A few hours ago, Tom Warren announced what Steve Ballmer announced during the keynote address tonight. From what I and many others understood, there was apparently a new build labeled as the “final version” released over at Download.live.com. However this is not the case, hey it happens. We’ve just received confirmation that the “1202” builds are indeed the final build. The main reason that Steve announced this at CES is simply because the Windows Live Essentials suite is now available to every market, compared to being strictly US.

During the keynote, Steve Ballmer also announced that users will soon be able to add Facebook as one of many web activities on your Windows Live Profile. So when you post an image or update your status, your network on Windows Live will also know. And last but not least, Dell will be shipping most of their consumers PCs with the final version of Windows Live Essentials starting in February.

While we are on the topic of Windows Live, I have been invited to attend a private one on one meeting with Ryan Gavin, Senior Director, Windows Live Consumer Product Management OR Dharmesh Mehta, Director, Windows Live Consumer Product Management. I’m not exactly sure if the meeting is going to be strictly PR related or an interview style. With that said, if you have any questions for me to ask please post them and I’ll try and get most if not all answered. I will be meeting with them on the 9th early in the morning so get your questions in!

Source: Neowin.net