It's all good every Messenger website telling everyone there is a new beta out, yes I think everyone knows that. However I don't think people are expressing their views enough. This update is meant to fix all the problems Windows Live Messenger has, but Microsoft seems to think that only means bugs.
I actually can't use Windows Live Messenger properly, because my Windows XP machine with 256MB RAM is having serious troubles. Messenger is taking up a whole fifth of my resources (51MB!), which is just ridiculous! Messenger is meant to run in the background and tell me when someone wants to chat, what happened to the purpose of the program?
I'm looking at my contact list without being patched, and I just think Messenger looks incredibly ugly. Why, because it is bloated. I don't want to know about my pending messages, I don't want to search for a contact, or know every activity my contact is doing.
So what does Windows Live Messenger need? Nothing. It needs nothing new, it needs improving. Yes, you may be thinking skins and extensions. Well you can already do that, they are just are awfully done making the feature near to useless. Add-ins took the extensions idea and spat on it, someone must of gone through some stress to produce the add-ins feature and they were never given the right time or tools to complete it properly.
Also here comes my rants about the installer. The installer is the first thing you notice when you download a program. So why does Microsoft pump out a slow, ugly and buggy installers to us all? They set a negative image for the program from the moment someone uses it, it needs changing.
This is what I say, this post was never meant to be nasty to the team. This is my way of expressing my views and hoping someone can do something about them. In conclusion Windows Live Messenger is the corny and bloated version of MSN Messenger, thanks to it's new best friend Mr. Windows Live. Bug fixes are not improvements. The team should take what they have done with the sign in feature and apply that time and effort into all the current features. I just hope I'm not alone, after all my views are useless to add if everyone else thinks they are crap.
Ah, this post got slightly too long, whatever happened to my simple idea, d'oh.
I actually can't use Windows Live Messenger properly, because my Windows XP machine with 256MB RAM is having serious troubles. Messenger is taking up a whole fifth of my resources (51MB!), which is just ridiculous! Messenger is meant to run in the background and tell me when someone wants to chat, what happened to the purpose of the program?
I'm looking at my contact list without being patched, and I just think Messenger looks incredibly ugly. Why, because it is bloated. I don't want to know about my pending messages, I don't want to search for a contact, or know every activity my contact is doing.
So what does Windows Live Messenger need? Nothing. It needs nothing new, it needs improving. Yes, you may be thinking skins and extensions. Well you can already do that, they are just are awfully done making the feature near to useless. Add-ins took the extensions idea and spat on it, someone must of gone through some stress to produce the add-ins feature and they were never given the right time or tools to complete it properly.
Also here comes my rants about the installer. The installer is the first thing you notice when you download a program. So why does Microsoft pump out a slow, ugly and buggy installers to us all? They set a negative image for the program from the moment someone uses it, it needs changing.
This is what I say, this post was never meant to be nasty to the team. This is my way of expressing my views and hoping someone can do something about them. In conclusion Windows Live Messenger is the corny and bloated version of MSN Messenger, thanks to it's new best friend Mr. Windows Live. Bug fixes are not improvements. The team should take what they have done with the sign in feature and apply that time and effort into all the current features. I just hope I'm not alone, after all my views are useless to add if everyone else thinks they are crap.
Ah, this post got slightly too long, whatever happened to my simple idea, d'oh.
Well it's true, the public beta is here in all its glory. Well what can I say, it's an improvement from the other betas. Here is the 8.0 to 8.1 changelog as we currently know it (from the MessengerSays blog:
Download Windows Live Messenger 8.1.0106
Download A-Patch
MessengerSays blog post
- Roaming Identity
- Contact Card
- New Emoticons, Winks, Backgrounds, Display Pictures
- SMS Phone Book
- New Contact Emotion
- Status Menu includes Sign Out
- Report abuse
- Vista Presentation Mode
- Behind the scenes changes
Download Windows Live Messenger 8.1.0106 Download A-Patch MessengerSays blog postIt looks like the info we gave you last week is correct as Mess.be have confirmed that a public beta of Windows Live Messenger 8.1 will be released tonight.
The build is due to be released on ideas.live.com sometime today/tomorrow (depending on you location, this evening if you are in the US).
It is unknown whether more new features will be in this build but it should contain the features that have been in previous 8.1 beta builds:
Improved compatibility for Vista
New/improved winks and emoticons etc menus
New personal status message options (specify your location)
New contact card design
New branding platform
Better re-authentication at sign in
Roaming display pictures (your current DP is used where-ever you sign in)
New platform architecture in important areas such as automatic updates and object store (where your personalised data is kept on your computer)
A sign-out option in the status menu
Appearing offline no longer forces you to close your conversation window
Quicker to sign into Messenger (8-15 seconds, compared to 15-25 seconds before)
New 'Frequently used display pictures' menu
Source: Mess.be (unfortunately we can't link you directly to the news post due to limitation in the Mess.be system/coding)
UPDATE: Will the "release" go ahead? Nobody seems to really know after Lapytsh, one of the first sites to report the release date of the public beta, have been told that it may not go ahead. It seems like another dodgy release date from Microsoft that has not been kept, but all of that can still change, or change again. Whenever it is released (if it is!) then we will be sure to tell you.
