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

Windows Live Messenger is continuing the trend of being available to mobile devices as they increase in popularity. The new smartphone market has meant IM on the go is significantly more practical and fun to use and something developers wish to cash in on. Windows Live Messenger is of course, no exception.


Messenger for the Zune HD

This month Microsoft brought Windows Live Messenger to the Zune Marketplace:



... and to WP7

This time from a third-party, who named their application Messenger by Miyowa. This is avaiable from launch and boasts as many features as most mobile IM applications. A great alternative for those who can't wait for Microsoft to create their own.

Both applications are available on their respective marketplaces.

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.

Windows Live Messenger is a GUI centric application with much of its unique design breaking away from standard Windows API interfaces. The Messenger development team, to all their credit, have successfully implemented their own, image rich and unique approach to desktop interfaces. Although nothing extraordinary today, it was far more revolutionary several years ago. As revolution turned to evolution, so did Messenger's style. Never have I seen so many changes to a piece of software in such a short timeframe. So below is a screenshot timeline of MSN/ Windows Live Messenger GUI over the past five years (the years of which, I have personally witnessed):


Screenshot timeline: Sign-in Window


Screenshot timeline: Contact List


Screenshot timeline: Conservation Windows

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

Microsoft have released Windows Live Messenger for iPhone to the Apple App Store. After being unveiled in May we at MsgStuff have finally got our hands on Microsoft's new method of distributing Windows Live Messenger.

Windows Live Messenger for iPhone supports instant messaging (obviously), push notifications, sending and managing friend invitations, conversation management, offline messaging and social networking features. The app boasts an impressive array of features presented in a highly-polished, easy-to-use interface, all for free.

Expect our review and in-depth feature list later this week.

Download Windows Live Messenger for iPhone
Read the announcement over at the Windows Team Blog

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.

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.