With Windows Live Wave 4 already appearing in several Microsoft products, it is only a matter of time until we hear news about Windows Live Messenger 10. I asked members of the Messenger Plus! community forums to provide their opinions and tell me what they wanted out of Messenger in Windows Live Wave 4. Below is a summary of their responses:

• Integration with social networking websites i.e. Facebook
• Bigger display pictures by default
• Tabbed chatting (we've heard this one before)
• A clean up of the program's UI design
• Fix server issues where messages become undelivered
• More customisable toast alerts
• The ability to choose which side of the conversation display pictures appear on
• The option to turn off cleartype font rendering

You can see our list of wanted features from many months ago. From what I've noticed the list is not concerned with big new features, but minor tweaks to enchant what appears to be a rich IM experience. However, I always felt Windows Live Messenger 2009 was about that anyway. Nevertheless Microsoft needs to bring something unique to the table in order to get out of the rather piecemeal updates we have seen since the beginning of Windows Live Messenger.

As ever please drop a comment with your ideas, you never know who is reading.

MSN/ Windows Live Messenger has always been one of Microsoft's most customisable products, and one that people have attempted to dissect or hack to pieces. Its rich API has generated some great add-ons over the years, and it's XML coded interface has meant skins have been possible and highly detailed (even if Microsoft have tried to cut it down in the past). So we want to round up a load of screenshots of what your Messenger looks like, from the skins you use, to the features you add in or patch out.

To submit your screenshots we ask you to show both your main Messenger contact list and a conversation window. Below are a few guidelines to help you know what we are looking for:

1. A good quality screenshot where possible. Export in a high resolution, preferably a PNG 32, where we can cut down the filesize before uploading it to the website. For those of you who just have paint, use the default Bitmap image. A high quality image isn't necessary, but it is preferred.
2. Edit out any personal information of you or your contacts, such as email addresses or phone numbers. We can always do this for you, but it would save us some time.
3. Try and tell us what skin, add-on, patch and Messenger build you are using (if applicable).
4. That you are willing to have a screenshot of your Messenger posted on the website.

To submit an image/ or set of images email admin@msgstuff.com and start your subject title with "My Messenger:". We hope to show the results as soon as we get a decent amount of screenshots. So are you going to contribute? All approved images will be shown in a gallery on this website, with a link to it on the main menu. Below is what some of our admins (me included) have already submitted: