Windows Live Essentials Beta is Out

[James]

I seldom download a beta program but after listening to Paul Thurrott on TWIT the other day, I decided to take the plunge. It's just an awesome program. It comes with the upgraded Bing Bar, the new Windows Live Mail and several other apps. You can read more about it here:

http://windowslivepreview.com/essentials/

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[iJohnE]

I like Windows Live Messenger, only problem is that I know only one other person who uses it.

For IM I actually use Pidgin. It allows me to manage all of my protocols in one program.

The bets looks nice, but I don't know if I am going to try it out.

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[James]

The Bing bar is really great (and can be hidden if preferred). The Windows Live Mail is absolutely incredible, John. I used T-bird for many years but this new mail has it beat. And I love the way it syncs with my Hotmail account. It's worth a look or at least a tour to see what it offers. My wife downloaded it and declared it a keeper as far as she is concerned. I followed a few hours later. Lovin' it.

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[iJohnE]

I don't have hotmail. I have Gmail and a private email server which both use Imap.

For email I use Postbox Express...which is a professional version of T-Bird.

I might download the beta just for the hell of it.

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[James]

You're a trooper, John. But don't do it for my sake. Sounds like you've got a pretty good thing going for you so why mess with it? Take care.

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[iJohnE]

I'm always looking for something better; that's why. If there are features that I could discover in these beta products that could help me to be more productive or on top of email and such; you can bet that I'm going to try them out.

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