
  • Thumbnail 2
  • Thumbnail 3
  • Thumbnail 4
  • Thumbnail 5
  • Thumbnail 6
  • Thumbnail 7

Topics: Windows, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Software

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Related Stories

Talkback

31 comments
Log in or register to join the discussion

  • Please define your reasoning....

    why a program that takes little more than 64MB of RAM should require 64-bit support.
    Joe_Raby
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

      @Joe_Raby He needs to find something to complain about otherwise he'd have nothing to write about in his blog. It's pretty obvious he does not quite understand there would be almost no benefits to making either of those programs 64-bit. In addition to their low memory usage neither one of them does any heavy duty processing either...
      mikecel79
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

      @Joe_Raby Excelsus! Because it is there. I went the extra mile. Give the dog a bone. Where's the Beef? 640K of memory should be enough for anybody. One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
      CrowdedCranium
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

        @CrowdedCranium 8K of memory should be enough for anybody! As on an IBM 1130 state-of-the art less than 40 years ago.
        scwlaw
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

    "Microsoft's efforts to try and turn the entire world 64-bit is clearly failing". Not true, people are more than ready to use 64 bit on any OS that is stable enough to run that way. Microsoft efforts are failing on Microsoft Windows. Mac and Linux users run 64 bit happily.
    Socratesfoot
    Reply Vote

    • They sure are.

      @Socratesfoot
      Perhaps Microsoft is taking it's time because they have to convert the world. Jobs and Torvalds just had to get their recent contact lists on board.
      ericesque
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

      @Socratesfoot - ROFL ROFL ROFL! Apple users have only been able to run a 64-bit kernel since SnowLeopard shipped. Windows has been available with a full 64-bit kernel since XP.

      FWIW, unless a single instance of an app is likely to use more than 2GB RAM, there's little point in running it as a 64-bit process. 64-bit code and data are larger (since all pointers and integers double in size) and so take up more disk space, take longer to load from disk, and take up more RAM.

      Code should be ported to 64-bit only when necessary.
      De-Void
      Reply Vote

  • Windows Live Essentials 2011 is consumer oriented...

    How many consumers do you know that rely on Exchange for their home email services? Exchange connectivity (via MAPI) is far outside the target audience for WLM. You can still connect to Exchange using IMAP or POP if you really want to.
    mikecel79
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

    So far, my only turn-off with this new Windows Live Essentials is... the old-school icons now gone. That's kinda sad (and the new icons, really disturbing). For the rest of the changes, I'm game.
    TheITStranger
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

    The main reason that they are not offering a specific 64-bit release yet is that it would be two code-bases that they would have to support.

    Until 64-bit is basically ubiquitous for ALL people, they aren't going to go to 64-bit also or only.
    Lerianis10
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

      @Lerianis10 - no. It would not require two codebases. There's no reason why any well written code cannot be compiled for both 32-bit and 64-bit with little/no change required.
      De-Void
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

    x64 is not a 64Bit processor. It is 64Bit addressing to allow the direct access to memory over 4GB and Hard Drive space over 2TB. You should learn a little more about tech before telling others about what is good or bad.
    SneakerZ
    Reply Vote

  • ONE reason to HATE Windows Live!!!!!!!!

    Main reason to HATE Windows Live is Live Family Safety if you have the misfortune to encounter it on a computer at work or a public place eg library. BY DEFAULT it bars social networking including Facebook and won't even let you look at the ten most popular videos on YouTube - a severely harassed middle aged, nearly old age MAN! I've had to use a password cracker to find the XP admin password, and DISABLE the Family Safety Service! No doubt illicitly! MS are to blame, and adults who THINK they can treat OTHER ADULTS like CHILDREN! I have a CLEAN and CLEAR conscience! But will MS let any adult with a hotmail account disable family safety - NO!!!!
    chaz15
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

      @chaz15 What? Are you nuts? MS didn't install the Family Safety app on his machine. He or someone else opted to install it when Windows Live was downloaded.

      On top of that, it doesn't have a password installed by default. Whoever set it up on the machine picked and installed the password.

      Nice try. Now go play with your Mac or Linux box.
      babyboomer57
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

        @babyboomer57

        Yes and I opt to 'criminally' disable it - So What!!!! Are the Smurf Police going to knock down my door? !!!!!!!!!
        chaz15
        Reply Vote

    • Hey retard... You DO realize you've just confessed to criminal acts...

      @chaz15 <br>Don't you? If an IT department put the Family Protection thing on a computer and that computer does not belong to you, technically, you're guilty of hacking that system. Not much difference between what you did and what say, Kevin Mitnick did. <br><br>Microsoft isn't to blame. The IT department where you work or the IT department at the local library are. They installed it. If you've got a beef with anyone - it's the IT department. It's THEIR computer.
      Wolfie2K3
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

        @Wolfie2K3

        Sure doesn't bother me! If Microsoft are so stupid as to let others dictate what I can and can't do then its down to them, not me. BTW download Ophcrack Live CD and it will usually find the admin password in a few minutes, just don't get caught running it! Then go to control panel admin tools services and disable family safety from an admin account. Remember to re-enable it or they might later realise something has been 'adjusted'! As for 'criminal', that would include the 50 or so music and game downloads i do via P2P each week! .. . . . . .
        chaz15
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

      @chaz15

      That is not true at all. By Default Family Safety only blocks "Adult" (Porn, Smut) and you have to set the other categories. I have installed and set it up countless times for family, friends, and clients and while it is simple most seem to love it an most just leave the adult stuff blocked and the primary reason is they do not want it accidentally popping up on their computers or kids computers. I had one client tell me that her son intended to go to www.xbox.com but typed in www.xboc.com and was appalled at what came up and asked for suggestions on what could be done to try and prevent that. It was an honest typing mistake as the "x" and the "c" are right next to each other on the keyboard. Family Safety is not perfect but is a decent FREE solution for families to offer some basic filtering and protection. Most don't care about the logs but some do and since you cannot hover over your children every minute they like to know their activities online and on the computer. I don't care if you are 6 or 16, if your parents foot the bill for that computer you are using and/or the internet that connects it they have the right to control it.
      bobiroc
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

        @bobiroc

        Yes, it's FINE and GREAT for use by PARENTS, but NOT BY OTHER IDIOTS WHERE CHILDREN HAVE NO ACCESS TO THE COMPUTERS!!!!!! Also some people have had it WRECK their login or Internet connectivity, NOT so clever then!!!!!!!! As I said adults can use OphCrack and get admin login to disable it via Windows Services. If IT people don't want this workaround, I suggest they install Linux and manually filter unwanted IP addresses!!!!!! Alternatively if they DON'T install it in the first place there's NO NEED for me to hack the admin password in the first place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
        chaz15
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Reasons to hate Windows Live Essentials 2011

        @chaz15

        It all comes down to if it is your computer and your internet. If you are at a public place like a school or library or at work then you have no right to do what you want with things you do not own or provide. Even if you bring your own personal computer and use someone else's internet connection the computer is yours but the internet is not. That's life so get over it. And any respectable IT admin would have protection around things like OphCrack or other utilities and once again Linux would not work to circumvent the filtering and security that I have in place. Proxies are not a threat to me or my network. You just sound like some spoiled brat that feels the world owes him something just for being alive. You have not earned anything even if you are an adult. You want the internet the way you want it then use it at home on your personal computer.
        bobiroc
        Reply Vote
CNET Join | Log In | Privacy | Cookies Close