14 DAY TRIAL // While Microsoft will still not officially make public the development and release schedule for Windows Live Wave 4, the company’s very own leaks point to June 2010 for the next major milestone for the successor of Wave 3. Approximately a week ago, I was telling you that Microsoft France revealed Windows Live Messenger Wave 4 Beta was planned for launch on June 21st, 2010. The software giant failed to confirm the date, but a new blog post, this time from Microsoft Live@edu, indicates that the previous leaked date is right on the money.
“As part of the upcoming Windows Live June release, new co-branding options will appear on May 10 in the co-branding user interface of the Windows Live Admin Center. There are important limitations to editing your co-branding from May 10 – June 1, so please familiarize yourself with the changes outlined in this blog,” the message shared with Live@edu admins on May 7th, 2010 reads. (emphasis added)
It is important to underline that the Live@edu team member is actually talking about Windows Live Wave 4, and not just a generic Windows Live update. In the next paragraph, the Live@edu team representative makes this perfectly clear.
“Due to the release of the next iteration of Windows Live in early June, the ability to edit co-branding of the current versions of Windows Live services will be locked on May 10. Any changes you make to your co-branding beginning on this date will not appear until the June release versions of the services are available. If you are planning on making changes to your co-branding, please do so before May 10 to avoid delays,” she notes. (Check out the Live@edu Blog for additional details related to changes to Live@edu) (emphasis added)
In all fairness, there’s no mention of the Beta development milestone coming from the Live@edu team, however, considering the information leaked by Microsoft France, June 2010 will bring with it the first testing build of Windows Live Wave 4 for the public, namely the Beta. Earlier last week, I brought the June 21st release date for Windows Live Messenger Wave 4 to the attention of a Microsoft contact. This is the answer I got: “We continue to actively work on the next release of Windows Live and think customers will be excited by the changes. The final versions will be released when they are ready for our customers worldwide. We have no specifics to share on the release date or final product at this time.”
It’s beyond me why Microsoft insists on playing this pointless “hush-hush” game on the one hand, while it is leaking information indiscriminately on the other. The company pulled the info published by Microsoft France, but the post from the Live@edu blog continues to be online. At this pace, when Microsoft finally announces the availability deadline for Windows Live Wave 4, it will be already old news by any accounts.