Another beta goes, another one is in the works. Windows Live Messenger 8.1 has been around now for around 6 months and a few days, and now it’s time the doors were shut. There were 3,009 registered users on the beta, a total of 1,010 bugs and 456 suggestions in total spanning the 6 months the product was in beta, and the newsgroups had over 6,000 posts. That’s quite something.

There are no final prizes for testers this time round, and work on Windows Live Messenger 9.0 has already begun (there will be no more interim releases, or at least if there are, there won’t be any beta programs for it). Current testers of Windows Live Messenger 8.1 who have access to the Microsoft Connect pages will be automatically transferred to the next beta (9.0) so don’t you worry - plenty more to come.

Download the final Windows Live Messenger 8.1 here!