LiveSide - News blog : Live Framework

Live Framework CTP to shut down September 8th

Kip Kniskern — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:55:06 GMT

Back in January, the Live Services Platform, along with Live Mesh, moved under the umbrella of a unified Windows Live organization, as part of Windows and Windows Live Engineering. David Treadwell, the Corporate Vice President for the Live Services Platform moved to report to Steven Sinofsky, President.

Today, as a part of that re-organization, Microsoft is announcing they will shutting down the Live Framework Community Technology Preview (CTP). Developers will have until September 8th to download any data/code from the CTP, remove their devices from the service, and remove any CTP controls from websites.

The Live Framework CTP was running under the Azure umbrella, but moving to Windows Live does not mean that it won’t be available to the Azure Platform, according to information in an email from Angus Logan, Senior Technical Product Manager for the Windows Live Platform:

We launched a CTP of the Windows Azure platform at PDC in October 2008 to collect feedback and input from the community. One of the strongest and most consistent pieces of feedback we’ve received from the community has been around the scope of the Windows Azure platform. Customers and Partners have indicated that they would like clarity around the composition of the platform, and that it should offer operating system, database and connectivity capabilities. We’re acting on this feedback: At this time, the Windows Azure platform comprises Windows Azure, SQL Azure and .NET Services.

Live Services are an integral part of Microsoft’s Software + Services story. While Live Services are not a part of the Windows Azure platform, developers can continue to use Live Services in building rich and compelling solutions on the Windows Azure platform. The same also holds true for SharePoint Services and CRM Services. Customers and partners will continue to have the opportunity to utilize these services, plus the Windows Azure Platform, to meet their business objectives.

Note that this only affects developers.mesh-ctp.com, the javascript contacts control, and the CTP tools. Live Mesh (that is the consumer facing www.mesh.com) will not be affected, although we expect that it too will evolve as Windows Live moves into Wave 4 and beyond.

So what happens next? At PDC in November (and yes we’ll be there), Microsoft will begin to talk about how the Live Framework will be integrated into the next release of Windows Live.

While this move may be a bit painful for the developers who have been using the Live Framework (although it IS a CTP and not production bits), unifying a Live Services framework under Windows Live may ultimately lead to a better all-around experience.

Live Framework SDK And Tools Updated

Sunshine — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:08:47 GMT

The Live Framework Team announced the April CTP update of the Live Framework SDK and Tools.

This update includes:

Support for side-by-side installation of the www.mesh.com local client and the developer.mesh-ctp.com local client. This means that you can use the production Mesh.com to sync data across all your devices, and develop applications for the Mesh Developer Sandbox that uses the local client—all on the same machine. For instructions on setting up side-by-side, please see this forum post.
Support for Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8
Single installer for the Live Framework SDK and the Live Framework Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio.
Resource Scripts are now supported in Silverlight applications and with the local Live Operating Environment
Public availability of the SDK and Tools on the Microsoft.com Download Center.
Improved stability in the client and the cloud Live Operating Environment.
Design and performance improvements to the API toolkits
Simplified workflow for setting up an account and a Live Framework project on the Azure Developer Portal.

More details and downloads

Via: Angus Logan

Live Mesh updates announced at PDC

Chris — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:30:41 GMT

Live Mesh is going into Beta later this week, along with support for Mac and Windows Mobile 6 clients. Other changes coming later this week (from the Live Mesh blog):

- Drag & Drop functionality in the Live Mesh Desktop

- Extending the Live Mesh roles

- Ability to sync p2p only will be available from local devices

You can check out the new Mesh site that is coming at https://developer.mesh-ctp.com/Welcome/default.aspx. It’ll roll out to mesh.com at a later date.

Interestingly enough, going forward Mesh going to be included as part of Windows Live. Not quite sure whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, I guess only time will tell.

And for developers, the Live Framework CTP available from www.azure.com available later today.