Here's the sweeping statement of the day: The Nintendo Wii is the best looking console out there today! Well maybe not, 480p and 16:9 wide-screen support is hardly next-gen graphics and it doesn't compares with the PlayStation's 1080p display. However I find the simple colours and clean interface much more pleasing to the eye than the XMB or the Xbox dashboard. Wii Messenger takes this simple idea and integrates it into Windows Live Messenger.
The good:
The concept itself is a great idea. The clean milk and Tiger skins of the past have always been popular. Messenger itself has a very bloated appearance, and this just makes things easier on the eyes. The skin isn't sloppy either, changing a significant amount of images and icons shows the level of deepth and the creativity the designer has implemented.
The bad:
There are very little options in the skin, meaning it can be difficult to customise Messenger to how you want it to look. Moreover there is some sloppy work in the system tray icons and the display pictures next to the buddy icons in the contact list are hardly appealing.
Once again here is another good skin that's worth a try, breaking away from the Vista style skins that take over the offical skins database. I would recommend using it, but I found the lack of customisation the and ugly icons in the contact list meant I didn't keep using it.
Download Wii Messenger
The good:
The concept itself is a great idea. The clean milk and Tiger skins of the past have always been popular. Messenger itself has a very bloated appearance, and this just makes things easier on the eyes. The skin isn't sloppy either, changing a significant amount of images and icons shows the level of deepth and the creativity the designer has implemented.
The bad:
There are very little options in the skin, meaning it can be difficult to customise Messenger to how you want it to look. Moreover there is some sloppy work in the system tray icons and the display pictures next to the buddy icons in the contact list are hardly appealing.
Once again here is another good skin that's worth a try, breaking away from the Vista style skins that take over the offical skins database. I would recommend using it, but I found the lack of customisation the and ugly icons in the contact list meant I didn't keep using it.
Download Wii MessengerDespite Messenger Plus! Live integrating itself with the design, and the user's colour scheme of Windows Live Messenger, it contains noticeable differences, that give it an unique look, whilst making it appear part of the main program. Basilis has noticed this difference and has created a skin for Windows Live Messenger based on Messenger Plus! Live's design.
The good:
The skin has a plausible design. Windows Live Messenger looks cleaner with the lighter look and use of gradients. The status icons also make it easy to know which contacts are available , unlike in Messenger where the buddy icon status are easy not to notice. The skin is highly customisable, allowing you to remove buttons and sections as you desire.
The bad:
Some of the images used have become pixelated and don't look great when Messenger is expanded (mainly on the main contact list banner). Some icons could have been changed to match the brighter style of the skin (such as those in the contact list), and the branding of "Basilis" on the sign-in page is a slight annoyance.
Overall this is a good skin, and I believe it shows how good Messenger Plus! Live's design can look if used within Windows Live Messenger. Some added polishing to the skin would have made the skin better, but the level of customisation allows you to patch out elements and buttons you dislike.
Download Messenger Plus! Live skin
The good:
The skin has a plausible design. Windows Live Messenger looks cleaner with the lighter look and use of gradients. The status icons also make it easy to know which contacts are available , unlike in Messenger where the buddy icon status are easy not to notice. The skin is highly customisable, allowing you to remove buttons and sections as you desire.
The bad:
Some of the images used have become pixelated and don't look great when Messenger is expanded (mainly on the main contact list banner). Some icons could have been changed to match the brighter style of the skin (such as those in the contact list), and the branding of "Basilis" on the sign-in page is a slight annoyance.
Overall this is a good skin, and I believe it shows how good Messenger Plus! Live's design can look if used within Windows Live Messenger. Some added polishing to the skin would have made the skin better, but the level of customisation allows you to patch out elements and buttons you dislike.
Download Messenger Plus! Live skinIt looks like Willz is really hard at work this week, because not only has he released the biggest skin to hit the Plus! system, but he also updated one of his most popular skins, not once, but twice!
This release is mostly a bug-fix release, as this extract from the official announcement states:
For example, this fixes some options panel issues, and also some Plus! notification issues that certain users seemed to have been experiencing. See more information. It is recommended that everyone update to this new version as it contains fixes to a couple of minor issues that occur. See more information here.
See the full release announcement
Download Zero-G 2.0.1
Download Messenger Plus! Live 4.60
This release is mostly a bug-fix release, as this extract from the official announcement states:
It is recommended that everyone update to this new version as it contains fixes to a couple of minor issues that occur.
For example, this fixes some options panel issues, and also some Plus! notification issues that certain users seemed to have been experiencing. See more information. It is recommended that everyone update to this new version as it contains fixes to a couple of minor issues that occur. See more information here.
