Windows Live Alerts (formerly ''MSN Alerts'') was a part of the

Windows Live Windows Live is a discontinued brand name for a set of web services and software products developed by Microsoft as part of its software-as-a-service platform. Chief components under the brand name included web services (all of which were exposed ...

services from

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

that allowed users to get notification of time-sensitive events and information from various alert content providers. Users were able to choose how and when to receive alerts, so that users may stay informed no matter where they are. Windows Live Alerts was a free service for users with a

Windows Live ID A Microsoft account or MSA (previously known as Microsoft Passport, .NET Passport, and Windows Live ID) is a single sign-on Microsoft user account for Microsoft customers to log in to Microsoft services (like Outlook.com), devices running on on ...

(now Microsoft account). However, some content providers or wireless service providers may charge for using their content or service with Windows Live Alerts. Alerts to wireless devices are available to users in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

only. Windows Live Alerts was discontinued from September 30, 2010.

Features

Windows Live Alerts offered the following main features for users to manage their alerts: *Set or change time zone *Specify where Windows Live Alerts are sent *Receive alerts with

Windows Live Messenger MSN Messenger (also known colloquially simply as "Messenger"), later rebranded as Windows Live Messenger, was a cross-platform instant messaging client, instant-messaging client developed by Microsoft. It connected to the Microsoft Messenger ser ...

*Receive alerts on a mobile device *View a list of recently received alerts *Set quiet times when no alerts will be sent *Unsubscribe or turn off alerts

Integration

Windows Live Alerts integrates tightly with

Windows Live Hotmail Outlook.com is a webmail service that is part of the Microsoft 365 product family. It offers mail, Calendaring software, calendaring, Address book, contacts, and Task management, tasks services. Founded in 1996 by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smit ...

(now Outlook.com) and

Windows Live Mobile Microsoft mobile services are a set of proprietary mobile services created specifically for mobile devices, they are typically offered through mobile applications and mobile browser for Windows Phone, (operating system), platforms, Binary Runt ...

. An "Alerts" tab is available in

showing a list of recent alerts organized by date or provider's name. When a new alert arrives, a "toast" will appear in the user's screen showing the alert's headline. If the user is signed out of

Messenger ''MESSENGER'' was a NASA robotic space probe that orbited the planet Mercury between 2011 and 2015, studying Mercury's chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field. The name is a backronym for "Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geoche ...

, the user can choose to have the alerts sent to their e-mail or mobile devices.

Syndication Edition

Windows Live Alerts Syndication Edition allows bloggers and other content providers to keep their readers up-to-date and drive traffic to their websites by providing alerts services to their blogs and websites. Content providers are only required to publish their contents via

RSS RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...

Atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...

feeds and place a "Windows Live Alerts Sign-Up" link on their websites to utilize this service. Users may then subscribe to these alerts by clicking on the sign-up link. New contents' headlines will be automatically distributed via an alert to readers through

Hotmail Outlook.com is a webmail service that is part of the Microsoft 365 product family. It offers mail, Calendaring software, calendaring, Address book, contacts, and Task management, tasks services. Founded in 1996 by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smit ...

(now Outlook.com) or a mobile device, depending on the reader's alert settings. Readers can modify their subscription settings or opt out of alerts subscription by the content providers at any time. Content providers may choose to have three different types of "toast" notifications displayed on their reader's screen when new alerts arrive: *Classic Alert - an instant-messaging based alert with a small logo of the content provider *Branded Alert - an instant-messaging based alert to which branding is applied *Alert with Advertisement - an instant-messaging based alert where an applicable advertisement is associated with the notification Currently, the ''"Branded Alert"'' option is only available to limited chosen content providers and under testing, while the new ''"Alert with Advertisement"'' option is only available for MSN Weather alerts.

External links

Official website
(Archive)
Official website
(Archive)
Windows Live Alerts BlogWindows Live Alerts SDK
{{Windows Live

Alerts Alert messaging (or alert notification) is machine-to-person communication that is important or time sensitive. An alert may be a calendar reminder or a notification of a new message. Alert messaging emerged from the study of personal information ...

es:Windows Live Alerts

Features

Integration

Syndication Edition

See also

External links