Microsoft's recently launched Windows Live Expo (http://expo.live.com) bills itself as "a dynamic social listing service." It is a free classifieds-style site with categories including Autos, Events, Housing, Jobs, Merchandise, People, Pets and Services.

The two categories of particular interest to eBay and online sellers are Merchandise and Services. eBay Trading Assistants can place a listing in the Commercial Services sub-category, while online auction sellers will find 24 sub-categories to sell their items in the Merchandise category.

Windows Live Expo allows buyers to search for items by distance from their location, or browse listings by category. The user can specify the search radius and, if no results show, national listings are offered in a section below the local results area. Search results can show the item locations on a map using Microsoft Virtual Earth (think Google Earth zoomed all the way in). It shows the area and each listing flagged on the map. Users can switch between a street map and aerial satellite map.

An advantage of the distance search is that users are not required to search on a webpage specific to their nearest city (which may be 70+ miles away) to find possible local listings. Such formats can deter both buyers and sellers in less centralized locations.

Users must register before listing items. If you already have an MSN Passport log in (such as a hotmail or MSN email account), you can sign in with that username and password and go straight to creating your screen name and confirming your address and account options. The profile allows you to upload a photograph, but they recommend you choose a picture that represents who you are rather than an actual photo of yourself (for safety reasons).

In addition to "For Sale" listings, you can also post "Wanted" listings. Users can browse Wanted listings and can contact you directly if they have the item you want for sale (whether or not it is listed already). It isn't quite as cloak-and-dagger as eBay's Want It Now service because there are no fees to circumvent if the item is not already listed. The parties just decide on a price without bothering with a listing. Other listing options available on Live Expo are the self-explanatory Swap or Free.

Windows Live Expo boasts the ability to post a listing in under a minute. While I think that is a little bit of an exaggeration (unless you already have your item description written), it's not far off. The form is very user-friendly and has some good features without being cluttered, and they are all free. Features include:

• 64 characters for the listing title (9 more than eBay allows).
• Listing durations of 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, or 8 weeks.
• Add up to five pictures (with captions if you want). Each picture must be under 3.5MB in size.
• Automatic gallery thumbnail picture shown in search results.
• Free listing template (only four options at the moment though).
• Standard HTML editor (as you find in the eBay Sell Your Item Form).
• Option for contact from potential buyers via Windows Live Instant Messenger.
• Add your listing to your MSN Space.
• Specify payment options (including PayPal).
• Specify shipping options for local delivery/pick up, and/or willing to ship nationally.

Email messages from potential buyers are received through the Windows Live Expo messages system (similar to eBay's My Messages). Easy access to this service is available from the home page. A link to your active listings is also on that page. The only real downside is that sellers are restricted to only one active listing per identical item at a time. So this is where the shorter duration listings can be an advantage.

Windows Live Expo is one of the three new "Live" sites launched by Microsoft recently. The other two are Windows Live Shopping (http://shopping.live.com), which offers comparisons of items from various online stores, including eBay listings; and Windows Live (http://www.live.com), a redesigned search engine with a QnA page that functions as a place for users to ask questions on various topics and get responses from other Windows Live users. Both the QnA feature and Windows Live Shopping are still in the Beta stages, so they aren't quite as polished, but are still very user friendly. Each site offers a tour of features and functionality from its homepage.

Microsoft had to step up their game to compete with the likes of Google and Yahoo, and I think these three co-branded and complementary sites are a step in the right direction.

Note: You can keep up on Windows Live Expo news through their blog posts (http://teamexpo.spaces.live.com/Blog).