See the full release announcement Download Zero-G 2.0.1 Download Messenger Plus! Live 4.60Will "Willz" Ingles does it once again with his third skin release for the month of March alone! This time it's to advertise the upcoming comic book to movie adaption of Iron Man.
It's a shaped skin, with highly detailed metallic features sticking out from the corners, creating a manufactured look throughout, it follows the purple/maroon and gold theme of Iron Man's armored suit and has animated transitional effects for buttons, as well as a plethora of customization options one of my favourites being a new one; Change Contact DP border colour based on their status, this brings brilliantly toned borders to away and busy contacts Display pictures in the contact list.
The skin is only compatible with the latest Messenger Plus! Live build 4.60 and Windows Live Messenger 8.5.
It's a true symbol of what the Messenger Plus! Live Skinning Engine is currently capable of doing, with improvements going on behind the scenes all the time.
Congratulations Willz the community looks forward to your future releases
Get Iron Man Skin (8.5 only)
Iron Man Skin Discussion Thread
Get Messenger Plus! Live 4.60
It's a shaped skin, with highly detailed metallic features sticking out from the corners, creating a manufactured look throughout, it follows the purple/maroon and gold theme of Iron Man's armored suit and has animated transitional effects for buttons, as well as a plethora of customization options one of my favourites being a new one; Change Contact DP border colour based on their status, this brings brilliantly toned borders to away and busy contacts Display pictures in the contact list.
The skin is only compatible with the latest Messenger Plus! Live build 4.60 and Windows Live Messenger 8.5.
It's a true symbol of what the Messenger Plus! Live Skinning Engine is currently capable of doing, with improvements going on behind the scenes all the time.
Congratulations Willz the community looks forward to your future releases
Get Iron Man Skin (8.5 only) Iron Man Skin Discussion Thread Get Messenger Plus! Live 4.60Well from one Vista Skin to another, this time by yours truly (Yes I know another wonderfully shameless plug of mine :-p).
I present to the internet: Vistafy Basic 1.0.0
A Skin By Nile "aNILEator" Plumb
Vistafy Basic v1.0.0
A Skin that aims to blend in with the Vista Basic Theme
Vistafy 'Aero' Will be the next progression.
Please don't steal resources from any skin, you will make kittens sad if you steal any skinners resources or code without permission.
Hope you enjoy
Msghelp Vistafy Discussion Thread
Get Vistafy Basic 1.0.0
Get Messenger Plus! Live 4.60
I present to the internet: Vistafy Basic 1.0.0
A Skin By Nile "aNILEator" Plumb
Vistafy Basic v1.0.0
A Skin that aims to blend in with the Vista Basic Theme
- WLM8.5 & WLM9.0 Beta 1 Compatible
- Colorize-able, Customize-able, Usable
Vistafy 'Aero' Will be the next progression.
Please don't steal resources from any skin, you will make kittens sad if you steal any skinners resources or code without permission.
Hope you enjoy
Msghelp Vistafy Discussion Thread Get Vistafy Basic 1.0.0 Get Messenger Plus! Live 4.60It seemed to go quite unnoticed on here (we're really quite busy ;)) but the most advanced Plus! skin was released earlier this week; Windows Aero messenger. Here's a part of Willz' official announcement:
You can see how advanced this skin is simply by having a look at the options panel here. Be aware that this skin requires Messenger Plus! Live to be updated to version 4.60.
As well, earlier today Willz released an update to his popular skin Zero-G, bringing it to version 2.0.0. This update brings a new possibility: Zero-G is now available in 4 different styles. Be sure to check that out.
Get Windows Aero Messenger
Get Zero-G 2.0.0
Get Messenger Plus! Live 4.60
When the first Windows Aero Messenger was created I had talked to ipab about the idea of modifying his installer program so that people could select how certain parts of the skin were patched. We were going to have it so users could select certain aspects of the theme to be different e.g have a different color vista orb depending on what the user picked.
Of course in the end it was simply a no go due to the unbelievable amount of effort that would have been required. So now we come to Plus! skins. Plus! skins allow resources to be replaced conditionally which opened the way for this idea to work. I was going to make Windows Aero Messenger before Ev0 but couldn't as there was still things missing from the skinning system which just would not allow the core of the skin to be made.
So Messenger Plus! 4.60 was the answer to all of this which allowed the core of Windows Aero Messenger to be created. With the core working I was then able to create some groups that allowed people to switch from Windows Aero Messenger to Vista Live Messenger. But I did not stop there. I made it so pretty much every aspect of the skin was customizable. Here is a screenshot of the final options panel.
