Windows Live Essentials installer |
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| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
| Initial release | 2006 |
| Stable release | 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) / July 6, 2011 |
| Operating system | Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Server 2008 R2 |
| Website | essentials.live.com |
| Windows Live Downloads allows users to download Windows Live Essentials |
Windows Live Essentials (previously Windows Live Installer) is a suite of freeware applications by Microsoft that aims to offer integrated and bundled e-mail, instant messaging, photo-sharing, blog publishing, security services and other Windows Live entities. Essentials programs are designed to integrate well with each other, with Microsoft Windows, and with other Windows Live web-based services such as Windows Live Photos and Windows Live Hotmail, so that they operate as a “seamless whole”.[1][2]
Contents |
Windows Live Essentials includes the following components:
Windows Live Essentials applications can be installed on Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 SP2 or Windows Server 2008 R2.[3]
On August 25, 2006, Microsoft began seeking testers for their invitation-only Windows Live service named Windows Live Essentials. It was very similar to Google Pack in that it allows users to discover, install, and maintain a number of Windows Live application programs. However, the original Windows Live Essentials was referred to as the website serving the purpose of allowing users to discover new Windows Live services. The Windows Live Essentials website was integrated tightly with Windows Live Dashboard, an application which offers a view of the services the user already has and what new Windows Live software and services are available. Windows Live Dashboard required users to sign-in with their Windows Live ID to check whether the service has been downloaded or not. At that time, web-based services such as Windows Live Hotmail (then Windows Live Mail) was also part of the list.
Shortly after its initial beta release, the original Windows Live Essentials website became unavailable and the website was redirected to Windows Live Betas (then Windows Live Ideas), and as a result Windows Live Dashboard also became unavailable.
Subsequent reappearance of a Windows Live Dashboard is seen with the initial "Windows Live Wave 2" unified installers from Windows Live Messenger 8.5, Mail and Writer that was released on May 30, 2007. In the "Windows Live Wave 2" suite of services, Windows Live Installer was the name of the website and software given to serve the purposes of allowing users to discover, download and install Windows Live software and services. Users were able to select the Windows Live software they wished to install on the website, and the website would pass on the information to the unified installer software such that the installer will only download and install those applications selected.[4]
The Windows Live Installer application was significantly updated with the subsequent "Windows Live Wave 3" release of applications, with the new inclusion of Windows Live Movie Maker (beta) and Microsoft Office Outlook Connector to its suite of products. On October 29, 2008, it was announced at the Professional Developers Conference 2008 that Windows Live Installer would be renamed as Windows Live Essentials, and would be integrated into Windows 7 to allow users to download the included Windows Live applications. However, the Windows Live Essentials applications will not be "bundled" with the Windows 7 operating system. This should allow more frequent updates to the Windows Live Essentials applications outside of major operating system releases.[2]
On December 15, 2008, the "beta refresh" versions of Windows Live Essentials applications were released.[5] This release included many changes since the previous beta release based on user feedback. A significant visual change in this release was the introduction of new application icons which added a common design theme to all the Live Essentials applications. The words "beta" were removed from most of the build numbers. On January 7, 2009, the "beta refresh" versions were released as the final versions, with the notable exception of Windows Live Movie Maker.[5]
Microsoft updated Windows Live Essentials Wave 3 on February 13, 2009[6] and again on August 19, 2009,[7] when Windows Live Movie Maker was released out of beta and significantly updated with additional features since the beta version released in December 2008.[8] The final build number was 14.0.8117.416.
After the release of Windows Live Essentials 2011, which does not support Windows XP, Windows Live Essentials 2009 was renamed to Windows Live Essentials for Windows XP. This version is now only available to download to Windows XP users.
Microsoft released a public beta for the next major update for Windows Live Essentials dubbed "Wave 4" on June 24, 2010.[9] The updated applications include Windows Live Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Writer, Family Safety, Mesh, and Messenger Companion. For Windows Live Mesh, the application has been rewritten to be based on the previous Live Mesh, and will allow PC and Mac users to keep their documents, pictures and music in sync across multiple computers. It was also announced that Windows Live Toolbar will be discontinued and replaced by the Bing Bar.[10] In addition, the Ribbon user interface was introduced for the first time in Photo Gallery, Mail, and Writer. The Wave 4 beta has dropped support for Windows XP; Windows Vista or Windows 7 is required for its use.[9] The beta refresh of Windows Live Essentials 2011 was released on August 17, 2010. Microsoft released the final version of Windows Live Essentials 2011 on September 30, 2010. The applications were updated with a hotfix/QFE (except for Mesh and Family Safety) on December 1, 2010,[11] and that update became available through Windows Update from March 20, 2011.[12]
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