Windows Live Messenger Beta open to the public

The new Windows Live Messenger Beta is the next-generation MSN Messenger and, as always, it is free to download.

It has everything you already love about Messenger – your contact list, emoticons, and plenty of ways to access to your friends via text, voice and video – plus new ways to connect and share documents with magical ease.

When you move to the new Windows Live Messenger, it will be like upgrading from one MSN Messenger version to the next. All your contacts will move with you, as will all your personalised elements (emoticons, winks, user tiles, themes, etc…).

What is Windows Live?
Your online world gets better when everything works simply and effortlessly together. That's the basic idea behind Windows Live. So the things you care about - your friends, the latest information, your e-mails, powerful search, your PC files, everything – comes together in one place. This is a brand new Internet experience designed to put you in control. And this is just the beginning – you'll see many more new services in the coming months.