[Jason Dunn]

http://windowslivewire.spaces.live....D59!41131.entry

"When we set out to build Windows Live Movie Maker, we heard loud and clear that people wanted their movies to simply look better with less effort. In order to meet customers' needs, we first looked at how people were using Windows Movie Maker in Vista. What we found was that most movies were quite simple - often just a set of pictures with captions and a soundtrack with occasional small clips of lightly edited video with transitions. We also discovered that many people found the approach of Microsoft Photo Story 3 to be a great solution and loved the ease of selecting pictures, a soundtrack, and adding a narration track over their photos with basic animations. Increasingly, we found people publishing movies to popular video sharing sites to share with friends and family (in addition to occasionally creating DVDs)."

Mike Torres, the Lead Program Manager on the Windows Live Movie Maker team, has posted a great blog entry about where the software is at, what they've learned from the initial beta they released a few months back, and what kinds of things (in general terms) users can expect to see from the software when Torres' team releases the next version. I just hope they don't name it Bing Movie Maker!

[Jason Dunn]

http://windowslivewire.spaces.live....D59!41131.entry

"When we set out to build Windows Live Movie Maker, we heard loud and clear that people wanted their movies to simply look better with less effort. In order to meet customers' needs, we first looked at how people were using Windows Movie Maker in Vista. What we found was that most movies were quite simple - often just a set of pictures with captions and a soundtrack with occasional small clips of lightly edited video with transitions. We also discovered that many people found the approach of Microsoft Photo Story 3 to be a great solution and loved the ease of selecting pictures, a soundtrack, and adding a narration track over their photos with basic animations. Increasingly, we found people publishing movies to popular video sharing sites to share with friends and family (in addition to occasionally creating DVDs)."

Mike Torres, the Lead Program Manager on the Windows Live Movie Maker team, has posted a great blog entry about where the software is at, what they've learned from the initial beta they released a few months back, and what kinds of things (in general terms) users can expect to see from the software when Torres' team releases the next version. I just hope they don't name it Bing Movie Maker!

[ptyork]

It is funny to me how directly Microsoft seems/seemed to be mirroring Apples iMovie blunders. Sad, really. Come on. Release two version. Movie Maker dumbass edition and Movie Maker ihaveaclue edition. Or better yet, one edition, two modes. Don't do what Apple did and expect the availability of the old decent-but-out-of-date version to satisfy your customer base. 'Course, Apple's customers actually pay for iMovie, so perhaps it is a different mindset...

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by ptyork

It is funny to me how directly Microsoft seems/seemed to be mirroring Apples iMovie blunders. Sad, really. Come on. Release two version. Movie Maker dumbass edition...

Wait until you see the next beta...that's all I can say. Things got better.

[sundown]

After reading this post, I decided to download the current beta. I honestly wanted to be able to say something nice about it but found it way too basic. I guess I expected to see a simple timeline at least. Perhaps the new beta will include one.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by sundown

After reading this post, I decided to download the current beta. I honestly wanted to be able to say something nice about it but found it way too basic.

Yeah, the current beta is, well....awful. I had some earlier rants about it, so I know exactly what you mean. I think you'll be pleased with what's coming next - the post I linked to for this article hints at the feedback they've received.