The web based "Live" services are to compete with their [analogous] offerings from Yahoo! and Google [and other players in the SaaS space]. E-mail example; Google [Gmail], Yahoo! [Y! Mail], Microsoft ['Windows' Live Mail]. Social Network example; Google [Orkut], Yahoo! [Y! 360], Microsoft ['Windows' Live Spaces], "independent" player [MySpace].... It's not Windows that is being turned into "Live", but the former Microsoft web based services [i.e. Hotmail] and the MSN branded services, that are being brought up to par [thanks to Ray Ozzie] and rebranded as "Live" [to indicate that they are "on demand", or SaaS]. The "Windows" moniker is a huge brand, and has been incorporated into Microsoft's web based offerings in order to gain market share, as it is highly recognizable, even to those who are new to computing....