It's OK. Not liking the social mode much yet, although maybe once it'll allow me to connect to Facebook and Twitter properly it may be better ...

I liked the look of the emoticons from the preview screenshot, but after using them I dislike them.

Only thing I remotely like is the Win 7 integration which it all finally seems to be working right ... It's no great improvement to WLM 2009 I reckon. If they want Windows Live Messenger to become a "social networking hub" then they need to implement different steps. The social stream has the potential to work but the split screen contact list alongside the stream does not work well, the text is bulky and large, doesn't work well without images.

I don't think the leaked build is a good version to base our opinion of Live Messenger 2010 on. The leaked build is still a very early version with a lot of missing features and bugs. I don't recommend people install it other than on virtual machines. We already saw screenshots of newer builds over a month ago which are more polished, these just aren't available to the public yet.

As far as the new features go: I think they are heading in the right direction by making Messenger more social. While I'm not a huge fan of the social networks, it is the global trend and Messenger is currently loosing users to Facebook and Twitter. People are already creating scripts to sync their personal messages with their social networks, what Microsoft is trying to do in Messenger 2010 seems like a natural step. And for those who don't like it there is a single option which will turn the contactlist back to what we are used to from Messenger 2009 and you'll never have to see the social stream again. Both type of users can be happy. But the interface needs more polishing, especially the social mode looks bloated. Fonts are oversized and there is just too much going on. A giant square ad isn't helping either ...

All together, when the polish up the interface and make it look cleaner I think Messenger 2010 can be a nice new version. Hopefully we'll get to see improved builds soon."

The idea behind it is good, connecting everyone to their social networks they are apart of, but they need to rethink the design, its 2010 - which in my opinion is all about clean, simple user interfaces.

Well I don't think it's really a big deal, we'd all seen the leaked screenshots anyway so any "damage" was already done. As most of the new social functionality doesn't seem to be working, we can't even really see what that's completely all about. I don't think there's much incentive for anyone to actually use it right now either.

In the current version, you can add your accounts from Google, Twitter and Hyves (a popular Dutch social network). Once you have added your Google account, all your Google Talk chat contacts will be loaded into Messenger. When your friends are online on Google Talk you can chat with them just like with regular Messenger buddies. Our Twitter support currently means BuddyFuse can automatically Tweet your Messenger personal message status updates. In the video below you see how everything works

As promised, everyone can now download and install the latest version of MessengerDiscovery - version 2.1. Everyone is invited to test this new version and report bugs/give feedback. MessengerDiscovery 2.1 has been in development for three of months and has undergone some rigerious testing to ensure that you do not encounter any major bugs even though it is a beta.

MessengerDiscovery is about to undergo a massive transformation. Coming in 2009, The new Messenger Discovery will change the way you look at Messenger forever. For those die hard fans, we have prepared a special beta version just for you. Compatible with both Messenger 8.5 and 2009. Just remember there is still a lot of work to be done, so this is nowhere close to the final product.

It's now official, Microsoft has released the final version of Windows Live Messenger 2009 on the Live web site. That's about time. It took more than a year of beta versions to get to this new release but it was worth the wait. Of course, it means Messenger Plus! needs a final update too and I’ve got good news: I just saved a bunch of mon... I mean, the beta version available in the Download page has been updated to support the new Messenger. The new build number is 353. Even better, Messenger Plus! Live 4.80 will officially be released before the end of the month :-).

Two reasons pushed me to refresh the public beta before doing a final release: first, the sooner the better. I know many of you were wondering what would happen with Messenger add-ons with the new Messenger and this beta it meant to be somehow reassuring. After all, everything is fully functionnal again, including emotion sounds, scripts, skins, logs, colors, event notifications, as well as the hundred of other features&options offered in the software. Secondly, I thought some developers may like to benefit from the research I had to do during the past few weeks in the windows files of Messenger; more precisely, in UIB data files.