It’s been an exciting week for us here in Redmond, as we’re starting to hear back from you about our new Windows Live programs and the unified installer. We can’t wait to hear even more as you try out all the new betas. Continue to let us know what you think here, and on the Feedback site, and you just might see your requests incorporated into the next release!

I just wanted to add a couple of things to take note of during the installation. 

First of all, you don’t have to install the entire suite. You can clear the check boxes for any products you don’t want right now, and just install one, if that’s all you want.

The only exception is if you already have some Windows Live products installed (like Messenger, for example). In that case, you’ll automatically get an upgrade for that product, even if you didn’t choose to install it explicitly. Because Windows Live products are designed to work together in integrated ways, if you install the beta of one product, we need to make sure you have the latest beta of other, related products at the same time.

If you DO choose to install multiple products at once, the cool thing is, as soon as each one finishes installing, you can start it immediately from a link you’ll see in the installer! No need to wait for everything to finish before you can jump right in and get started. 

Also, if you install through this page (http://get.live.com/wl/all), you can sign up for a new Windows Live ID or sign in with an existing one during installation. From there, you’ll be signed in to the new Windows Live Home page (http://home.live.com), where you can start playing with our new and updated web services while your other programs are being installed.

We sincerely hope you enjoy using the new programs as much as we enjoyed building them.

Jennifer Shen
Program Manager
Windows Live Team

P.S. We hear you loud and clear about the lack of Vista x64-bit support and we promise you we’re working on it! As stated in the release notes, we are not supporting any 64-bit installations for this beta release, but this has always been in our plans for the final release. Due to your overwhelming feedback, we’re working hard to release a version of the installer that supports 64-bit even sooner than previously planned. We’ll be sure to keep you all updated!