Windows Live Essentials is a suite of freeware applications by Microsoft that aims to offer integrated and bundled e-mail, instant messaging, photo-sharing, blog publishing, and security services. Essentials programs are designed to integrate well with each other, with Microsoft Windows, and with other Microsoft web-based services such as SkyDrive and Outlook.com, so that they operate as a seamless whole.

“Windows Live is the former collective brand name for a set of services and software products from Microsoft; part of their software plus services platform. A majority of these services are Web applications, accessible from a browser, but there are also client-side binary applications that require installation. There are three ways in which Windows Live services are offered: Windows Essentials applications, web services, and mobile servi...”

Windows Live "is a way to extend the Windows user experience". Windows Vista provides a link in its user interface to download Windows Live Messenger, and Windows 7 saw the removal of applications such as Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Movie Maker and replaced with the Windows Essentials suite, a software package that allows the downloading and installation of similar offerings from Windows Live. Windows Live offers int...