Tag - skin
Skin review: Wii Messenger
on Wed 02 Jul 2008 (14:38 GMT)
on Wed 02 Jul 2008 (14:38 GMT)
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 Messenger
Skin review: Messenger Plus! Live
on Wed 25 Jun 2008 (12:54 GMT)
on Wed 25 Jun 2008 (12:54 GMT)
Despite 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 skin
Open Live: A must have skinning resource
on Tue 06 May 2008 (20:42 GMT)
on Tue 06 May 2008 (20:42 GMT)
Willz is at it again. Nope not another skin, but something more interesting. Although Messenger Plus! Live has made skinning significantly easier, there is still a learning curve in the skill and finding what resources do what can be a chore. Open Live changes that; in many ways it is a skin that provides a blueprint for other skinners to work on:
This is yet another step forward in skinning Windows Live Messenger.
>> Download Open Live
>> Visit the official website
Skinning Windows Live Messenger has never been an easy task. Most people struggle to understand what is going on when you make and skin and do not know where to start. I created open live to try and help those new skinners out and to give experienced skinners something to save them a bit of time.
Open Live is a special version of Windows Live Messenger 8.5 that has been edited to make a skinners life a lot easier. The key features of open live are as follows:
Open Live is a special version of Windows Live Messenger 8.5 that has been edited to make a skinners life a lot easier. The key features of open live are as follows:
- No MSNRLE images, all images are normal png, jpg, bmp, ico and gif
- Easy one line edits for things such as text colors and spacing of buttons
- All images are named and labeled to show what they do and are also in organized folders
- Comes with guide images and source images for animations and those tricky images
- Comes with pre-made and pre-translated options and about windows
This is yet another step forward in skinning Windows Live Messenger.
>> Download Open Live
>> Visit the official website
April Fools: Skinning offically coming to Windows Live Messenger?
on Tue 01 Apr 2008 (14:46 GMT)
on Tue 01 Apr 2008 (14:46 GMT)
First of all I am aware this is April 1st, and frankly it's hard to believe anything at the moment, but sometimes 'rumor is just as powerful as fact'. Willz, one of the most active skinners for Messenger has posted news regarding Windows Live Messenger 9 at his blog:
My opinion is that IF Microsoft are creating a skinning feature, it would be rushed and poorly implemented like most features of Windows Live Messenger thus making Messenger Plus! Live's engine superior. But what's the point of me even having an opinion on this day, it could be made up. Then again I believed the Windows Live Messenger 8.0 design was a fake. I guess we will just have to wait.
>> Source: Design Evolved
Well there we go boys and girls we finally have a reason for the delay in the next build of Windows Live Messenger 9.0. Microsoft has been working on a new feature which will change things drastically in the skinning world. Just a couple of minutes ago I received an email from the Windows Live Messenger team which has invited me to test the upcoming Windows Live Messenger 9.0 beta version which will feature none other than skins.
Ill share these details now since they didn't say that I couldn't post this but I'm sure they'll catch on soon enough and I will have to remove this post. So listen up!
Microsoft has been watching skins closely for quite some time now, in fact they started observing my stuff when I released the first version of Ev0 (yeah its freaky people at Microsoft actually tried something that breaks their own EULA..... irony).
Anyway after seeing Messenger Plus! 4.50 launch they saw how much interest there was in skinning and decided to try and implement an official system. At this point their system is apparently working and a new version of WLM 9.0 beta will be offered to butterflies within the next 2 weeks.
But don't think it is good news now, because there is more to this than meets the eye. Whilst official skins may be coming they come at a cost. Yes a cost. Microsoft will be implementing the same system they used for Winks and Dynamic Display Pictures where only developers who pay the license fee for the digital signature will be able to create skins.
So could this mean skinners could implement flash content into their skins? Quite possibly. But sadly this means the average person will not be able to make skins (apparently I will be able to get my hands on a license though because of my history with skinsBig).
Furthermore new "Premium skins" will also be introduced for paying customers which will feature a Windows Live Messenger without ad's.
