14 DAY TRIAL // The second Beta development milestone of Windows Live Essentials 2011 is now available for download from Microsoft.
Fact is that the download link for the latest testing release of Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 was made public by a range of third-party sources yesterday, August 17th, 2010.
Still, Microsoft proved earlier speculation from the past week correct, and announced officially the availability of Windows Live Essentials 2011 Beta Refresh just hours after the download links made it into the wild.
“We’re releasing an update to Windows Live Essentials 2011 beta,” noted Chris Jones, Vice President, Windows Live Engineering yesterday.
“One of the main reasons we release betas is to allow early adopters to enjoy our products and provide feedback on their experience.”
“Your beta feedback and usage has helped shape the many improvements we’ve made and continue to make across Messenger, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Writer, Mail, and Family Safety,” Jones added.
Windows Live Essentials 2011 Beta Refresh is Build 15.4.3001.0809 and brings to the table important changes across all the components. Keep your eyes on this space and I’ll provide additional info later today related to the modifications in the Beta Refresh.
Despite the fact that 15.4.3001.0809 is the Build number for Windows Live Essentials 2011 Beta Refresh, the versions of the actual components do not coincide.
The Beta Refresh for Windows Live Messenger 2011 for example is 15.4.3002.0810, while Movie Maker is 15.4.3002.0810; Mail 15.4.3002.0810; Photo Gallery 15.4.3002.0810; Sync 15.4.3001.0809; Family Safety 15.4.3001.0809 and Writer 15.4.3001.0809.
“We hope you’ll download today’s update of the Windows Live Essentials 2011 beta and try out the changes,” Jones added. “And today, in addition to English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese, you can also now get the beta in Russian or German. “
Back on June 23rd, 2010, when it announced the initial availability of Windows Live Essentials Wave 4, Microsoft was extremely careful not to unveil the official label for the offering.
The Redmond company used the general Windows Live Essentials moniker for the Beta 1 development milestone.
Now that Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 has reached Beta 2, or Beta Refresh as the software giant put it, Microsoft also made public the official brand for the suite.
At this point in time, the company said nothing about the future milestones of the Windows Live Essentials 2011 development process.
Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 Build 15.4.3001.0809 is available for download here.