
The programs are not all well-suited to achieve those goals, at least not yet, but it’s a mighty effort by Microsoft. Provide tools for you to move your files and services to the cloud.Create Microsoft-branded portals for your computer and your phone that will be the hub for your various social networks (in other words, find some way to show you Microsoft-sponsored ads while you look at Facebook updates).Add pressure to the move away from Windows XP (this release will run on Vista and Windows 7 but not Windows XP).That’s still true but now there are a few more agendas: The original concept was to take some features out of Windows 7 and release them as separate downloadable programs so they could be updated more frequently. The programs included in Windows Live Essentials 2011 have been shifting for the last couple of years – programs have been added and dropped, features have appeared and disappeared, and names have changed around endlessly. The bad news is that you almost certainly don’t want all of them, and Microsoft has released them in a way that makes it more likely that you’ll install them all by accident, with some side effects that you won’t like. The good news is that Microsoft has released Windows Live Essentials 2011, an updated collection of free programs that are well designed and useful additions to Vista and Windows 7.