You can see how advanced this skin is simply by having a look at the options panel here. Be aware that this skin requires Messenger Plus! Live to be updated to version 4.60.
As well, earlier today Willz released an update to his popular skin Zero-G, bringing it to version 2.0.0. This update brings a new possibility: Zero-G is now available in 4 different styles. Be sure to check that out.
Get Windows Aero Messenger Get Zero-G 2.0.0 Get Messenger Plus! Live 4.60Here is a new feature I thought I'll introduce. Every month lots of skins are created for Messenger Plus! Live's skinning engine, but only a hand full are half decent. Here are some of the best looking, and most unique skins for the month of January:
Skin of the month: Deep Blue
Deep Blue is a stylish skin, dramatically changing Messenger's design into something more unique. Its creative design, with a simple colour scheme makes this a skin that looks great on your computer. The highly customizable options allow you to transform this skin to how you want it, from adding/ removing elements to changing the size of display pictures.
Most unique skin: 365 Skin
365 Skin is an ugly skin, but I love it. The idea is you can have a different skin for various events throughout the year e.g. Christmas, your birthday, mother's day etc is wonderful. The colours are awful and it needs polishing, but the idea is interesting and that alone makes this a good skin.
A good contender: Zero-G
I hate Vista skins, which is why I didn't like Zero-G too much. It is too dark for my liking, but nevertheless it still looks great and contains hardly any flaws. It is a little too similar to EvO, but I still highly recommend this skin.
Skins worth a mention
Plus! Live - Matches Messenger's design to Messenger Plus! Live.
Yahoo Messenger - Gives Windows Live Messenger Yahoo Messenger's colour scheme and icons.
Classic WLM - Uses the original alpha builds of Windows Live Messenger 8's design.
View the Messenger Plus! Live skins database
Skin of the month: Deep Blue
Deep Blue is a stylish skin, dramatically changing Messenger's design into something more unique. Its creative design, with a simple colour scheme makes this a skin that looks great on your computer. The highly customizable options allow you to transform this skin to how you want it, from adding/ removing elements to changing the size of display pictures.
Most unique skin: 365 Skin
365 Skin is an ugly skin, but I love it. The idea is you can have a different skin for various events throughout the year e.g. Christmas, your birthday, mother's day etc is wonderful. The colours are awful and it needs polishing, but the idea is interesting and that alone makes this a good skin.
A good contender: Zero-G
I hate Vista skins, which is why I didn't like Zero-G too much. It is too dark for my liking, but nevertheless it still looks great and contains hardly any flaws. It is a little too similar to EvO, but I still highly recommend this skin.
Skins worth a mention
Plus! Live - Matches Messenger's design to Messenger Plus! Live.
Yahoo Messenger - Gives Windows Live Messenger Yahoo Messenger's colour scheme and icons.
Classic WLM - Uses the original alpha builds of Windows Live Messenger 8's design.
View the Messenger Plus! Live skins databaseI have been putting this post off for a while now. My excuses are exams and the fact this post probably needed time to get a good list together. I am a bit of a Messenger skins fanatic and I have been chatting all about Messenger Plus! Live 4.50 in recent weeks, which revealed a big new feature: a Messenger skins manager.
The skins I have chosen are ones I have found to be well designed, unique and most of all ones with attention to detail i.e. completed fully, polished. Yes, this means no Vista skins!
Ev0
This Messenger skins has been around a while, and its creator was able to get his hands on an early build of Messenger Plus! Live 4.50 so he could get this skin out by release. Its clean design, with unique ideas is complimented by the various colour themes available. To date it has had nearly 200,000 downloads and is probably the best skin available for Messenger Plus! Live.
Download EvO
Beaver and Steve
Honestly Nile, this skin is rather ugly; its bright colours and the cartoonish look are not desirable, but it is these things that make it unique, charming if you will. More importantly it uses shapes therefore making it the first skin released to manipulate Messenger's windows. Nile has put a lot of effort into this skin and there are lots of customizable options meaning you can remove things from Messenger until you are happy. I'm actually surprised he didn't try and plug it himself ...
Download Beaver and Steve
SkyLines
This skin is very stylish and well made. Looking over all the little details you can see a lot of effort has been put into making this skin. This skin is compatible with Windows Live Messenger 8.5 and 9.0, so what are you waiting for? Add SkyLines to your skin library.
Download SkyLines
Nightfall
A dark skin is the best way to describe this. Its simple, but I like simple and I think this is just the start for its creator. The skin is customised for green, red, blue and black colour themes.