Yep thats right Microsoft has been keeping tabs on how people remove ads and have come to the conclusion that people want a client without ad's. So they have come up with this new premium Messenger system to allow this (but hey we will get around that too huh Tongue)
So how does this affect Plus! Skinning? From what I have been told, the next Windows Live Messenger 9.0 is built from the ground up so all the techniques I know will be obsolete which could possibly impact the current skins dramatically.
Anyway I will be talking with Microsoft later today with regards to me trying out this new system. All I can say is they better have Aero implemented
Ill share these details now since they didn't say that I couldn't post this but I'm sure they'll catch on soon enough and I will have to remove this post. So listen up!
Microsoft has been watching skins closely for quite some time now, in fact they started observing my stuff when I released the first version of Ev0 (yeah its freaky people at Microsoft actually tried something that breaks their own EULA..... irony).
Anyway after seeing Messenger Plus! 4.50 launch they saw how much interest there was in skinning and decided to try and implement an official system. At this point their system is apparently working and a new version of WLM 9.0 beta will be offered to butterflies within the next 2 weeks.
But don't think it is good news now, because there is more to this than meets the eye. Whilst official skins may be coming they come at a cost. Yes a cost. Microsoft will be implementing the same system they used for Winks and Dynamic Display Pictures where only developers who pay the license fee for the digital signature will be able to create skins.
So could this mean skinners could implement flash content into their skins? Quite possibly. But sadly this means the average person will not be able to make skins (apparently I will be able to get my hands on a license though because of my history with skinsBig).
Furthermore new "Premium skins" will also be introduced for paying customers which will feature a Windows Live Messenger without ad's.
Yep thats right Microsoft has been keeping tabs on how people remove ads and have come to the conclusion that people want a client without ad's. So they have come up with this new premium Messenger system to allow this (but hey we will get around that too huh Tongue)
So how does this affect Plus! Skinning? From what I have been told, the next Windows Live Messenger 9.0 is built from the ground up so all the techniques I know will be obsolete which could possibly impact the current skins dramatically.
Anyway I will be talking with Microsoft later today with regards to me trying out this new system. All I can say is they better have Aero implemented
My opinion is that IF Microsoft are creating a skinning feature, it would be rushed and poorly implemented like most features of Windows Live Messenger thus making Messenger Plus! Live's engine superior. But what's the point of me even having an opinion on this day, it could be made up. Then again I believed the Windows Live Messenger 8.0 design was a fake. I guess we will just have to wait.
>> Source: Design Evolved
Zero-G Updated to 2.0.1
on Fri 28 Mar 2008 (01:02 GMT)
on Fri 28 Mar 2008 (01:02 GMT)
It 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 4.60
I AM IRON MAAAAAAAAN! Der-ner-ner-ner-ner....
on Thu 27 Mar 2008 (12:11 GMT)
on Thu 27 Mar 2008 (12:11 GMT)
Will "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 4.60
From one Vista to another, oh boy a shameless plug!
on Wed 26 Mar 2008 (03:36 GMT)
on Wed 26 Mar 2008 (03:36 GMT)
Well 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 4.60
Windows Aero Messenger released, and Zero-G 2.0.0
on Wed 26 Mar 2008 (00:23 GMT)
on Wed 26 Mar 2008 (00:23 GMT)
It 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.
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 4.60
Patchou: 'Never look at Messenger the same way again'
on Sat 15 Mar 2008 (13:55 GMT)
on Sat 15 Mar 2008 (13:55 GMT)
Messenger Plus! 4.50 brought about new skinning technology for Messenger. Now it was possible to soft-patch resources, create skin options and even manipulate the basic window designs of Messenger. This can be seen in a simple form with Beaver and Steve, created by Nile. However, Patchou has big ambitions to expand this feature:
All this news sounds very interesting, especially the upcoming skinning contest. Stay tuned for more information when it's available.
>> View Patchou's post
>> View a screenshot of the new skins
I'm happy to announce that sometime this year, a big skinning contest will be organised, benefiting both developers (prizes) and users (new, better skins). Details will be announced when appropriate but as of now, something new and cool has already been put in motion in the world of skins: Will Ingles, the creator of popular skins such as Ev0, as agreed to dedicate some of his time to the creation of new skins inspired by movies and music groups.
