Windows update keeps giving me this "Update", which, when run, tell me thats its older that whats already installed and then says the installation failed and offers to retry again. 

In the end I've hidden the 'update', but do wonder how this managed to happen. After all, surely it checked the system before offering the update options?

Windows Live is by far the worst product suite Microsoft makes.

 Maybe you could (un|re)install it and then try to update? Otherwise you may never get updates again. Of course, that might be a good thing.

superjer:

 Maybe you could (un|re)install it and then try to update? Otherwise you may never get updates again. Of course, that might be a good thing.

They have been known to make updates mandatory before. I agree with blakeyrat on this, and can think of nothing that would stop the Windows Live team deciding to make an update both mandatory and impossible.

blakeyrat:

Windows Live is by far the worst product suite Microsoft makes.

It's so bad, even Microsoft realised it - they've officially announced they are discontinuing it and replacing it with Skype.

Except China. Seems they hate China.

Zadkiel:

blakeyrat:

Windows Live is by far the worst product suite Microsoft makes.

It's so bad, even Microsoft realised it - they've officially announced they are discontinuing it and replacing it with Skype.

They're discontinuing the Live brand, Live Messenger and Live Call (which are getting replaced by Skype) are just parts of it.

So now your MSN account Microsoft Passport .NET Passport Windows Live ID Microsoft account will let you log in to Messenger Skype to send instant messages, use Hotmail Outlook.com to receive mail, and get great software such as Microsoft AntiSpyware Windows Defender Windows Live OneCare Microsoft Security Essentials Windows Defender.

Facebook is the new 2006's MSN Messenger, no one I know uses Windows Live anymore.

 Interesting, though, I installed Windows Live Family Safety Microsoft Family Safety on my son's PC (he's nine years old), so he doesn't have to cover his eyes anymore whenever he sees Facebook. :)

Zadkiel:

Except China. Seems they hate China.

 

Non-Chinese telecommunications products are usually banned in China, since the government can't monitor/censor them. This is doubly true of Skype, since it's based on an encrypted distributed network.

 

Zadkiel:

It's so bad, even Microsoft realised it - they've officially announced they are discontinuing it and replacing it with Skype.

They are successfully managing to degrade Skype to that level as well though. Since they acquired it it grew advertisements, silly nagging "home screen" to have place to show them, useless "favorites" (the contact groups did the same service) and the incidence of errors where message either does not arrive when it should or is not announced in the icon seems to be steadily raising.

Will Windows Movie Maker go back to being the half-decent product it was before the awful Live version?

 

Zadkiel:

blakeyrat:

Windows Live is by far the worst product suite Microsoft makes.

It's so bad, even Microsoft realised it - they've officially announced they are discontinuing it and replacing it with Skype.

Except China. Seems they hate China.

Seems they hate the rest of the world even more: you can hijack any Skype account of which you can guess the e-mail address.