Windows Live Essentials beta includes free programs from Microsoft for photos, movies, instant messaging, e‑mail, blogging, and more. Windows Live Essentials beta requires Windows 7 or Windows Vista. It includes beta versions of Messenger, Photo Gallery, Mail, Movie Maker, Writer, Family Safety, and Sync, plus Bing Bar and Messenger pack.

Arguably the biggest new feature is in Windows Live Messenger. The first beta included the new social view with Facebook updates; with beta 2, this has been extended to include integration with Facebook chat. The 300 million Windows Live Messenger users can now use Messenger to chat with the 500 million Facebook users.