I’m not sure why Microsoft is doing this drip-drip-drip unveiling of the stuff in the next Windows Live wave. When they previewed the new Hotmail a few weeks ago I was bombarded with questions from readers trying to find it and complaining that their number-one annoyance wasn’t fixed. (Right, because the new Hotmail still isn’t available to the general public.)
Anyway, the latest release of news about a product you won’t be able to use for a while is a preview of the new Windows Live Essentials. I’ve been using the (very) private beta for a while and have found a lot to like. I’ll have a more detailed look next week.
If you’re interested in learning more right now, visit The Windows Blog, which has a deeper look at Windows Live Photo Gallery. And then hop over to Paul Thurrott’s place, where he has a typically detailed look at each one of the pieces in the suite.
The one thing I haven’t seen much discussion about is the relationship between Windows and Windows Live. I’ll talk more about that next week as well.
Ed Bott (@ wordpress.com) 
Very interested in what’s happening with Windows Live Writer. What I’ve seen of it makes it look a lot like “Word for blogging”, which is great since Word itself doesn’t really seem well-suited to blogging (even though it has extensions for same).
Honestly, I don’t find them essential in anyway except messenger. It’s like those Ultimate Extras in a separate pack just to avoid EU suing them.
What’s still confusing is the release date for all this new stuff? Very murky job by MS on this one.