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MicrosoftMax
Looks like Redmond has the interns on xerox duty again. Microsoft has just announced MicrosoftMax, a codename project that looks to be taking on both Google and Apple. The main component of MicrosoftMax is a desktop news aggregator featuring MSN Filter with similar functionality to Google Homepage or NetVibes. A secondary piece of the software package is a photo organizer which looks to be a Microsoft version of iPhoto. Not much else is known about the package, including whether the final product will be free of charge or a pay-for add on. One thing I find compelling about Max is the fact that it displays news items in a newspaper layout; something that other news readers have been trying to do successfully for a while now.
MicrosoftMax is available as a free beta download and requires Windows XP or MediaCenter with SP2 or higher.
[via Chris Messina]
Comments
10
Subscribe to commentsNicole SimonSep 10th 2006 5:15PM
Media Center, hm? That will be interesting to see how they will manage to drive this old dream of getting everyday people to use it on their tv screen.
To most of us this is just an ugly thought unless we do have beautiful plasma screens, but as you look around, normal people prefer a tv screen over sitting in front of the computer.
I am just disappointed that podcasting is STILL not recognized or implemented. :(
steveSep 10th 2006 5:25PM
If you think Max has similar functionality to Newsvibe then you either haven't tried Newsvibe, haven't tried Max, or probably both.
Newsvibe is several light years ahead in functionality -- but it maybe less pretty.
Tiernan OTooleSep 10th 2006 7:35PM
Max has been out for a while now (September 2005 i posted about it here http://blog.lotas-smartman.net/archive/2005/09/14/12049.aspx).
enzoSep 10th 2006 8:24PM
Max is supposed to be good because of it's UI and "feel," but last I heard it's written completely in C#, uses some of that WinFX graphics stuff, and is a bit of a memory hog... while I like Max, unfortunately I think what Max does can more easily be accomplished via web 2.0. If I was Microsoft, I'd integrate it with Internet Explorer.
QwfwqSep 10th 2006 8:23PM
I tried MicrosofMax some months ago and found it beautifully designed but very peculiar for a desktop app, very different from the typical photo organizer like Picasa or ACDsee. Now that I read that they added a news aggregator module, I find it even more strange, it falls out categorization. It looks more like Max is a test tube for demonstrating the functionalities of .Net framework 3.0 (impressive nonetheless) than a reall application.
CoreburnSep 11th 2006 9:50AM
I put my downloadsquad.com feed into Max and it looks pretty nice, but I don't think it'll be taking over as my feed reader any time soon.
Bruno PadinhaSep 11th 2006 7:30PM
GreatNews has been _successfully_ displaying RSS feeds as newspaper pages for quite some time now.
AlexanderSep 12th 2006 9:56AM
I'm not really sure what to make of it -- I have to agree with a prior commentator who noted that the inclusion of RSS feed aggregator side-by-side with a photo compilation tool makes this program fall out of standard categorization.
Why not have a usenet newsgroups/RSS feed aggregator/podcast aggregator tool as one thing; and a photoediting/photo organizing tool as another. I could even go as far as a blog-authoring/photo organizing and presenting tool. But the present combination of features in Max makes it appear more as a test of some ideas rather than as a fully thought out and developed program.
Perhaps some of these features will be integrated into Vista or into their online applications.
asurrocaSep 12th 2006 9:54PM
Dude, do a little research before posting. You could have at least typed "microsoft max" into Wikipedia, and you would've seen that Microsoft Max was already around a YEAR ago.
As #3 mentioned, Microsoft Max is ancient history. It started as photo gallery program (which is more like Picasa than iPhoto) that was designed more to showcase/test WinFX than to actually be used. It's essentially a "concept" program (think concept car). e.g. Vista's Windows Photo Gallery and Snipping Tool are basically straight out of Microsoft Max.
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