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With Live Wave 1.0 & Live Wave 2.0 well behind us, Windows Live team at Microsoft has been working on the next version of its online services (Windows Live Wave 3) for quite a while now and it is said to carry a new theme for header UI. While Live Wave 2 Suite brought us an All-in-one online installer which included Windows Live Messenger 8.5, Mail, Writer and Photo Gallery, it also introduced a new theme for header UI for all the Windows Live services that actually marked the end of Flair (version 1.0 UI for Windows Live).  

LiveSide is reporting about the new header that will be released when Windows Live Wave 3 launches. This new header while in many ways looks much better & cooler than the current one also marks the end of Live Orb. Orb has become a standard symbol in many of Microsoft services and applications. Introduced first with Windows Vista (replacing the Start button) and Office 2007 (replacing the File menu), Orb is basically a trademark button that provides sub menu options. Rumor has it that even Internet Explorer 8 when released will feature an Orb.

Here is a quick run-down to the history of Window Live UI’s:

Flair (Live 1.0)

Flair or Blue Vapor was the first UI for Windows Live. my.live.com and Windows Live Favorites still uses this interface.

Live 2.0

Windows Live Wave 2 introduced a new theme for Windows Live services. This theme replaced the Flair which was part of Live 1.0

Live 3.0

Windows Live Wave 3 will feature a new theme UI for Live header. This theme has got some resemblance to the Zune theme and it looks very cool. However one thing which it really misses is the Windows Live Orb which as shown in the image below has been replaced by a simple Windows Live logo.

Image Credit [LiveSide]

Changes include (from LiveSide):

- No orb: Windows Live is seemingly following the MSN approach, providing links to the key services and then a drop down menu with the other services on offer. This should make it easier for users to discover the less main-stream services.

- Customisable background: Users can choose from a range of standard backgrounds to appear across the Windows Live sites, but we’re also hearing that users can use a custom background too.

- Search: The box is less intrusive, blending in with the background. Also of note is the removal of the ugly green button, which goes a long way to making this design much more aesthetically pleasing.

- No product names: In an attempt to seemingly clean up the branding issues once and for all, Microsoft is making the product names less obvious. Instead products are referred to by a basic, self-explanatory name, Files instead of Skydrive, for example. That’s not to say the product names are necessarily being cut, but this simplification is a move which is long overdue.

In my opinion Live Orb should be included simply because it is now a trademark symbol for pretty much all the flag ship services (Windows Live) and applications (Windows Vista, Windows Media Center, Office 2007, Internet Explorer 8(Rumor) ) of Microsoft. Plus it also brings some sort of uniformity & consistency between all the services & applications of Microsoft and gives them all an overall impression that they belong to one hut.

So what do you think? What can we do about this?

Well one thing which we can do is to provide feedback about this to Windows Live Team at their email address livefb [at] microsoft [dot] com
So if you really want to see Live Orb in the upcoming update to Windows Live then start sending your requests at the email address provided above.

Remember: Together we can and we will make a difference!