News from around the Windows Live web:

Orange, the France-Telecom brand for its mobile and broadband commercial offerings, announced that they have joined forces with Microsoft and Windows Live to offer an instant messaging service that can be accessed from both PC and mobile devices, to be called Orange Messenger by Windows Live.  While the convergence will be limited at first, it is expected to connect 135 million France Telecom European customers with the 240 million Windows Live Messenger users sometime in 2007.

""This new phase in our alliance with Microsoft, which builds upon the experience that we have acquired over the past years, opens up new growth opportunities for our fixed and mobile activities. With this unrivalled service, which combines the best of Microsoft and Orange, our 135 million Orange European customers and the 240 million Windows Live Messenger users in the world will create the world's largest community."

Didier Lombard, Chairman and CEO, France Telecom

Read more about the announcement in the Orange Press Release.

Speaking of Windows Live Messenger, having problems signing in?  The Messenger Support blog is looking for users having problems with Errors #8100306 or 8100314.  If you're currently getting these errors send an email to messengeresc@hotmail.com.  And if you're having problems with endlessly spinning Messenger buddies that don't sign in, you can try the regedit here.

Finally, bloggers are lining up pro or con for Ms. Dewey, a flash based showcase for Live Search that doesn't do anything at all, but ummm, who cares.  Bink has some details on the promotion, Mitch Ratcliffe from ZDNet says she's "only slightly more pleasant than Scuzz the Rat", David Hunter wishes it was all just a joke, and Microsoft responds to the criticism to Forbes.com's David Ewalt, who broke the Ms. Dewey story in the first place.