Windows Live Messenger 8 (beta)

I was sent an invite to take the beta version of Windows Messenger 8 for a test drive.
The download site didn’t have any issue with me logging in with Firefox, but the download button was “dead” until I logged back in with Internet Explorer (I’m trying the beta of that as well).
Installation was easy and no reboot was required, which is a nice change compared to so many windows products.
So what’s so new and innovative?
Supposedly the level of interaction with your contacts has been taken to new levels with the addition of VOIP and video chat.
I won’t be able to try those out unless my contacts have the same version of the software, but it sounds like every bit of software out there is slowly but surely adding this kind of functionality.
One of the features that immediately caught my eye was the ability to show my contacts which music I was listening to. Unfortunately it only works with Windows Media Player (which I’ve never particularly liked), but it does seem to work quite well.
Contact management seems to have been expanded on, or at least made more obvious.
There is also a file sharing feature, though what differentiates this from the older methods of sending files to contacts is not clear.