Microsoft has just released Windows Live Essentials 2011, bringing a complete refresh to Messenger, Live Mesh, Live Mail, Photo Gallery and more.
The name of the game for this update is social integration, and that starts in Windows Messenger. The new version of the IM client can be tied to Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn, automatically pulling in photos and status updates to the redesigned home-screen. Status updates from Messenger can also be pushed out to social networking sites, keeping your identity up to date across all platforms. Lastly, you can now communicate with friends using Facebook chat from within Messenger.
Of course, you can easily revert back to an ‘old style' compact view if you choose.
Social integration extends to the other Live Essentials programs as well. Live Photo Gallery can now post pictures directly to sites like SkyDrive, Flickr, SmugMug and Facebook while the new version of Movie Maker can publish videos to Facebook and YouTube.
Rounding out the updates is the new version of Live Mesh (nee Live Sync). The cloud sync/remote desktop client is getting a boost to 5GB of free online-storage as well as efficiency tweaks and other new features.
Across the board, there are also Windows 7 specific changes that make full use of jump lists.
In related news, Dell has announced that it will be shipping most new desktops and laptops with Windows Live Essentials 2011 later this year. However, in a nod to gamers and power-users, Alienware PCs will not be getting the software preloaded.
The software package is available to download now for Windows Vista and Windows 7 - sorry XP users - directly from Microsoft.
