Microsoft today brought three of its Internet services out of beta: Live.com, Windows Live Local, and Windows Live Search.

Windows Live Local has the widest array of new features, though keep in mind that this service is only coming out of beta for the U.S. and U.K. (whereas the other two services are of a more global nature). Topping the list of new or enhanced features in Live Local is access to a full database of white pages that can be searched from within the Live Local interface.

From this reviewer's point of view, the most interesting enhancement is the expansion of bird's-eye imagery available (100 cities and counties throughout the U.S. and U.K.). Those who have made use of the Live Local service have probably grown fond of its Collections feature, which allows you to save your personalized searches and maps and log into them from anywhere; now you can customize your maps further by drawing lines and shading areas of the map. The folks at Microsoft have also reported quite a few other improvements to the interface in Live Local, as well as the ability to send content or links to mobile devices using via the device's phone number as the address. One final new piece available within Live Local is an upgraded Virtual Earth Map Control (v4). This will likely be of most interest to the developer community (information can be found at the MapPoint Developer Center on MSDN at http://msdn.microsoft.com/mappoint/).

Among the new stuff within Windows Live Search is a fresh user interface design which will look consistent across the Microsoft world, including the fleet of Live services and msn.com. The revamped search has subcategories like image and local search, among others, which allow you to better target your search from the start. Several of the new features at Live.com also revolve around search, including the ability to add persistent search results to your own Live.com homepage, and the ability to subscribe to RSS feeds from search results.