Microsoft has made another case for upgrading to Windows 7: The company has released the latest version of its free downloadable collection of software and enhancements for the consumer editions of Windows.
And, as promised, the package of goodies will be available for Windows 7 and Windows Vista, but not for Windows XP.
Windows Live Essentials 2011, which has been available in beta form since June, includes movie editing software, a photo management application and the Live Mesh data synchronization software. The new version of Windows Live Messenger allows users to connect with their LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace accounts. New blogging software allows users to update their WordPress, TypePad and Blogger-hosted blogs.
Also, many bugs were rectified since the beta release, thanks to user feedback.
“Our beta users helped us identify and address issues, with over two thousand forum posts and comments. In today’s release, we’ve addressed 95 [percent] of all bugs reported by beta users, leading to improvements that you’ll see across the suite,” wrote Chris Jones, who is Microsoft’s vice president of Windows Live engineering, in a blog post trumpeting the release.
Jones also announced that Dell will be the first global PC vendor to ship new Windows 7-equipped computers with the package preinstalled, in time for the holiday season.
