The free Windows Live suite of programs - Windows Live Messenger, Live Photo Gallery, Live Writer, and Live Toolbar - have now all been released as final versions. That is, no more trial beta versions, and it's time to make use of all these free programs to connect and share.

WindowsLive.com is the site to visit to get an overview of the Live suite and then begin the download and install.

If you installed the trial versions a few weeks ago, you'll be familiar with the Live installation process which downloads the programs of your choice and installs them from the same dialogue. As soon as they're installed, you can begin using each one.

If you'd like to know more about what to expect when you're installing the Live suite, see this earlier post which has plenty of screenshots (blog it to your own Live Space for reference).

Let's now have a look at some of the features of the new Live applications.

There have been a couple of posts about using the Windows Live Photo Gallery including how to get started using tags to organise your photos and how to create a panorama so have a look at them to get underway with organising your photos. Another resource for some ideas is the Live Photo Gallery team blog at blogs.msdn.com/pix/.

Live Messenger 8.5 final version is little changed from the trial version of 8.5. Note if you're running Messenger version 8.0 or earlier you'll be prompted to download the latest version.

Windows Live Mail is a replacement for old out-dated Outlook Express. You should upgrade to Windows Live Mail for no other reason than for the enhanced security features. However one of the best features of Live Mail is that you can subscribe to as many email addresses you like and get all your mail in one place (e.g., webDotWiz has ten email subscriptions). As well you can keep up to date with your Messenger friends' Live Spaces, blog an email to your Live Space, start chatting with your Messenger contacts, and email your photos in a special style to impress family and friends.

It can be a bit of a pain to write up an entry in your Live Space using the web interface as it does its spell check. It's a lot easier to do your writing in Live Writer which now has a U.K. English dictionary. As well Live Writer makes it easier to add photos to your entry and you can use tables too and insert a map or video as the need arises.

So that's it for the free Windows Live desktop programs. Remember though that there other free services such as Live Hotmail and the new Live Calendar. Soon we should be seeing Live Skydrive where we'll be able to backup and store our important documents and photos online.

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