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Filed under: Microsoft, Beta

Windows Live Wave 3 includes new movie maker, writer, messenger

Windows Live Wave 3
Microsoft is expected to officially unveil Windows Live Wave 3 beta later today, but you can already find download links for the new Windows Live suite of applications at LiveSide, an unofficial Windows Live news and review site.

Windows Live Wave 3 includes new beta versions of Windows Live Messenger, Toolbar, Mail, Photo Gallery, Writer, and Family Safety. Windows Live Movie Maker has been included in the Windows Live suite for the first time as well, although I discovered that Movie Maker Beta is only available for Windows Vista. If you try running the installer using Windows XP, Movie Maker doesn't show up as an option.

The new applications feature a number of changes. First, the user interface has changed a bit. All of the applications have a lighter, brighter color scheme than their predecessors. Windows Live Writer Beta includes a new tool that lets you post videos to YouTube directly from the blog editing client. There's a new calendar in the Windows Live Mail Beta application.

Windows Live Movie Maker appears to be a stripped down, easier to use version of Windows Vista Movie Maker. It lacks a timeline and audio editing features, doesn't allow you to crop or edit clips, and lacks the ability to place text overlays on a video. In other words, if the old Windows Movie Maker is like Final Cut for dummies, Windows Live Movie Maker is Movie Maker for dummies. I'm not entirely clear on why Microsoft even bothered with this program.

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Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

CiviballsI have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

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