And just when you thought all the consumer goodies for Windows went out the door at the Windows Digital Entertainment Anywhere event in LA, there are more goodies in store: Microsoft Photo Story 3 for Windows, a new freely downloadable item made available to Windows XP users. It's like Windows Movie Maker but for your Photos :).

• Download Photo Story 3 for Windows
• More info and Samples

Note: site is still propping at time of this announce.

Photo Story 3 for Windows makes it easier than ever to share life’s memorable moments in new ways by adding motion, effects, music and more to your digital photos. The resulting slideshow-like video can then be easily shared in a # of ways. The files are small thanks to the new Windows Media Image v2 codec.  Anyone with WM Player 7 or higher can enjoy Photo Stories with a small automatic codec download; WM Player 10 is recommended and includes this new codec as well.

This new version addresses the top customer feature requests including:

Easy Capture and Touch Up

• Easier image import with resizable thumbnail browser and MSN Groups support
• Image touch-up tools built-in to fix top issues like red-eye, color and contrast without changing the original
• Automatically remove black borders from a single image or all your images with technology from Microsoft Research
• Built-in support for panoramic images

More features for personalization

• Add custom pan and zoom effects without limits - including superzoom
• 40 transitions - previous versions only supported crossfade, this version addresses a top request with features like diagonal wipes, flips, and page curls. Oh and did I mention the photo effects like Sepia, Black/White, Chalk and more?
• Improved titling- add titles or captions on any photo in your story
• Built-in soundtrack creator for royalty-free music from a wide range of styles
• Add multiple MP3 and WMA files to create your own soundtrack
• Write in your own cheat-sheet notes for narration

Easy Sharing

• One-click attach to email - uses your preferred email client
• Burn to CD using Windows XP's built-in CD burning
• Burn to DVD with Media Center Edition 2005 PCs or 3rd party apps like Sonic MyDVD
• Share in person on Windows Mobile devices including Portable Media Center
• Works even better with Windows Media Player 10 Mobile devices including the Audiovox SMT-5600 Smartphone from AT&T Wireless/Cingular and the Dell Axim X50 Pocket PC

So... what's your photo story?  Play with it over Halloween - use it for your party, your kids costumes etc and post a link here.