Lapytsh news post (via Google translator)
The build is due to be released on ideas.live.com sometime today/tomorrow (depending on you location, this evening if you are in the US).
It is unknown whether more new features will be in this build but it should contain the features that have been in previous 8.1 beta builds:
Improved compatibility for Vista New/improved winks and emoticons etc menus New personal status message options (specify your location) New contact card design New branding platform Better re-authentication at sign in Roaming display pictures (your current DP is used where-ever you sign in) New platform architecture in important areas such as automatic updates and object store (where your personalised data is kept on your computer) A sign-out option in the status menu Appearing offline no longer forces you to close your conversation window Quicker to sign into Messenger (8-15 seconds, compared to 15-25 seconds before) New 'Frequently used display pictures' menu Source: Mess.be (unfortunately we can't link you directly to the news post due to limitation in the Mess.be system/coding)UPDATE: Will the "release" go ahead? Nobody seems to really know after Lapytsh, one of the first sites to report the release date of the public beta, have been told that it may not go ahead. It seems like another dodgy release date from Microsoft that has not been kept, but all of that can still change, or change again. Whenever it is released (if it is!) then we will be sure to tell you.
Lapytsh news post (via Google translator)Release dates, you have got to love them, they seem to pop up from some very unlikely sources. Well if you are a news junkie like me and have been searching news for the past few hours you may of come across a new release date for Windows Live Messenger 8.1. This post will sum up this release date of Windows Live Messenger 8.1 supposedly happening in 3 days time.
This may be true, in fact I'm not surprised if a new build is released in 3 days time, but I doubt it will be the official release. This has turned into a small game of Chinese whispers, one website has said something (must remain nameless, the info was never meant to be leaked) and others have missed some important information from it. The release has been said to be on ideas.live.com, suggesting a public beta of 8.1, this is likely according to Microsoft MVP Jonathan Kay:
His idea seems logical. Another suggestion this will be a public beta and not an official release comes from this post just before Jonathan Kay's by MenthiX:
We have received no official word of a public beta yet from Microsoft, just rumours from other sources. Although a public beta seems very likely, don't be fooled into think this is an official release. As for the news, here is what is expected to be in the update:
This may be true, in fact I'm not surprised if a new build is released in 3 days time, but I doubt it will be the official release. This has turned into a small game of Chinese whispers, one website has said something (must remain nameless, the info was never meant to be leaked) and others have missed some important information from it. The release has been said to be on ideas.live.com, suggesting a public beta of 8.1, this is likely according to Microsoft MVP Jonathan Kay:
If it's releasing on ideas.live.com, it's just going into public beta, not a release.
Considering this is the "vista version" and Vista will be available to some customers less than a month from now, this doesn't surprise me.
His idea seems logical. Another suggestion this will be a public beta and not an official release comes from this post just before Jonathan Kay's by MenthiX:
The managed 8.1 testers got a newsletter from Microsoft last Monday saying that there will at least be 2 more beta builds (a normal build and one released through automatic update). Neither of these two are released yet, so public release on the 30th is extremely unlikely.
We have received no official word of a public beta yet from Microsoft, just rumours from other sources. Although a public beta seems very likely, don't be fooled into think this is an official release. As for the news, here is what is expected to be in the update:
- New design of contacts, posting of the display pictures.
- Improved safety (most likely from viruses).
- Improved authentication (may be that text value of storing a password has been fixed?)
- Emoticon improvements
There used to be literally hundreds of skins for MSN Messenger, it was simple to skin, and there were many installer scripts around. With Windows Live Messenger comes slightly harder skinning and the loss of Jamach, the guy who would complier most installers. This resulted in less skins being made.
The skins I have found only work on certain builds. They all should work on any of the non-beta releases of Windows Live Messenger 8.0. Some come with an installer, others require you to overwrite a file:
You simply have to copy and paste msgres.dll into C:Program FilesMSN Messenger overwriting the current file. Make sure you close Windows Live Messenger down first and make a backup of the old msgres.dll file beforehand, just in case you want to remove the skin.
Well here are the skins. Enjoy!
Vista Dark Blue Messenger
WLM Ixtli Skin
WLMBlackVista
Serbian Live Messenger
Windows Live Black Vista
Vista Live Messenger
Wlm Zex [screenshot]
Mess With Messenger
WMP 11
View our skinning tutorial
The skins I have found only work on certain builds. They all should work on any of the non-beta releases of Windows Live Messenger 8.0. Some come with an installer, others require you to overwrite a file:
You simply have to copy and paste msgres.dll into C:Program FilesMSN Messenger overwriting the current file. Make sure you close Windows Live Messenger down first and make a backup of the old msgres.dll file beforehand, just in case you want to remove the skin.
