Updated 10.8.12 Windows Essentials 2012 is released only for Windows 7 and Windows 8; for those who use Windows XP, you must continue to use the previous version 2011 described in this post.
From March 2013 the Messenger chat is replaced by Skype and will no longer exist as a program.
At Microsoft they never tried to fight Facebook and other social networks trying to open new services to make people communicate.
Microsoft has always aimed straight at one of the historically most successful MSN Messenger chat programs.
For a couple of years, Microsoft's Messenger has been integrated into a suite of programs called Windows Live Essentials (or Windows Live Wave) which includes, in addition to Windows Live Messenger (or MSN Messenger), excellent programs such as the Writer for writing on blogs on any platform (Blogger, Wordpress or others), Windows Live Photo Gallery (or Photo Gallery) to organize photos and upload them to the internet, Windows Live Mail (substitute for Outlook Express) and the new Windows Movie Maker.
The news today is the official release of the new version Windows Live Essential 2011 with the new Messenger is in Italian .
There is still no announcement about the changes, except that the 2011 edition of Windows Live fully integrates with the latest Microsoft Windows 7 operating system, including full support for the jumplist (i.e. the taskbar) and other operating system features. .
This update to the new version can only be done on 32 and 64 bit computers that have Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 as operating system.
Windows XP owners cannot install the new Messenger 2011 or other Essentials programs.
On the official Windows Live website there are links for downloading the Windows Live Essentials 2011 online installer .
The web installer ( wlsetup-web.exe ) is small in size and requires an Internet connection during installation, since it then downloads all the files of the various programs, via the web.
There are two possibilities:
1) Downloading Windows Live Messenger 2011
2) The download of the entire Windows Live Essentials 2011 suite .
Before installing Windows Live Essentials 2011 with the new Messenger, it is absolutely advisable to uninstall the previous version through the Windows functionality.
When choosing the components to install, I recommend removing the Bing Toolbar which is useless.
The components of the Microsoft Windows Live Essentials suite are:
Windows Live Messenger 2011, in particular, is integrated into social networks becoming a place where you can interact with the internet, not only by chatting with friends but also by communicating on Facebook, MySpace and Linkedin.
The MSN Connector, if it works, should bring Facebook chat into MSN Messenger .
Live Mail, the replacement of the old Outlook Express is now almost comparable to Microsoft Outlook, free and full of functions to manage e-mail.
Live Writer also allows integration with YouTube and Facebook and, since it was already the best program to write on blogs as if you were using Word, it will become one of those indispensable software for those who write on Blogger, Live Spaces and Wordpress blogs.
Live Photo Gallery adds fast photo editing tools and becomes more and more similar to Google's Picasa.
Finally, the Windows Movie Maker integrates with YouTube and Facebook to upload edited or created videos to the internet.
Windows Live Family Safety which includes some safety software for the protection of children, for the use of the internet and the messenger chat.
Outlook Connector to integrate Microsoft Outlook with social networks like Linkedin and Facebook.
