Lisa from Windows Live

I recently discovered Windows Live Video Messages, and I’m hooked! It’s such a great way to send a really personal message, especially for Birthdays or Thank-yous!  Like many of you, I stopped snail mailing actual cards long ago, when online greeting cards became acceptable within my circle of friends & family, but it’s tough to find cards that say exactly what you want to say.  Video messages are perfect – For a thank-you video, you can put on or hold up the gift you received. In a birthday video, you can sing Happy Birthday, bake a cake and blow out the candles, or use your imagination to create the perfect video.

Here’s one I created with my daughter to send to our friend Jay, for his birthday.

If you already have a webcam, you can send one for free today in just minutes!  (If you don’t have a webcam, check out our special offer this month on Amazon.com.)

4 steps to send a free video message 

Step 1 – Goto the Video Messages site.

Step 2 – Click “Create new video message”

Step 3 – Record your video

- Click the big red button to start & stop the recording.

Step 4 – Send it!

- Select the address you want to send it to from the list of your contacts, or type in a new address

- Below is a screenshot of how the email looks with your video in it. Your friends and family will love receiving such a personal message from you.

-Lisa

Editor, Windows Live Newsletter

Thanks to everyone who provided feedback per my request in last month’s Windows Live Newsletter. I forwarded your comments to the Hotmail product team for them to consider as they plan future updates to the product. I know some of the changes have really impacted folks, particularly those with smaller monitor screens, and I was really sorry to hear about that.

This month, I wanted to share with you my thoughts on three of the new features, how I personally use them, and why I’ve found them to be useful. I hope my experiences with them can help you see them in a new light.

I can help protect my privacy by controlling who sees what in my profile.

I have a few different Hotmail email addresses, including my Windows Live Newsletter address. I can manage my permissions so that I directly control who I want to see my information from each account.

This is a screenshot from my account, of the level of permissions detail. You can set it by network, any of your own categories you’ve set, or even by specific individuals.

If you are a very private person, hide everything. If you’re outgoing, share everything! Or find your comfort level somewhere in between. You can control your permissions to your own account by going to http://profile.live.com/permissions. (you’ll need to log into your account)

Quick Add helps me send more interesting emails to my friends.

A lot of you had feedback on this feature in particular, as well as the side ad in the inbox. Quite honestly, I’m not a fan of that side ad either. What I do know is that it enables Hotmail to continue to be a free service. Several of you asked if there’s any way to make it go away. If you want to use Hotmail for free, unfortunately, the answer is no. There is a paid version of Hotmail, called Hotmail Plus, that suppresses all the ads, but moving the ad is really not an attempt to get you to sign up for Hotmail Plus. It’s really just Hotmail adjusting to the current economic conditions and providing an ad placement that advertisers will still want to buy.

I’m glad that Quick Add “hides” the ad for me while I’m composing an email. And as I started using the feature, I’m finding that it helps me send more interesting emails to my friends in just a few clicks.

Here’s a recent example of an email I sent to my best friend Becky on her Birthday. We had planned to goto the movies to celebrate, and we just needed to finalize the movie time. To do so, I just clicked Movie times within Quick Add, and then the name of the movie we planned to see, and in just 2 clicks I had the complete list of times at the local theaters.

Then, I wanted to add a fun “Happy Birthday” video, so I clicked Back, then Videos, and typed in Happy Birthday. I previewed the videos right in the sidebar, chose the one I wanted, and I was done.

Becky loved the email, and replied to my mail with an adorable “I’m glad you’re my friend” image that she found using Quick Add.

The What’s new feed helps me stay up to date on my friends on my own schedule.

Those of you who receive my responses to your emails late at night or early in the morning know that I work extended hours. J It’s not always possible for me to call my friends to stay up on their lives. Now the “What’s new” feed puts my friends’ info where it’s convenient for me to read it – within Hotmail! I love that after I send an email, it’s no longer just a blank page confirming my email was sent, but now it also has information about the person(s) I sent the mail to, allowing me to easily stay up to date on what’s new with them.

Via the “What’s new” below, I learned that two people I know just connected with each other. I had recommended Trenton to work on a project with Murat, and it looks like they’re moving forward on that.

And since I use Windows Live Messenger all day long, I can also see the “What’s new” at bottom of Messenger so I can occasionally take a quick break from my newsletter duties and read What’s new with my friends.

Thanks again for using Hotmail. You can learn more about Hotmail and all its features here.

If you have Feedback about Hotmail, log in to your Hotmail account, and click the arrow to the right of the "?" in the blue circle in the upper right corner of Hotmail. Click Feedback and provide your feedback directly to the product team there.

-Lisa

Windows Live Newsletter Editor