Windows Live Gallery

Not to be confused with Windows Photo Gallery.

Windows Live Gallery (codenamed Customise) was a part of Windows Live range of services. It was a center for gadgets, extensions and add-ons for Windows and Windows Live services.

Windows Live Gallery

The Windows Live Gallery logo.
Windows Live Gallery homepage
Developer(s)	Microsoft
Final release	13.0.1180.0516 / June 15, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-06-15)
Type	software widgets
Website	Archived official website at the Wayback Machine (archive index)

Windows Live Gallery was officially retired on October 1, 2011.^[1]

History

Since its launch on July 24, 2006,^[2] Windows Live Gallery held repository for the following Windows and Windows Live services and products:

Service	Reason for removal from Windows Live Gallery
Gadgets for Live.com	Live.com's successor Windows Live Personalized Experience was discontinued on March 30, 2010[3]
Gadgets for Windows Live Spaces and Windows Live Events	Gadgets on Windows Live Spaces were removed in June 2010,[4] Windows Live Events discontinued on September 3, 2009[5]
Live.com Collections	Live.com's successor Windows Live Personalized Experience was discontinued on March 30, 2010[3]
Windows Live Toolbar Buttons and Custom Buttons	Windows Live Toolbar discontinued since the launch of Windows Live Essentials 2011 (Wave 4)
Windows Search add-ins and applications	Replaced by IFilters
Live Search Macros	Live Search Macros discontinued since the launch of Bing on June 3, 2009
Windows Live Agents	Windows Live Agents was discontinued in Summer 2009[6]
Windows Live Messenger Emoticons, Winks, Display Pictures and Activities	Replaced by third-party services such as Quebles and WeeMee
Windows Live Writer add-ins	Replaced by http://plugins.live.com on December 13, 2010[7]
Windows Desktop Gadgets	Discontinued in favor of Metro-styled apps in Windows 8.[1] Several highest-rated gadgets remain available on Windows Personalization Gallery.
Windows SideShow	Discontinued in favor of Metro-styled apps in Windows 8.[1]

Developers

Windows Live Gallery integrated the Microsoft Points micropayment system which also powers Zune and Xbox Live purchases. It created a marketplace for developers to showcase their works, and if chose to, receive payment for their efforts. Developers who have partnered with Windows Live Gallery could set up their own virtual shops.^[8]

Jeff, Wei Jie, Junaid and Misha were generally regarded as the most prolific and critical members of the Gallery team.

See also

• Windows Live
• Windows Live Dev

References

1. "Looking for gadgets?". Windows. Microsoft. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011.
2. "Windows Live Gallery Beta launches today". LiveSide. July 24, 2006. Archived from the original on January 5, 2011.
3. "My.Live.com decommission delayed until March 30, 2010". LiveSide. March 17, 2010. Archived from the original on August 17, 2011.
4. Windows Live Solution Center - Removed the ability to add Gadgets to Spaces
5. "Windows Live Calendar updated, Events discontinued". LiveSide. September 11, 2009. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012.
6. "Windows Live Agents 5.1 SDK released, to be retired in 2009". LiveSide. November 26, 2008. Archived from the original on November 24, 2011.
7. "A (new?) home for Windows Live plugins: plugins.live.com". LiveSide. December 13, 2010. Archived from the original on December 19, 2010.
8. "Windows Live Gallery gets update - Adds Microsoft Points for micropayments". LiveSide. October 26, 2007. Archived from the original on October 27, 2007.

External links

• Official website (Archive)
• Official website (Archive)