Turnaround? Is Messenger Plus! back on track?
Posted by absorbation on Sun 21 Feb 2010 (22:20 GMT) (6797 views)
It has been a tough month for the Messenger Plus! community, with news the software has a new distributor and that its developer Patchou now only maintains a limited role. After weeks of unanswered emails and issues about poor relationships with the new developer Yuna Software, there appears to have been a crucial turning point that may mean our these worries are not valid.


"Back to the roots ... for a fresh start"

This was the title of a post Patchou made to his community on Thursday, where he addressed the concerns of its members who feel that the software has taken a turn in the wrong direction. Patchou has since attempted to reassure his users and had some good news to tell:

I'm back in charge of things. That means you can ask me questions, like you did before (and I'll take too much time to answer some of them, as I did before ). That also means that software development is back on track, with proper releases, documented changes in the change log.



Although Yuna Software is still present and the current distributor of Messenger Plus! Live, its overseeing powers have been reduced. Patchou is sovereign again, which is a great thing. Add to this that there with be several new developers working on Plus! may mean more features and a smaller timeframe between releases.

Patchou has changed his avatar of the forums to one he used when developing Messenger Plus! 3 as a reflection on returning to his roots.


Willz leaves skinning

Following from our post on the decline of Messenger skinning, Willz has told the Messenger Plus! community that he intends to leave skinning due to time constraints and creative differences between Yuna Software. Although he did suggest if improvements were made, he would return again. Nevertheless it is still a blow for skinning as there will no doubtedly be less activity from someone who has done much to keep the skinning community alive in recent years.

Read Patchou's full announcement


Patchou steps down as distributor of Messenger Plus! Live
Posted by absorbation on Wed 06 Jan 2010 (15:48 GMT) (40864 views)
With the new year comes change and the world of Messenger is no exception. Messenger Plus! Live is Windows Live Messenger's most popular add-on with over 60 million users. Recently Patchou has stepped down as distributor of the extension and now Messenger Plus! is privately developed by Yuna Software. This post should elucidate the details to what this may mean for the program's future.

Specifics are somewhat obscure, as Patchou himself created this company some years ago. What does appear to be the case is his control over development and management of the software and its community. Maybe this can be considered a buy-out of Messenger Plus! although this idea certainly lack clarity.

So what do we know? Well yesterday Patchou sent out a lengthy email to his beta tester team to elaborate on the new developers role and sponsor strategies for his Messenger extension. It appears he will be developing the next milestone of the software (it is his code and he has the contextual knowledge of the Messenger API), however his control over the approach appears to have been narrowed.

I need all of you to understand that I am not personally associated with Messenger Plus! anymore.



This simple statement summarizes the situation at hand and although Patchou can't explain the reasons why in explicit detail for legal reasons, it is important to understand Messenger Plus! Live is no longer Patchou's project and will be taking on a new direction.



A snowball effect?

The reaction within the Messenger community has been understandably negative. Patchou has established the largest MSN/ Windows Live Messenger community and this situation coupled with its decline in recent years may lead it to abscond altogether. It is Messenger Plus! that is responsible for the new acceleration of skin and script developers as well as establishing some household names within the Messenger community. Willz has since expressed concern over whether to continue developing skins:

At the moment things aren't really crystal clear so I can't really 100% judge the situation. But there have been recent developments (ones that I choose not to disclose) which have started to make me doubt that I will continue to skin in 2010.




Patchou has established the largest Messenger community and this situation coupled
with its decline in recent years may lead it to abscond altogether


I too have noticed a decline in Messenger developers. Similar websites to ours have either been closed or neglected and to be honest we face similar problems. The threat of substitute services such as social networking websites has led to a diminution to the popularity of IM in general (with the exception of online web messengers). I personally find it laborious to find the time for Messenger Stuff as within the past as do my admins. It may be a despondent fact to face but the Windows Live Messenger community has been experiencing a piecemeal downturn for years.


This could however be a great thing

Looking to a more optimistic side, this could mean great things for Messenger Plus! Live. With a dedicated team of developers, more features can be implemented and the time-frame between releases could be shortened. We have yet to see what Yuna Software has to offer, so lets presume the best and judge them on their results, it could be the thing the Messenger community needs.



Not-so-speedy-speedlinking: October 2009 catchup
Posted by absorbation on Sat 31 Oct 2009 (19:35 GMT) (16724 views)
Wow, it has been a while since I last posted here so I feel I owe an explanation. Having just started university things have been a bit manic and with Halloween being tonight, I thought I should squeeze in a post before venturing out.

