Windows Live Spaces Myspaces rival? Orkuts enemy?

Microsoft has added several major upgrades to its Spaces blogging service, now known as Windows Live Spaces, including new social networking features that will attempt to compete with the industry leader of Myspace.

This is one of many new Windows Live services, and integration with the other services is a goal that Microsoft has pursued, show by features such as an integrated friends module tied into your contacts defined in Messenger, or the option of adding gadget support, or widget-like functionality, using Microsoft Gadgets. The biggest improvement will be the new social aspects of Live Spaces, which allows users to show their relationship experience and "style", making it somewhat of an online matchmaker. As previously mentioned, Microsoft's integration with Windows Live includes features involving Live Contacts, as well as Windows Live Messenger, such as the ability to initiate conversations by showing the online status of your friends. However, with these new social features, comes a concern for better security measure. Myspace has already encountered numerous problems concerning the safety and security issues of online dating and sexual predators. To combat this, Microsoft has added permission features to control who can contact them through their Spaces site. These permissions would be shown beside a user's profile. These upgrades to Windows Live Spaces make it a major contender against MySpace, but for now, MySpace is as strong as ever, and their market share is steadily increasing.