As we cool our heels till the October release of Windows 8, the folks over at Microsoft have put forth new versions of the Windows Photo Gallery and Movie Maker that are set to take advantage of the much awaited OS. Also compatible with Windows 7, these applications can be downloaded now as part of the Windows Essentials 2012 bundle.
The new Movie Maker has been optimized to work efficiently with the hardware accelerated graphics in Windows 8, and one of its fresh features is Video Stabilization which is meant to smooth out wobbly videos. Budding filmmakers who struggle to find appropriate soundtracks for their creations while staying away from the clutches of the law have something to look forward to as well. Windows has partnered with AudioMicro, Free Music Archive and Vimeo Music Store, who’ll all be offering music tracks will proper rights.
The official Windows blog also mentioned that the new Movie Maker will kick in a third audio slot reserved for narrations and voice-overs. Moreover, text additions to the movies will now be accompanied by options to drop outlines around them, just so they don’t get camouflaged with the video clips. This fresh version of the popular application will even be compatible with h.264 which is quite a frequently used format these days.
As far as the Photo Gallery is concerned, the only noteworthy addition to this app is the Auto Collage trait. Seven or more photographs can be selected by users and the software will have them all fused together into a collage. Lastly, the new Windows Photo Gallery and Movie Maker will also kick in their own Vimeo buttons that allow multimedia content to be posted on the website directly from the respective applications.