The Windows Team Blog has released some interesting statistics about Messenger's new Facebook Chat integration feature as well as other social services in the newly released Windows Live Messenger 2011:

• More than 10 million people have connected Facebook to Windows Live
• More than 250 million chats between Messenger and Facebook
• Conversations have lasted more than 1.5 billion minutes
• Over 1.6 million people have connected YouTube to Windows Live
• Over 700,000 people have connected MySpace to Windows Live
• Over 10 million active Messenger customers on BlackBerry devices, over 5.2 million active Messenger customers on iPhones and over 1.2 million active Messenger customers on Nokia smart phones

Already there appears to be a re-birth for Messenger now it has become part of newer social trends, including our increasing demand for integration and portability.

Read the full story at the Windows Team Blog

This is a post to alert anyone who may not have realized that the new Windows Live Messenger 2011 no longer allows users to a display a friendly name. Alternatively Microsoft now display your real name, which is linked to your Windows Live profile and instead allows customization through the personal message feature.

There is no walk around around the change if you use the latest version of Windows Live Messenger. It is also important to note your display name will automatically change to your real name when you sign in, making it visible to all your contacts. There is an element of privacy invasion, so be warned if you don't wish to reveal your real name of Windows Live Messenger - update your Windows Live profile before downloading the new version.

Windows Live Messenger build 15.4.3502.922 has been released as a final non-beta build, the first major update since January 2009. The release was part of the official release of Windows Live Essentials 2011.

Notable changes:

• LiveSide reports Dell is pre-installing Windows Live Essentials on all new machines.
• A-Patch has been updated for the new build, but is limited to 5 features. There also appears to be problems removing advertisements as the patch can only now remove the advertisement and not the space it holds.

Download Windows Live Essentials 2011
Download offline installer (English)
View the announcement at the Windows team blog

The public beta of Windows Live Essentials Wave 4, which includes Windows Live Messenger was updated this evening, addressing several bugs while adding new features to the previous build.

Most significantly Messenger now includes full Facebook intergration, allowing you and your Facebook friends to talk between clients, a feature heavily requested and even implemented by third party developers:



According to the Inside Windows Live blog:

• Messenger is quicker at loading information, signing in and uses 30% less CPU for video messaging
• Facebook intergration has been further implemented, starting today in the US, UK, France, Brazil, Germany, and Russia

More information soon.

A public beta of Windows Live Messenger 2011 has been released by Microsoft. Coming part of an extensive package of Windows Live Essential's new betas, Microsoft's IM client has received an array of new features and improvements for users to test before the application's official release expected mid-August.


Some observations we've made

• The build number is 15.3.2804.607.
  
  
• Display names have been replaced by real names associated with that particular Windows Live ID. This is a significant change, most probably associated with Messenger's social networking push. Some users however, have expressed concerns over the idea, with worries over privacy for those who choose not to publish their real identities.
  • Microsoft MVP CookieRevisied has criticized the feature, stating: "This isn't about 'getting used to changes' or 'getting rid of the old and going forward in time', or even a 'personal taste of a feature' or whatever, this is all about privacy!"
  
  
  
• The multiple location login feature introduced in Windows Live Messenger 2009 has received further integration, allowing you to control all devices currently connected to Messenger. This works particularly well if you're using the Messenger for iPhone app released this week.
  
  
• The contact list has received several UI modifications, allowing you to remove the "social pane" feature and maintain the classic design using several columns for organizing friends.
  
  
• The main contact list features a larger square advertisements, while the text promotion feature at the bottom of the conservation window has been replaced by an image banner. [Read our previous discussions on the new Messenger advertisements]
  
  
• Contact sorting has become highly customized. You can order your contacts by their online status, if they are favorites, by specific groups, who you appear offline to and "others".
  
  
• The UI has remained mostly unchanged in terms of color scheme and layout. Previous Windows Live betas have witnessed significant UI modifications.
  
  
• Facebook is fully integrated into the build. Status updates are synchronized and you can share information between the applications.
  
  
• Toast notifications are larger and more rectangular, featuring a more simple design:
  
  
  
  
• Keywords are underlined within conversations which then become searchable. Links to YouTube and other services also receive thumbnail previews which then play embedded into the client (pretty cool, even if it is a little buggy at the moment).
  
  
• There has been no word on whether a compatible Messenger Plus! Live will be released for the beta. Based on previous releases however, Patchou is likely to provide a beta build within the next couple of weeks.

Community impressions

Having kept a close eye on the Windows Live Essentials beta page all of yesterday I was excited when my download started at around 19:30 (BST). The installer was simple to say the least: it lacked any sort of solid GUI and after waiting a long 20 minutes for it to complete I was ready to sign in.

My first impressions were positive, the layout looked slick and although the social pane was hardly relevant (just having Facebook notifications in it would be ideal for me) I quickly switched to the classic contact list and marveled at the obvious implementation of sorting contacts into columns - why didn't they think of this before!

The honeymoon period quickly ended however, as the program began to repeatedly crash upon signing in. Then the impressions of others began to hit my computer screen thick and fast: most of which were negative - issues over installing, signing in and the privacy changes plagued any new positive features. Yes Messenger is buggy but I'm trying to forgive it, after-all it is a beta for a reason.

ZDNet blogger Zack Whittaker likened the Essentials beta as “watching a clown run across a minefield.” While Peter Bright over at Arstechnica praised the small design decisions noting a "cleaner and crisper" appearance that incorporates more whitespace. There has been a mixed set of opinions.

