While everyone was expecting a public RC of the Wave 3 applications last week, a beta refresh made it out this week over at download.live.com. Windows Live Essentials, which refers to the suite of Windows Live client applications (as opposed to web services), consists of a long list of software: Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Writer, Toolbar, Family Safety, and Office Outlook Connector (which is mysteriously missing in this release). This release includes two new additions, Office Live Add-in (which allows you to open and save documents directly to your online workspace) as well as Silverlight.
Full Story: Windows Live Essentials (including Messenger) beta refresh
Full Story: Windows Live Essentials (including Messenger) beta refresh