Microsoft’s decision to add social networking features to its Windows Live Web services was received with great enthusiasm by the company’s subscribers.

Users will be able to connect with their friends in a whole new way, putting together contact lists, networks of people and also create news feeds with details about the actions taken on Twitter, the photo sharing Web site Flickr and several other pages. Among the companies involved in this action are LinkedIn Corp and Photobucket.

Brian Hall, general manager for Windows Live, explained that the company is looking to create a central hub where people will be able to easily interact, share all sorts of content and details and also plan events. He also added that Microsoft wants to simplify the Web experience for all its users by bringing together many of the elements scattered all over the Web and the content stored on all sorts of devices such as personal computers and phones.

"We're now at the point where we can go beyond siloed communication tools that don't work together -- and start to integrate the best of them," Mr. Hall explained.

Aside from the social networking features, the company released a set of tools called Windows Live Essentials, which are designed to ensure a rapid connection between PC users and their content stored on Windows Live. These tools will help users manage their e-mail and calendars and also create blogs and post photos.

The plan is to put Windows Live on a similar level with Web sites such as FaceBook and MySpace and the direction is also embraced by Google Inc with its OpenSocial initiative.