Microsoft> on Monday announced the release of a final "refresh" of its beta Windows Live Essentials applications.
The updated applications include Windows Live Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Writer, Toolbar, and Family Safety, according to the Windows Experience blog.
The applications will become key to Microsoft's Windows 7, which will not ship with e-mail reading software and other conveniences traditionally included with Windows.
The blog post offers little by way of explaining the changes, except to say that the developers are "getting very close to the final release" and want to make sure the software is stable.
"Beginning on December 15, we are giving existing beta customers the ability to download the latest version of the Windows Live Essentials suite as a means to get feedback on the changes that we've made to date and confirm that the applications will be ready for full-scale release in the coming months," a Microsoft spokesperson said in an e-mail.
The updates include some minor changes, such as the way signature sounds are handled, but major features remain the same. The software is available for download from download.live.com.
The versions released today aren't dramatically different from the Windows Live Wave 3 apps w But Microsoft says the latest beta refresh means that the company is almost ready to take the beta label away and say that the Windows Live Essentials apps are ready to call final.
There is, however, a rather lengthy list of known issues, especially for users who are running Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2. So you might want to check out the release notes and system requirements before installing Windows Live Essentials.
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