Well here are the skins. Enjoy!
Vista Dark Blue Messenger WLM Ixtli Skin WLMBlackVista Serbian Live Messenger Windows Live Black Vista Vista Live Messenger Wlm Zex [screenshot] Mess With Messenger WMP 11 View our skinning tutorialE-mails sent out to unluckily ones who applied for 8.1 beta
on Thu 21 Sep 2006 (20:10 GMT) (2033 views)
on Thu 21 Sep 2006 (20:10 GMT) (2033 views)
Microsoft have made a change recently (for me anyway), testers who were not chosen to beta test Windows Live Messenger 8.1 were confirmed this week as 1000's of emails were sent out to them.
There has been confusion with this beta, some beta butterflies were not re-accepted and some testers who often reported major bugs with the program were turned down. It also seems like a lot of younger people are getting their hands on this beta this time round with less people who seem to be reporting bugs.
Anyway it looks like there has been major changes to how this beta is being managed, different leak preventing methods, many new testers, they must be preparing for something that needs a lot of debugging and user bug reporting. Looks like we will have to see what ...
Hello from the Windows Live Beta Team,
We regret to inform you that we could not accept your participation in the Windows Live Messenger 8.1 Managed Beta at this time. Space in this beta is limited and we had more applicants than spots available. We encourage you to regularly check available connections on the Microsoft Connect Web site (http://connect.microsoft.com) for any new Windows Live beta programs as the become available. We value your support and look forward to partnering with you in the future.
Sincerely,
The Windows Live Messenger Beta Team
There has been confusion with this beta, some beta butterflies were not re-accepted and some testers who often reported major bugs with the program were turned down. It also seems like a lot of younger people are getting their hands on this beta this time round with less people who seem to be reporting bugs.
Anyway it looks like there has been major changes to how this beta is being managed, different leak preventing methods, many new testers, they must be preparing for something that needs a lot of debugging and user bug reporting. Looks like we will have to see what ...
A new Windows Live Messenger build has been released via the auto-update system again. Details of any changes in this build are totally unknown it seems like an unneeded update for testing, however it is thought to be part of kicking off and disallowing users using the old beta build.
More information on this update soon (if there is any).
More information on this update soon (if there is any).
New 8.1 beta build for Windows Live Messenger via auto-update
on Wed 13 Sep 2006 (15:17 GMT) (2681 views)
on Wed 13 Sep 2006 (15:17 GMT) (2681 views)
A new beta build has come out for Windows Live Messenger using the auto-update system, upgrading you to Windows Live Messenger 8.1.0066.
The installer (which I often criticize) has been changed to log more information for Microsoft, as a consequence it is now ever slower! I seriously did not think it could be slower, it drives me mad trying to install Messenger, it is just ridiculous how poor the installer is. What is being logged by the installer is currently unknown, so you should not use it unless you are an official connect tester. Other new features include:
Download Windows Live Messenger 8.1.0066
The installer (which I often criticize) has been changed to log more information for Microsoft, as a consequence it is now ever slower! I seriously did not think it could be slower, it drives me mad trying to install Messenger, it is just ridiculous how poor the installer is. What is being logged by the installer is currently unknown, so you should not use it unless you are an official connect tester. Other new features include:
- Appearing offline no longer forces you to close your conversation window.
- Quicker to sign into Messenger (8-15 seconds, compared to 15-25 seconds before).
- Improvements to my used display pictures area.
Download Windows Live Messenger 8.1.0066But wait, this is not just a new exclusive feature we have received, oh no. It is rumored to appear in Windows Live Messenger 8.2. So does this mean there are two versions under the works? Does this mean Messenger will not have such big jumps in version numbers from now on (we have had very big leaps e.g. 6.2 to 7.0)? Does this mean Microsoft have gone mad and started updating an unfinished software? Who knows, all I know is look at the screenshot and speculate for yourself.
I don't know what's really going on with this, but it looks real to me anyway and if it is, it is a great new feature.
View the screenshot of the new polygamy featureEdit: It has been confirmed as fake, something which a lot of people plotted to do on msghelp's IRC. It looked real enough to me, then again I thought the Windows Live Messenger designs were fake, I just guess I have to place my head in the sand and congratulate whoever managed to pull this off.
I have got my hands on the new Windows Live Messenger build and it is looking good. There are limited places you can download it so I have hosted the file myself due to such demand. The changes are great, it seems more focused on improving old features than adding new ones. However, the installer is still the same and that is the thing I hate most about Windows Live Messenger, hopefully it will be changed soon. Enjoy!
Note: This is a beta and was not indented for the public to use. Use at your own risk.
Download Windows Live Messenger 8.1.0064 beta
Note: This is a beta and was not indented for the public to use. Use at your own risk.
Download Windows Live Messenger 8.1.0064 beta
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