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.

In its initial release, several Windows Live properties were rebranded and enhanced from Microsoft's MSN set of products and services.

Users could access and manage their information stored on their Windows Phone devices via the online portal using their Microsoft account, as well as accessing a set of features for remotely ringing, locking, mapping, and erasing their lost phones.

[12] Live Connect is a collection of APIs and common controls that allow developers to have a deeper control and offers access to the core Windows Live services and data through open and easily accessible application programming interfaces (APIs).

Microsoft has released several computer programs with "Windows Live" brand, a summary of which is included below.

[14] Windows Live OneCare on the other hand, was a commercial consumers utility marketed with a software as a service licensing model.

Microsoft had initiated the Windows Live Butterfly program in order to recognize the contributions made by exemplary beta testers.

Prospective 'butterflies' were selected by the Windows Live product team and were nominated for a term of one year, after which they could be renominated.

Most original Windows Live applications and services used a visual theme known as Blue Vapor or Flair.

[19] In addition, the Windows Live Wave 4 header features a reorganized dynamic navigation menu that displays the number of the user's current online contacts and the number of unread e-mails,[20] as well as an in-built Windows Live Web Messenger service allowing users to connect to the Microsoft Messenger service and Facebook chat service to chat with their online contacts while browsing any Windows Live properties using a web browser.