Windows Live Messenger 8.5 leak is now a public beta

The leaked Windows Live Messenger 8.5 beta that seemed to have got a bit of attention this week (bringing down our site with the amount of downloads it had) has now been released as an official public beta.

MessengerSays mentions nothing on the leak, but talks about the build. You could question the release, most MVP's and interns believed 9.0 was the only version in development. The build no longer supports machines running anything older than Windows XP SP2, and finally moves settings into a new directory (Program Files/Windows Live/Messenger), which is creating problems for 3rd party addons.

Messenger Plus! Live will have an update to support the new beta soon, however there are problems where Plus! installs itself (if you re-install WLM, Plus! may no longer hook correctly because it is installed in a different directory).

I just want to note the public beta is no different than the leak of the other day. If you're having trouble installing the new beta, read this (apparently there are a few issues with the new installer).

>> Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta (English/UK)
>> Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta (English/US)
>> Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta (English/India)
>> Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta (French/France)
>> Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta (German)
>> Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta (Spanish/US)
>> Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta (Spanish/Spain)
>> Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta (Chinese [Simplified])
>> Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta (Japanese)