Three new screenshots of Windows Vista Build 5506. You can see the new Startmenu and ControlPanel. Did you notice all the Live Elements in the Startmenu? Although just two elements are officially tagged with Live. Windows Defender is also a fixed component of Windows Vista now.

Build 5506 should be the last beta build, Microsoft is aiming for RC1 now.

All in all Vista seems to be pretty much tied to the internet. Enjoy the shots:

Screenshot Source: EWeek

On Thursday Microsoft is set to unveil Photosynth, 3-D imaging software that transforms digital images into 3-D models.

The software works by scanning a collection of photographs, which can be taken from different cameras at different times. It looks for similarities amongst the pictures, and cross-references them against eachother.  This allows the software to pinpoint a feature’s 3-D position, as well as to determine from which angle the picture was initially taken.

From the collection of photos analyzed, Photosynth constructs a 3-D model.  This can be accomplished with as little 2 photos, but the more photos used, the better and more exciting the results are.

The 3-D model will allow people to move through a scene, viewing the images from any angle.  Microsoft is hoping for the software to be web-based, and states that it may be available for general use later this year.

Photosynth will be previewed on Thursday at the Siggraph 2006 conference in Boston, which looks at the latest developments in computer graphics and interactive techniques.

Microsoft announced plans Wednesday to release versions of classic 1980’s video games, including such titles as Pac-Man, Frogger, and more.

The video games will be offered through XBox Live Arcade, an online service that allows people to download free trial games and then buy them for $5 to $15.

Beginning this past Wednesday, Microsoft will offer a game every Wednesday for the next five weeks, including retro games updated with higher-end graphics and innovative new ways to play together.

The first game that will be offered is Frogger. Microsoft currently has 20 arcade titles available online, and hopes to have 50 titles by the end of the year.

On Wednesday Yahoo and Microsoft announced that they have begun a limited public beta test that allows Windows Live Messenger users and Yahoo Messenger users to send messages back and forth, as well as alert both services of online status and other information.

While the partnership presently only allows text-based messaging to be exchanged between the two systems, they do hope to add voice chat functionality in the future.

Allowing the two to work together will create the world’s largest instant messaging community of over 350 million users. 

Too bad I use neither service.  If you want to catch me on IM, you’ll have to find me on Google Talk or, rarely, AIM.  Now if those two could also find a way to get together with Yahoo and MSN, we’d have one big orgy of messengers and nearly everyone would be happy.

Over the past couple weeks, more details have emerged regarding Microsoft’s still-in-development, so-called “iPod Killer”.  The device now has a code name (Project Argos), and we know that the project is being headed by Vice President J. Allard. Furthermore, we know that a family of XBox-branded handheld, WiFi-enabled devices are in the works.  So could Gates’ iPod killer be not only a competitor to Apple’s iPod, but also to Sony’s PSP?  Hmm..sounds like a darn good possibility at this point.

The fabled device would potentially not only play music and videos, but would also be WiFi enabled and include the famed XBox gaming platform.  As of yet, iPod doesn’t have games, and the inclusion of such could sway a few consumers towards the Microsoft product.

It’s likely that we will find out something more official at the financial analysts meeting on July 27, after the Q4 earnings results.  While I don’t have any inside sources on this one, the Seattle Times seems to think that an annoucement will be made at the meeting.

Today Microsoft launched the Windows Live Messenger, one of 20 new Services in the Live concept. Windows Live Messenger goes beyond the traditional instant messaging (IM) service, enabling people to connect and share, with free PC-to-PC calls and inexpensive calls from a PC to phones around the world, video calling, easy sharing with Sharing Folders, and more.

As of now Microsoft invested one billion into their new Live Network and they are planning further improvements. The whole platform is pierced with the hyped AJAX Technology.

You can download it here: Windows Live Messenger