Microsoft has updated Windows Live Photo Gallery, the upgrade to the default Windows Photo gallery that ships by default integrated into Windows Vista. While Windows Live Photo Gallery is still in Beta at this stage the product has evolved with the addition of some new features and functionality. Following the consistent feedback from users, Microsoft has added Flickr photo uploading capabilities to Photo Gallery, no longer restricting the software to its own Live Spaces. Microsoft partnered with Yahoo for this move, and consequently, users of Windows Vista and Windows XP SP2 will be able to find a Publish on Flickr option right in Windows Live Photo Gallery, extending the photo publishing flexibility.

"To upload to Flickr, all I needed to do was choose the photos I wanted to upload and hit "Publish" in the toolbar. A drop-down list will appear that allows me to either choose Windows Live Spaces or Flickr as destinations I want to publish my photos to. I chose Flickr. A new window appeared letting me enter options for which set I want the photo to belong to, what size I want the photo to be uploaded at, and permissions of that photo. Windows Live Photo Gallery will notify you once your photo (or photos) have been uploaded and ask if you would like to view those uploaded photos. In choosing to view the uploaded photos, I was able to add a description and change the name of the photo," Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc described the process.

The Redmond company is referring to the new release of Windows Live Photo Gallery as Beta 2.2 refresh. As of yet, the Beta 2.2 is not available directly for downloading. Microsoft is instead serving the refresh via Windows Update. In this context, with Windows Live Photo Gallery Beta 2 installed on your machine search for additional updates and you should find Beta 2.2 refresh. If this should not be the case exercise a little patience as it will take Microsoft quite a while to make the update available to all users. Simply check back in a couple of days.

"Windows Live Photo Gallery no longer requires WDS (Windows Desktop Search) to be installed on XP! Again, we heard the grumblings loud and clear, and took action! Once you have installed the update via Microsoft Update and have build 1299.1010 install you can uninstall WDS if you're not using it with any other programs. Being a beta, we've also fixed a ton of bugs reported by users so the product should be a lot more stable since the last beta release," Microsoft Program Manager Michael Palermiti stated.