Windows Live Messenger Beta: Review
21 Comments Published January 5th, 2006 in Internet, Microsoft, Technology
Contacts Screen
Unlike the Windows Live Mail which I got into because of a hack, I actually received an email from Microsoft inviting me to try out the new Windows Live Messenger Beta. I thought I might as well to try it out to see what it is like.
First of all the installation took a good 5-10 minutes, which I thought would take less, as I have tried previous Messenger installation. It is probably because it is in Beta. Anyway, after the installation it started up and started signing me in (I set it to auto-signin way back when I was using Windows). It took a good few minutes to sign in for the first time but the rest of the sign-ins were a lot quicker. You can see the main window above, with its ’spruced up’ look and various pieces of eye candy. It does the same things as previous versions of MSN, and the only feature I consider to be new is the added dynamic backgrounds in chat windows (see screenshot below). It uses a Flash image that plays in the background. I have to say I’m quite dissapointed. There is nothing new as there was with MSN 6 to MSN 7. The only thing Microsoft havs changed is the look. Other than that it is nothing special, and I’d still rather use Adium X.
My top annoyances were the fact that there is an advertisement place which takes up quite a bit in the small sized MSN, but it doesn’t have anything in it, as you can see above. There was also the +/- icon next to groups. As I browsed down and I wanted to click the + icon it automatically moved as it enlarged that area to give me more info about that group. It was also a little slow, much slower than previous versions of MSN.
Other than those bits, it’s not too bad but I hope Microsoft add a lot more features, as it is looking quite bare comparing it to MSN 7.Click on the images below (and the one above) for enlarged views.
Chat Window Signing In Screen
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Hi buddy,
If you could be so generous to send me an invite for MSN Messenger Live, that’d be great.
Thanks,
Rhonald
I agree completely, I dislike the way that it enlarges, it is very distracting and hard to get around i do however really enjoy the file drop component which is very helpful but once again they promise that you can customize everything… the onl thing cuztomizable is the bulkey bar at the top which now comes with more microsoft logos, ontop of that there is a HUGE advertising box downbelow which takes away from everything else, I enjoyed it but they need to redesign it i dont like the new look.
can u plz invite me to msn beta
hi i was just woundering if you had any invites left that you would like to share.
Would luv an intive…if you have any left, can you send me one….PLEASE
Ill have one of those if you dont mind I love messenger plz send me one lbmcashboy@hotmail.com
hi sir how r u? can u invite me on msn widows live messenger plz plz plz i m waiting for your reply thanks bye God bless u
Hey id ove to try that out man i would so appricate it if u sent an invite, in return i would bewillig to send u an invite for Gmail its got over 2700 mb of storage so u never have to delete anything again with included google powered mail searcher
No need for invites anymore, Microsoft has released Windows Live Messenger BETA to the public! [link]
hello, i no this sounds cheeky, but would u be kind enough to send me an invite for live messenger?
thanks from
michael
i think the reviewer is a big cissy that needs summat to complain about, the new windows ive messenger is absolutely brill, i just love the offline message feature, where u can leave messages for people, and the moment they come online the message pops up automatically. A lot harder to ignore than an email in ur inbox XD!
I tried installing the new Windows Live Messenger, but when the installation finishes a window comes up saying:
msnmsgr.exe – Unable To Locate Component
This application has failed to start because WINHTTP.dlll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.
I have tried the above but I still get the same error.
Need help please.
Raj
Umm yeh i also get the same problem as Rajeev, it would be real good if their was a solution to the problem im having
thanks
Hey i really need this for contacting family and friends!!!
My daughter put the Beta versionon my computer. And I really rather have my old “Windows Messenger Live” back. What can I do to go back?
Sandy,
You can go to the add remove section of the control panel. Start > Control Panel > Add / Remove Programs. Then you can scroll down the list, select Windows Live Messnger and uninstall it. You can then download the old version, Microsoft has removed the old version from their site, so you should Google for it (I found the following address: http://www.soft32.com/download_40.html but I don’t know if it works). If you can’t remove the new version for some reason, then download the old one and it should overwrite it. If it doesn’t then just remove the links and close it down.
Hope I could help,
Balazs
i want to install WLM 8 again to my computer
when i install WLM 8 and finish there is error code appears always and the installation failed
tota: Have you tried googling for the error? Without any detail and specifics I can’t help you much. Sorry
good