Microsoft has Window Live Spaces which is basically a blogging platform very similar to Google’s Blogger.com or WordPress.com. Live Spaces has not really caught the imagination of the blogging world. I guess Microsoft has realized that and decided to outsource Live Spaces to WordPress.com.
This basically means if you sign-up to Live Spaces you will be redirected to sign-up with WordPress.com.
This was announced at the Techcrunch Disrupt Event.
What it means for Live Spaces user?
- Users will now be redirected to WordPress.com instead of Live Spaces to sign up for setting up their online blogs.
- Current users will have the option of transferring their blogs onto WordPress.com or do this at a later time.
- Live Messenger can be connected to the WordPress.com blog. This will enable all our friends on Live Messenger to be updated about a new post through the messenger. 🙂
- Windows Live Spaces will be killed off in the next 6 months.
I think this is a very good step by Microsoft as it is better for them not to keep competing in areas they are completely lagging behind. On the other hand Live Writer is a fantastic blogging tool and anyone creating a blog from there will now be directed to WordPress.com. Obviously that is good news for the WordPress community.
This transfer will be done between Microsoft and Automattic. According to Automattic this is not a financial deal.
What are your views on this development? Do you think WordPress.com will benefit anything more than just more users from Live Spaces? Do drop in your comments.
Source: Techcrunch