The Windows Live Gallery team is happy to announce that we have just completed our most recent update to the community.

First, we are excited to finally talk about Windows Live Gallery enabling our partners to sell content via Microsoft Points.  We are joining other Microsoft businesses such as Xbox and Zune in using this exciting micro-transaction platform for premium content.  There are no partners that will be using it right away, but they are coming soon. 

Second, there are now Windows Live Gallery forums so that users, publishers and Microsoft can communicate better about requests and issues.  We heard that people didn’t see that their feedback was being acted upon or even heard.  Now you can use our forums to talk about Windows Live Gallery issues and gadget ideas.  This is also extended to publishers when they have submission issues.

Based on user feedback, we’ve made some improvements in the rating system for gadgets. This includes resetting the ratings for a large number of items.  If you’ve got favorites (or some that you especially dislike), please go back and re-rate them. We’re hoping our new system will make it easier for people to find the gadgets they want.

Along with these changes we have also made it easier for you to browse, search and download content.

There are a lot of other cool features and functionality that have been added, but have not been  "switched on" yet.  Don’t worry though, we will be posting more information as they are enabled.

Stay tuned!

Last, a special thanks goes out to everyone who provided us with crucial feedback over the last few months.  We have been listening to it and finally get to show you what we've been working on.

Please use our new Windows Live Gallery forums to continue to pass feedback to us.