WINDOWS LIVE ESSENTIALS 2011

Microsoft's decision to strip out certain capabilities from Windows and make them available separately as a free downloadable application suite called Windows Live Essentials remains controversial. Indeed, the original justification for doing so--Microsoft says it can update the Essentials applications more quickly if they're not part of the titanic Windows infrastructure--has not been borne out by reality. The company expects to ship the new version of Windows Live

Essentials, the internally named "wave 4" release, by the end of 2010, well over a year and a half after the wave 3 release. That's not exactly timely.

And it's not just the timing that leaves a rather unfulfilled feeling in the pit of my stomach. Today's wave 3 version of Essentials certainly contains a number of valuable and useful applications, and for this reason it's one of the very first things I install on my own PCs when I'm reinstalling the entire system from scratch. But it's also big on promise while not fulfilling some very basic integration pieces. The current Essentials, for example, offers no way to directly access SkyDrive-based cloud storage. You can't sync or even access Windows Live Calendar

with Windows Mobile devices. And so on.

 

 

Windows Live Essentials 2011 system requirements

Windows Live Essentials 2011 requires the following:

• Operating system: 32- or 64-bit version of Windows 7, or Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 and the Platform Update for Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 and the Platform Update for Windows Server 2008.
• Processor: 1.6 GHz or higher
• Memory: 1 GB of RAM or higher
• Resolution: 1024 × 576 minimum
• Internet connection: Online services require dial-up or high-speed Internet access (provided separately—local or long-distance charges may apply). High-speed Internet access is recommended for some features.
• Graphics card: Windows Live Movie Maker requires a graphics card that supports DirectX 9 or higher and Shader Model 2 or higher.
  
  

  Additional requirements

  Some Windows Live programs have additional requirements.
• Windows Live Photo Gallery and Movie Maker require some components of DirectX 9, which might be installed for you if they're not found on your computer.
• Windows Live Mesh requires OS X 10.5 or newer to run on a Mac.
• Windows Live Messenger video chat requires a webcam, a microphone, speakers or a headset, and high-speed Internet access. HD video chat requires a compatible HD webcam. HD webcams may also have additional system requirements.
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