Download Nightfall
RoyaLive!
Similar to Nightfall this skin uses soft gradients well. It has its flaws, but overall it is a good skin.
Download RoyaLive!
Office07
This skin is all about basics. It shows that all you need to do is take your time and perfect the images you want to skin. The colours in Office07 compliment Messenger well, but more importantly its creator designed this website, so I'm forced to think it looks great.
Download Office07
Nao Messenger
This skin users colours well in my opinion. The theme of green and blue suits Messenger when used in this way. It adds fun to Messenger, but at the same time good enough to use everyday. It may not be perfect, but Nao Messenger is better than most.
Nao Messenger
I hope you liked my list. If you have a skin of your own and want to share it send it our way. Remember these are just a selection of the skins available, view the entire database for more. If your skin is not on the list, there is a chance I missed it, but more probable is I didn't like it.
The skins I have chosen are ones I have found to be well designed, unique and most of all ones with attention to detail i.e. completed fully, polished. Yes, this means no Vista skins!
This Messenger skins has been around a while, and its creator was able to get his hands on an early build of Messenger Plus! Live 4.50 so he could get this skin out by release. Its clean design, with unique ideas is complimented by the various colour themes available. To date it has had nearly 200,000 downloads and is probably the best skin available for Messenger Plus! Live.
Download EvO
Honestly Nile, this skin is rather ugly; its bright colours and the cartoonish look are not desirable, but it is these things that make it unique, charming if you will. More importantly it uses shapes therefore making it the first skin released to manipulate Messenger's windows. Nile has put a lot of effort into this skin and there are lots of customizable options meaning you can remove things from Messenger until you are happy. I'm actually surprised he didn't try and plug it himself ...
Download Beaver and Steve
This skin is very stylish and well made. Looking over all the little details you can see a lot of effort has been put into making this skin. This skin is compatible with Windows Live Messenger 8.5 and 9.0, so what are you waiting for? Add SkyLines to your skin library.
Download SkyLines
A dark skin is the best way to describe this. Its simple, but I like simple and I think this is just the start for its creator. The skin is customised for green, red, blue and black colour themes.
Download Nightfall
Similar to Nightfall this skin uses soft gradients well. It has its flaws, but overall it is a good skin.
Download RoyaLive!
This skin is all about basics. It shows that all you need to do is take your time and perfect the images you want to skin. The colours in Office07 compliment Messenger well, but more importantly its creator designed this website, so I'm forced to think it looks great.
Download Office07
This skin users colours well in my opinion. The theme of green and blue suits Messenger when used in this way. It adds fun to Messenger, but at the same time good enough to use everyday. It may not be perfect, but Nao Messenger is better than most.
Nao MessengerI hope you liked my list. If you have a skin of your own and want to share it send it our way. Remember these are just a selection of the skins available, view the entire database for more. If your skin is not on the list, there is a chance I missed it, but more probable is I didn't like it.
Just a quick post here to tell all you Messenger skin lovers out there using Windows Live Messenger 8.5 beta that there are a few skins available for you to use.
Are there any good ones worth noting? Not really, however, you can try Ev0, Vista Live Messenger or Windows Aero Messenger for Windows Live Messenger 8.1.
View skins for Windows Live Messenger 8.5 beta
View our skins database
Are there any good ones worth noting? Not really, however, you can try Ev0, Vista Live Messenger or Windows Aero Messenger for Windows Live Messenger 8.1.
View skins for Windows Live Messenger 8.5 beta View our skins databaseRejoice skin lovers, a great skin for Windows Live Messenger has been updated and you can finally use it after months of development. One of the most popular skins for Messenger, Windows Aero Messenger has been updated to work with Windows Live Messenger 8.1. The update has 6 themes based on Microsoft's Windows Vista Aero theme, a popular skinning theme for many years now.
Unlike other Vista skins it has some unique qualities. It has a range of interesting colours and some cool features and buttons Windows Live Messenger has failed to use. It has always been an impressive skin.
I don't like talking about skins too much, because you need to look at them yourself. All I can say is this is one of the good skins out there, and you should definitely give it a go.
View a screenshot of Windows Aero Messenger
Download Windows Aero Messenger
View our skins database
Unlike other Vista skins it has some unique qualities. It has a range of interesting colours and some cool features and buttons Windows Live Messenger has failed to use. It has always been an impressive skin.
I don't like talking about skins too much, because you need to look at them yourself. All I can say is this is one of the good skins out there, and you should definitely give it a go.
View a screenshot of Windows Aero Messenger Download Windows Aero Messenger View our skins database
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