Microsoft connects Facebook with Outlook

Facebook and Windows Live can now be integrated into Microsoft Outlook, the software giant has announced.

Official MS Office blogger Paco Contreras Herrera announced the new functionality via the Outlook Social Connector. "You can view your social network as you look through your email to stay connected with your friends, family, and colleagues," he wrote. 

Last year the Outlook Social Connector feature had already integrated support for professional social networking tool LinkedIn into Outlook. Microsoft said the move "offers busy people the convenience of accessing [social networks] in Outlook."

Outlook 2003 and 2007 users can download the latest version of the Outlook Social Connector from the Microsoft Download Center while Outlook 2010 users can use Microsoft Update. Then users will then need to separately download the Facebook provider from the Microsoft Download Center.

Full details are on the Office blog post, as well as a video showing how it works.