Features

Being part of the Windows Live Essentials suite, Windows Live Movie Maker has to be installed through the Essentials package installer. Also, bear in mind that this version only works in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Usability

Windows Live Movie Maker is dead easy to use. All you have to do is import the photos and videos you want to use, select the background music and add some titles and end credits if you want. The program displays extra buttons on the title bar that gives you access to configuration settings for video, music and text respectively. As regards effects, you also have plenty to choose from: transition effects, animations, zoom and pan, and also visual effects that will spice up your images.

Quality

When your video is finished, you can save it in different formats and sizes, depending on where you plan to use it on: computer, high-definition TV screen, mobile device, instant messaging client, etc. Windows Live Movie Maker also includes the option to upload it directly to YouTube, Facebook, SkyDrive and Flickr. The only drawback is that Windows Live Movie Maker saves videos to one single format: WMV.

Conclusion

With Windows Live Movie Maker you'll be able to create nice compositions with your favorite photos and videos, and share them with anyone.

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The new Windows Live Messenger 2012 comes as part of the Windows Live Essentials pack. It's an incremental development over Windows Live Messenger 2011, looking almost identical, while introducing a couple of changes.

When you install Windows Live Messenger, you have the option to install the rest of the Essentials pack, including Mail, Writer, Sync, Companion, Family Safety, Photo Gallery and Movie Maker.

You can choose to connect Windows Live Messenger 2012 to social networks Facebook and LinkedIn, making the app your social hub in Windows, if you want. Facebook is still much easier to use in your browser though, and integration into Windows Live Messenger 2012 is only really useful if your Messenger contacts are still really active and important to you.

The interface is almost unchanged; so if you were unhappy with the changes we saw in 2011, there is nothing here to make you happier! When you open a chat, there is a new Video call icon, and when you receive a video call, there is a new floating window, much like in Skype. A neat feature of this is the option to answer without showing your video feed - we're not always ready for a video call, after all!

Windows Live Messenger 2012 is no revolution, slightly improving on its predecessor. It's still a little bloated, and considering Hotmail's recent transformation to Outlook.com, which features a great messenger service right from your browser, it could be curtains for this venerable application.

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Windows Live Messenger 2011 is finally here. Far from being just a chat program, the all-new Microsoft instant messaging client is now a complete communications center with support for social networks.

As with previous versions, Windows Live Messenger 2011 is part of the Windows Live Essentials suite, which also includes other apps such as Mail, Writer, Sync, Companion, Family Safety, Photo Gallery and Movie Maker, as well as the Bing Bar. Luckily the installation process lets you choose exactly which apps you want on your system.

Windows Live Messenger features a revamped interface. Right after launching it, and thanks to new integration with other services such as Facebook, MySpace and YouTube, the so-called Social Highlights lets you check your friends’ latest news and status messages at a glance. If you still prefer the old style, worry not: Windows Live Messenger lets you switch to the traditional contact list by using the Contacts mode. Bear in mind though that if you use a different email account for your social networks, you’ll have to connect the services on the Windows Live website.

Besides the social element, everything else is pretty much the same on Windows Live Messenger 2011, only with a slightly fresher appearance. You can still do video and voice calls, play online games with your friends, share files, and of course customize the program’s appearance with skins and color themes. Emoticons have been revamped, and – finally! – you can have multiple conversations tabbed in one single window.

The main drawback to the all-new Windows Live Messenger 2011 is that it only works on Windows Vista and Windows 7. So if you still use Windows XP you’ll have to stick to the old version – or upgrade your system!

Windows Live Messenger 2011 is the long-awaited new version of Microsoft’s IM client, now integrated with social networks and other services.

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