Recently we reported on the new public release of another popular messenger add on, MessengerDiscovery 2.

It would be honest to say the software has had it's problems in the past and as such user's opinions may have been tainted, mine included. However at each major release I give the program another test run for fairness sake.

And that part of the story is no different for me this time around. I downloaded the public release and gave it a spin.

MessengerDiscovery 2 software and website sports a brand new interface that compliments the default style of Windows Live Messenger 2009, the new interface was designed in part by Will ' Willz' Ingles, known for an impressive collection of skins for rival add-on Messenger Plus. In fact rival seems the wrong word to use when describing MD2's relationship with Messenger Plus! Live as the software works flawlessly alongside MP!L almost as perfect partners.

MD2 isn't heavy on resources, only taking 17MB of RAM usage and 0 CPU, The features I've tried all work and look fantastic. I've not uninstalled the software after a few runs, it's not causing me any hassle.

I also love the new Phishing Filter Protection, an new and original feature, almost worth the download alone.

I'm actually recommending MD2 to people now, with added plugin support and toast skins you can still customize and enhance your messenger experience, even furthering the existing functions of MD2

The only downside I have experienced is very minor, and that occasionally at startup MD2 will report that it is failing to load (although it has) however I can see this issue being solved fairly quickly by a update build.

So if you're looking for something new to play with or have had a bad experience with MessengerDiscovery in the past try giving the new version a go I'm sure you'll be pleased at how it has evolved.