On Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Microsoft released the beta of the new Windows Live services – Wave 3. The app of particular interest to me was the new Windows Live Messenger I’m a sucker for the latest apps which I use on a frequent basis. I was also curious about the new Windows Live Writer, which didn’t really offer me anything that the WordPress online editor didn’t. So I’ve elected not to use it.

The updated WLM (MSN) has a very different UI. I have turned a lot of things off (favorite contacts, “what’s new”) to get some of my contact list real estate back, but the whole thing is cleaned up and more in tune with Aero Glass. It feels like the UI is under development though with inconsistent font sizes and faces. The conversation windows are also completely redesigned, with buddy pictures on the left instead of the right. What’s with this new trend to put everything on the left now? Even WordPress 2.7 is rumored to have the admin panel navigation on the left instead of the top. I have also noticed that the popup notification for a contact coming online and the individual contact windows do not match the color you’ve chosen for your contact list, which is pretty annoying. It is still a beta though, an issue which I hope they fix!

New apps include “Toolbar Beta”, “Photo Gallery Beta”, “Movie Maker Beta”, “Family Settings Beta”, “Mail Beta”, “Messenger Beta”, and “Writer Beta”.

Grab the English web installer here.

Source: ArsTechnica