From experience there is typically a lukewarm response to any sizable Messenger upgrade. Microsoft however, are moving in a new direction and it seems like the right decision. The Windows Live Messenger 2011 public beta is no panacea to the IM/ social networking gap, but Microsoft seem to be the only company attempting to change that position in order to fire some energy back into its flagship instant messaging service.


Screenshots

Screenshot: Installer privacy settings
Screenshot: Social pane
Screenshot: Classic contact list
Screenshot: Contact list - large contacts
Screenshot: Multi-column contact list
Screenshot: Conservation window
Screenshot: Tabbed chatting
Screenshot: Facebook integration
Screenshot: About window

View our gallery of screenshots for the previous leaked beta back in March
Download Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 beta

I would like to start this post by apologizing for not writing a single piece of news for over a month. The exams period took its tole, but now the summer is here I can once again focus on regular news updates. There has been various stories arising over the past month, so consider this a catch-up post to give you a brief overview of what you may have missed.

Messenger integrates with Kinect: Microsoft's E3 press conference last week demoed a highly polished and interesting way to communicate to your Messenger contacts - without a keyboard, mouse or even a controller. Microsoft's focus of the show, Kinect (previously known as Project Natal) is its motion sensing camera that is designed to transform how webcam chat will work over Xbox Live. The development team claim this is part of a wider transformation of its webcam system over to high-definition. [Read more]

Sharing your search results: Microsoft have further integrated its new search engine, Bing into Windows Live Messenger. You can now let your contacts know your search results, via an instant message or via a status update. [Read more]

BBC iPlayer integrates with Messenger: Yet more integration news. The BBC's flagship Internet streaming service has expanded to allow chatting to your Messenger friends from within your web browser, allowing you to watch TV and chat online simultaneously. In order to use the feature, you must enable the new beta interface.



The MessengerSays blog closes: The official Messenger development blog has come to an end, in favor of a non-specific Windows, which posts on a more regular basis. The MessengerSays blog will be missed, after coming to life at a similar time as MsgStuff. It has always been a more personal side to Messenger development. [Read more]

Webcam feature receives update: Mynetx has discovered the leaked build of Windows Live Messenger 2011 has been dynamically improved in terms of user-friendliness and quality. [Read more]

Public beta due Thursday? Rumors have stated that a public beta was due in June this year, but this week has seen several sources suggesting a public beta of Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 is due tomorrow (Thurs 24th).

Messenger now has three specific contact list styles: Wave 4 has seen extensive social networking integration, with the social pane playing an important role in re-designing the contact list. Although the classic design can still be enabled, yesterday revealed the classic design can now hold two columns of contacts, while re-positing other features within the list:

What, Windows Live Messenger 2010 has not even been released yet? Yes, Windows Live Essentials 2010 is actually going to hold the year of 2011, suggesting longer gaps between program releases, according to one Microsoft employee:



Although this has not been officially confirmed by Microsoft (I hope the source's first language isn't English), there are several reasons why this could be the case. For now however, we will refer to the upcoming release as Messenger 2010 until we can read an official press release, when we will amend all our previous posts.

The past week has witnessed Microsoft attempting to push information about its upcoming release of Windows Live Essentials. Wikikou reports that they've received information that will see a public beta of Windows Live Wave 4 next month.

Can this rumor be believed? Well Microsoft never reveal release dates for final products, never mind public betas. The fact that this build is expected at the end of next month is also questionable as typically beta cycles don't work to specific release dates (although as there are several products, this may be planned). Judging from previous Windows Live releases we can expect a public beta during the development cycle and it may well be the case one is due at the end of June. I do not however, believe Microsoft will release a public beta on the 21st, it's just too specific.

Source: Wikikou - Windows Live Messenger 2010 should come out next June 21 in Public BETA.

The weekend has witnessed what Wave 4 has to offer and much of the attention has focused on what's coming for Windows Live Messenger 2010. We've attempted to provide a brief summary of the various related news stories.


Greater social networking integration

The Messenger team have focused on expanding their userbase through the social networking market:



New screenshots have revealed much of the focus is going to be on Facebook Chat integration, with dedicated conversation windows been provided:






Messenger on your iPhone

Perhaps the most exciting news to emerge this weekend is the unveiling of Windows Live Messenger for the iPhone. According to Neowin’s coverage:









Messenger Connect

Microsoft have unveiled new ways for web developers to integrate Windows Live Messenger users into their website, allowing them to use their Windows Live profile, Messenger contacts and personal credentials securely from one account. It works in a similar fashion similar to Facebook Connect. You can read more over at Windows Live Blog.


Hi-def video chat, real-time photo sharing and video voicemail

Microsoft have made live their Windows Live preview website, which gives an overview of what users can expect from Wave 4 Windows Live products. It signals a push to get users talking about Wave 4, perhaps in the mists of releasing a public beta of Windows Live Essentials in the near future.

Video chat quality has been improved, the photo-sharing feature is more interactive and in real-time, while users can how send short video-messages to offline contacts that will play when they next sign in. The upcoming version appears to be significantly enhancing current Messenger features.



The build-up to Windows Live Wave 4 is truly underway. Expect greater coverage to come. For now check out the video below for an overview:

New screenshots have surfaced of Windows Live Essentials Milestone 3, which reveal UI changes to Windows Live Messenger. LiveSide have given details on the the latest build, believed to have been compiled a week ago:



We hope to update this post with more screenshots as they arrive.