Back in February news surfaced that the classic Messenger emoticons are to receive a facelift for Windows Live Messenger 2010. Now LiveSide have uncovered the full set, which appears to contain an additional 25 new emoticons on top of the current selection. You can see them all in the screenshot below:



This brings the number of Messenger emoticons to 106.

Perhaps the emoticons in MSN/ Windows Live Messenger have become a de facto standard for emoticon representation across many programs. You may judge this statement with close scrutiny, but their style has been adopted across many other applications and platforms. The Messenger emoticons have remained virtually untouched for years, but recent screenshots have revealed a radical update to the series.


Are these emoticons replacing the current set?

LiveSide described the change as "minor" yet "noteworthy". I couldn't agree more, as Microsoft's IM client has used the set for so many years now it seems odd that they would change. A glossy effect and the addition of eyebrows appears to be the real differences within the new emoticons, adding a more modern feel to the classic designs.

What do you think about the change (if it is indeed true)? I for one am indifferent, yet I think the current emoticons are some of the best in any available set.


Update

New screenshots have revealed the emoticon panel in full, showing that indeed the entire range has received a facelift. You can see the changes in the images below:

Recent research suggests different cultures interoperate facial expressions differently and this extends to the use of emoticons used throughout the Internet. The common smiley face we know - :-) - may not correlate with those within Eastern Asia.

Although the research is primarily concerned with natural, human facial expressions, the universities involved extrapolated further evidence to provide differences in interpretations between text emoticons:





Both these emoticons represent happiness. But which one do you associate happy with?


Differences were widely regarded to be related on the focus of a specific region of the face. While Asians typically scanned around the eyes, westerns tended to look at the face as a whole.

Source: BBC News - Facial expressions 'not global'

Got the newest Windows Live Messenger 8.1 public beta? There is a new experimental feature included in it that let's you export all you emoticons without having to use an external program.

Instructions have been posted by Chris over at the MessengerSays blog and although they main seem complicated (as it involves using the command prompt) it should be easy enough for any experienced Windows and Messenger user.

The program also works the other way and allows you to easily import these emoticons back into Messenger on another computer (as long as it is also running the latest 8.1 beta).

Although it is an "experimental feature" and it could fail or break your Messenger (therefore there is no guarantee that it will work) it should be fine and be a helpful new feature for anyone.

Instructions at the MessengerSays blog

Anileator, creator of our podcast (which should return tonight ...) during his week off the web, has improved upon his remix of the default Messenger emotions. These are simply brilliant, they take a small variation of each emotion, and damn do they look good.

You can view them all manually here or download the pack itself, and simply run the executable file. This will then add all the files to Messenger instantly.

Thanks to Nile for making these, hopefully you will like them as much as I do.

View them within the database
Download the pack

Update: I (Nile) would like to point out that I did not make 100% of these and so the original creators deserve credit, however I did make about 98% of them and touched up the remaining 2% Enjoy!!!