  • Messenger Plus! 4.83: Patchou has released a small update for Messenger Plus! Live which addresses some bugs and compatibility issues, whilst removing traces of the recent contest. [Read more]

  • MessengerDiscovery 3.0 plans: Matt, the creator of MessengerDiscovery has already outlined the program's future development plans. Perhaps the most notable new feature on the list is the end of the proxy connections and the application becoming open source to encourage other developers to migrate to Messenger. [Read more]

  • eBuddy receives a re-code: The hit web messenger eBuddy is working on a new web messenger, from the ground up, drawing on newer technologies and better user-interaction. A sleeker interface, along with greater depth for customization and a new layer of polish ensures the service stays up to date with this fast moving industry. [Read more]

  • Interview with Marcus Schmidt: Marketing manager over at Microsoft, Marcus Schmidt reveals his personal thoughts about the future of Windows Live Messenger and what he would like to see in the upcoming Wave 4 series of Windows Live products. [Read more]

  • A standalone web messenger from Microsoft: Microsoft Singapore have released their own web messenger client based on the Messenger API library. As the old Microsoft web messenger was recently discontinued for one built inside of Windows Live Hotmail this is an interesting move, yet one that should please those seeking a fully featured, yet non-bloated client on the web. [Give it a go]


Snow Leopard skin for Windows Live Messenger 2009
Posted by absorbation on Sun 27 Sep 2009 (19:32 GMT) (27771 views)
Here is a skin I've come across a couple of weeks ago for Windows Live Messenger 2009. Snow Leopard skin, based on Apple's new version of OS X 10.6 that was released last month is designed to make Messenger look like Apple's popular operating system UI.



Personally, I think this skin several flaws as it places too much emphasis on Leopard's style wallpaper, rather than the clean, slate feel of other Apple products e.g. iTunes. What makes this interesting is that others don't seem to agree and it has become one of the most popular skins created for MSN/ Windows Live Messenger. The skin has had over 1 million downloads despite still being in its beta stage.

If this skin looks appealing to you, then I recommend giving it ago as it is one of the fastest growing skins I've seen in terms of popularity for MSN/ Windows Live Messenger and its creator, coolzee deserves great credit for that achievement.

Download Snow Leopard skin for Windows Live Messenger 2009 (requires Messenger Plus! Live)


Messenger Plus! 2009 contest: 780 total winners
Posted by absorbation on Tue 11 Aug 2009 (23:04 GMT) (5005 views)
After 4 weeks of giving away prizes this year's Messenger Plus! Live contest is over with an impressive 780 lucky winners. Although Patchou has not revealed the full statistics as of yet, it attracted a wide audience, even if its hype wasn't as strong as it was when a similar contest was ran two years ago.

Congratulations to all the winners! This summer's contest is now over and it's finally more than 780 lucky users who will receive a prize this year. Free prizes with a free add-on: beautiful life isn't it? If you're in the list, expect to get your prize by the end of September (international shipping can take a long time). We’ll be glad to see you post pictures of your prize on the forum for everyone else to see.



See the official announcement at the Messenger Plus! Live website



WLM Safe: Stay secure when using Windows Live Messenger
Posted by absorbation on Mon 10 Aug 2009 (21:16 GMT) (2263 views)
If there is anything I've learnt since I started using Windows Live Messenger is that it is nutritious for security threats and problems. These of have course changed over time, from viruses, to a poor blocking system, from bugs that would crash Messenger and more recently the plague of phishing scams. It can all be a headache for the normal user. WLM Safe is a Messenger Plus! Live script with many features to help protect from such threats. Listed below are the application's main functions:

  • Anti-Virus: detects and blocks infected links sent by virus in conversation windows.
  • Anti-Phishing: detects and blocks phishing links sent by virus in conversation windows.
  • Anti-Spam: blocks annoying spam messages sent by your contacts.
  • Anti-Flood: detects flood attacks and block the authors.
  • Anti-Freeze: block messages that make old messenger's versions crash.
  • Anti-Copy: notifies you if one of your Messenger's contacts copy your Nickname.
  • Anti-Bot: notifies you if you're chatting with a Bot.
  • Anti-Hackers: notifies you if you're chatting with an Unsafe contact.


What I particularly like about WLM Safe is the care and attention to detail. This is a well coded and polished script that is impeccably designed and non-obstructive to the user. Moreover it does everything you would expect it to do and can even keep a log of the threats it has helped you to avoid. I cannot recommend using this script more. It is a must have for any Windows Live Messenger user.

Download WLM Safe for Windows Live Messenger requires Messenger Plus! Live
Visit the official website



How-to receive Facebook notifications through Windows Live Messenger
Posted by absorbation on Sat 08 Aug 2009 (18:11 GMT) (3318 views)
Integrating Facebook with Messenger seems to be on everyone's wish list for any upcoming IM client release. However, for the time being there are some simple alternatives in the form of Messenger Plus! scripts to add some basic features and receive Facebook notifications and updates through Windows Live Messenger. Listed below are three scripts to enchant your Messenger and Facebook experience:

Note: These scripts require the Windows Live Messenger add-on Messenger Plus! Live in order to function.


