We just noticed a new icon in our notifications bar in Windows 8 (MSDN RTM version), showing that an update to Windows Essentials 2012 is available:
…and in going through the update process we have been moved from Build 16.4.3503.728 to 16.4.3505.912. The update process appeared to update all of the Essentials apps (Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery and Movie Maker, and Writer), and at least some of the apps (Mail in particular) seems to be loading quite a bit faster, at first glance we’re not seeing any major changes. Calendar, for example, still awaits a UI update, and still links to the old Wave 3 style Hotmail Calendar.
On a Windows 7 tablet that has unfortunately been wiped a number of times recently, we just installed Windows Essentials and it too is at 16.4.3505.0912, so you should be getting the update whether you’re on Windows 7 or Windows 8.
The update did appear to remove our taskbar icons for Mail and Writer, which we had to replace.
Notice anything new? Let us know in the comments.