posted by Leah

 Intro Thing: Learning To Ride

Come with me, on a little journey back in time,  back to your early childhood, to the day you learned to ride a bicycle...

You climb up on the seat, you put your feet on the pedals, and you balance perfectly!…because mom or dad has a hand placed firmly on the seat or handlebars, holding you up.  

You start pedaling.  The experience is unfamiliar, but you’re determined to learn. You’re shaky at first,  but you grow more and more confident. Soon, you’re cruising down the street with mom or dad running with you, holding on. “I’m ready! I can do it!” you yell, laughing into the wind.

Mom or dad lets go – and there you are, riding along all by yourself (but knowing that if you fall off, they’ll be right there to help you).

Main Thing: Direct Beta Signup

Windows Live Messenger Beta has been learning to ride a bike of sorts, too. It started off with something new. Sometimes things were a little shaky, so the messenger team kept a tight hold on it, to keep it from toppling. Our job is to help steer it in the right direction when it goes off course, and we keeping it from going too fast, which is why we only allowed invited people to sign-in. But now it’s proven it’s stability and we’re ready to let it go at its own pace.

Now,  just about anyone can use the Windows Live Messenger Beta.   No invitation, no waitlist. The page still looks the same, but you’ll get access to the beta immediately.  The more the merrier – so spread the word!

One Other Thing: Invitations

If you are already using the beta and have invitations left, we still encourage you to send them out.  People are way more likely to try out the beta if they receive a formal recommendation from you.

Yet Another Thing: Potential waitlist

We may reintroduce the waitlist in certain countries if people start signing up at some speed racer pace. Think of the bike suddenly coming upon a steep hill.  If you’re hitting the site and being put on a waitlist -  just be a little patient and we’ll get you using the Beta  as soon as possible.

A Final Thing: Kids and Bicycles

If the experience  of riding a bike is not familiar, whether because your big brother never gave you a turn, or  you skipped straight from stroller to sports car, or you did learn to ride, but you were recently visited by the MIBs and just don’t remember it – whatever the reason, then please don’t feel excluded by this post. The part about the bike is just meant to be an analogy, and you’re still welcome to be excited by the news.