Facebook Status Checker

This handy script will display a toast pop-up message each time you receive a new notification or update on your Facebook home page. Very useful for Facebook addicts who want to see what their friends are doing as soon as it happens.

Download Facebook Status Checker


Facebook Status

Syncing your Windows Live Messenger personal message and your most recent Facebook status has never been easier. Each time you update your status this script will automatically sync it between applications. Very cool.

Download Facebook Status


Facebook Notifications

This application detects any changes made within your Facebook account e.g. friend requests, emails or event invites and displays it directly within Windows Live Messenger. This allows you to check on anything you need to take action on within Facebook as soon as it happens.

Download Facebook Notifications



Messenger Plus! 2009 contest: 357 winners so far
Posted by absorbation on Sun 02 Aug 2009 (21:20 GMT) (5535 views)
The Messenger Plus! Live contest has been underway for just over two weeks now and there has already been a strong list of lucky winners: 357 at the end of the second week. The contest operates on selecting an individual pixel from a large image that contains a set price prize to spend the Evolution Store. Patchou has gave a breakdown of the first two weeks of results:

After more than 20 million combined clicks in the first two weeks alone, 357 winners have been approved and will receive a prize package. The third week of the contest has now began with more than 320 new prize packages to find; you can thank the people who don't enter their information after finding a winning spot for such a big number of prizes. Remember that if you're a winner, your package will be shipped ground in August and will take 4 to 6 weeks to arrive to your home. We promise it will be worth the wait, all you need to do is to give us your shipping information after winning.



Read more: Contest 2009: Week 1 & 2 Results
See Patchou's announcement and user's responses at the Messenger Plus! forums



Play and Win: The Messenger Plus! 2009 contest
Posted by absorbation on Tue 14 Jul 2009 (18:24 GMT) (1276 views)
Two weeks ago Patchou released Messenger Plus! Live 4.82 in what was the last planned update before Messenger Plus! Live 5.0. The update fixed several bugs, enabled full compatibility with Windows 7 but most importantly added the features for this year's contest to win up to $1500 from the Evolution Store. Below is part of Patchou's announcement:

his year, it’s no less than 1,000 prize packages that will be offered during the contest, for a period of 4 weeks. Each package is randomly assigned a value between $20 and $1,500 and the best thing is: you chose what you want to receive! Winners will have a choice of movie, game or animated feature for which they want to receive one or more prizes, all thanks to the Evolution Store. Because this contest is so big, we needed somebody to sponsor it and this year, tons of action figures and high-end collectibles will be sent to the winners directly from the Evolution Store's warehouse. You can start browsing their online store now and decide what you'll want to receive when you find a prize in the game grid.


Each contestant is eligible to win up to 10 prize packages. To achieve this, you have two choices: don't sleep, don't eat, don't bath for a month, or, and that’s really up to you, start sending your own unique referral link to your friends and contacts. Your contacts just need to download Messenger Plus! and start playing to win a prize of their own, If they win, the good news is that you win a prize of your choice as well. So, if your Facebook, your MySpace, or your Twitter account gets a lot of visits, or if you spend your days posting on numerous forums on the web, it may be time to leverage this to your advantage. You could very well win a lot of prizes without even clicking once in the game.



See the announcement at the Messenger Plus! Live forums



Messenger Plus! 4.82: Windows 7 compatible and new contest announced
Posted by absorbation on Wed 01 Jul 2009 (12:44 GMT) (1130 views)
Over the past few weeks beta testers have been reporting bugs on this small, yet significant update of Messenger Plus! Live in order for today's release. The update specifically targets three main areas: making the program fully compatible with Windows 7; allowing settings of skins and scripts to be imported and exported and adding the features for an upcoming contest similar to the one held in Summer 2007. Overall this minor build number has many major updates within it.


Windows 7 has presented issues for Messenger in general


The contest is the same click an individual pixel to win a prize, a highly popular and successful idea where some fantastic prizes including high resolution monitors and top end consoles were up for grabs. There will also be a twist this year in order to draw more users into using Messenger Plus!. More information will be posted when Patchou officially announces the start of the contest sometime next week.


The contest proved to be very popular two years ago with 2,242,758 players


This will be the last major update before Messenger Plus! Live 5.0 is released, which is now under development. Patchou has been very secretive on its upcoming features, but a flood of suggestions has gone his way and some interesting hints have been noted by testers. Much of this will depend however, on what Windows Live Messenger 2010 has up its sleeve.

Download Messenger Plus! Live 4.82.368
See the announcement Patchou made to the Messenger Plus! forums
Read the entire changelog for Messenger Plus! Live 4.82.368