Over the past few days, you have been able to get a taste of the next version of Windows Live Messenger as the IM client was leaked from Microsoft. Well, the anticipation and the wait are over as the Redmond Company is finally offering Windows Live Messenger 8.5 for download. There have been numerous signs that Microsoft was planning to move ahead with the development of its instant messaging client and that the company was approaching another beta phase.

Windows Live Messenger 8.5 follows the release of version 8.1 at the beginning of March 2007. The Windows Live Messenger team revealed that version 8.5 is in fact the first beta build of the new IM client designed with Windows Vista in mind. The first beta for Windows Live Messenger 8.5 is build 517, and Microsoft revealed that it has limited the support markets and languages for "English - United States, United Kingdom, India, French - France, Japanese - Japan, German - Germany, Chinese (Simplified) - China, Spanish - United States, Spain."

Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta is also supported exclusively on Windows Vista and Windows XP Service Pack 2. "The next thing (or probably the first thing) you will notice is Messenger Setup looks different than previous Messenger releases. During Messenger setup you may notice that you are not prompted to create a desktop shortcut for Messenger. If you have an desktop shortcut from a previous release it will continue to work. After setup you will notice that the start menu short cuts are included in a Windows Live folder so you can easily find all your Windows Live clients. If you had Messenger installed previously your other start menu short cut will still appear," revealed a member of the Windows Live messenger team.

The new graphical user interface in 8.5 Beta is indeed superior to what Windows Live Messenger 8.1 had to offer, and it is in tune with Windows Vista's overall style. Just go ahead and give it a try. Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta 1 is available for download here.