Windows Live Essentials beta available now

Windows Live Essentials beta has already been unveiled and now is available for public testing. The package contains useful tools for everyday use including Windows Live Movie Maker, Mail, Messenger, Writer, Photo Gallery, Sync, and Family Safety.

Windows Live Essentials supports ribbon across many of the programs included, like Movie Maker, Mail, Photo Gallery and Writer. Microsoft has used this ribbon in other software products released including Microsoft Office 2010.

Photo Gallery
Windows Live Photo Gallery is a simple way to view, sort, edit and share your photos and videos. Windows Live Photo Gallery allows you to tag, rate, caption and share with friends and your social networks, including Facebook, Flickr, Windows Live Groups, YouTube and SkyDrive.

Movie Maker
Movie Maker offers you simple and effective ways of adding, editing and creating videos. Add multiple videos to make one video, add music, backgrounds, transitions and much more. You can record directly from your webcam or import from your camera and edit using an assortment of visual effects to give your video a professional touch.

Once you're all finished, directly upload your video to YouTube, Facebook, or SkyDrive. Movie Maker allows for sharing plug-ins, so you can add other sharing websites in the future.

Mail
Connect any Windows Live Passport to Mail, allowing you to send and receive emails all right from your desktop. Keep your emails, calendars, RSS feeds and contacts organized all from your desktop, without using a browser. Windows Live Mail delivers most of the features that Microsoft Office 2010 offers.

Sync
Easily access your folders from your desktop to your laptop or other home computers. Select any folder on your computer with pictures or videos to sync with another computer. Remotely connect and browse the folders and files you need while you're away from your desktop. You can even sync Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office 2010 settings using Sync.

Writer
If you manage a blog or just like keeping a personal journal, Windows Live Writer lets you post directly from your desktop, with the ability to include YouTube or desktop videos, pictures, photo albums, maps, emoticons and tags. You can even set Windows Live Writer to use your online blog theme, so you can preview exactly how it will look before you publish.

Family Safety
Designed to keep your children safe by giving parents or guardians control over what is available to view. Simple and easy to manage filters can be enabled for your Windows accounts, making sure your children can't access adult content. Windows Live Family Safety makes it easy to monitor what your kids are viewing online. Requests and blocked websites are sent to the parents email, giving them the option to approve or deny access to certain websites.

Messenger
One of the biggest improvements in Windows Live Essentials is Messenger. Now with integrated social networks like Facebook and MySpace, with more networks coming, users can view, comment, and post right within Windows Live Messenger.

Messenger allows you to switch between the social network + contacts and the classic contact list view. Users not interested in the social networking addition can view their contact list as they always have. Instantly chat with friends and family all around the world, sharing videos and photos, even using your webcam to chat live with them.

Download
Download Windows Live Essentials beta
Build number: 15.3.2804.0607