Your Messenger experience will never be the same, that's guaranteed, and you'll probably never want to go back to the original interface once you've tried a couple of skins either. Also, if you enjoy switching from one look to the other regularly, or, if you just don't want to miss the release of a skin related to a movie that you've been waiting for, sign up to Messenger Plus! Skins Alerts to get instant notifications.
All this news sounds very interesting, especially the upcoming skinning contest. Stay tuned for more information when it's available.
>> View Patchou's post
>> View a screenshot of the new skins
January's best of Messenger skins
on Sat 02 Feb 2008 (17:36 GMT)
on Sat 02 Feb 2008 (17:36 GMT)
Here 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 database
Learn how to skin Windows Live Messenger
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 (17:32 GMT)
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 (17:32 GMT)
In case you didn't already know, I used to skin MSN Messenger. It was fun and it got me into software design. Back then I had no idea how I taught myself, I just compiled lots of old tutorials from around the web. I then decided to make a tutorial myself, it was basic, but provided all you needed if you took your time. But since Messenger Plus! Live 4.50 came to exist skinning has been flipped up-side down.
Ev0 skin creator Willz has created what I believe to be a highly detailed, highly accurate polished guide going through step by step every little detail that is involved in skinning Windows Live Messenger. The full guide is not completed yet, but the published documents are all you really need. Any future tutorials will just take you into the advanced side of skinning.
So are you interested in skinning Windows Live Messenger with Messenger Plus! Live? View Willz detailed skinning guide at the Messenger Plus! community forums.
>> View the skinning tutorial
>> Download Messenger Plus! Live
Ev0 skin creator Willz has created what I believe to be a highly detailed, highly accurate polished guide going through step by step every little detail that is involved in skinning Windows Live Messenger. The full guide is not completed yet, but the published documents are all you really need. Any future tutorials will just take you into the advanced side of skinning.
So are you interested in skinning Windows Live Messenger with Messenger Plus! Live? View Willz detailed skinning guide at the Messenger Plus! community forums.
>> View the skinning tutorial
>> Download Messenger Plus! Live
Messenger Plus! Live skins I just love
on Sat 05 Jan 2008 (14:29 GMT)
on Sat 05 Jan 2008 (14:29 GMT)
I 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 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.
A closer look into Messenger Plus! skinning
on Thu 22 Nov 2007 (20:16 GMT)
on Thu 22 Nov 2007 (20:16 GMT)
Last week we revealed the big new feature coming to Messenger Plus! Live: skinning! It appears some things are unclear so I just want to go into the specific details of skinning and some of the things Plus! does to enchant it.
Skins are edited within XML files
No more resource hacking or other odd methods. You can create simple skins with just a few lines of code. This works well and allows even the most novice of skinners to create good skins. You can replace everything including text strings, images, uifiles and even the Messenger Plus! design itself.
Shaping Windows
One thing that has never been possible is changing the shape of Messenger's windows. Messenger Plus! Live now allows you to manipulate windows thus opening a wider range of possibilities within Messenger's set in stone design.
Skin Options
Skinners can now set options within skins. Directly implementable in uifiles, you change just about change any aspect of Messenger with a touch of a button. I've been creating a soft patch using this method which you can view in the screenshot below:
Skins may be compatible with several versions of Messenger
Depending on how a skin is designed, it may work across many versions of Windows Live Messenger thus meaning it is not tied to a specific build (like it currently is).
No Limitations
Whatever was possible in skinning in MSN Messenger is still possible. RLE files are back to PNGs and extra features such as shaping windows and advanced options really make skinning the best it has ever been.
The learning curve is also very low. Some of the stuff above may looks daunting, but it isn't. Skinning is not complicated and just about anyone can create an advanced skin, never mind a basic one. Yes you can create your own Messenger skin within minutes!
>> Download the current release of Messenger Plus! Live
Skins are edited within XML files
No more resource hacking or other odd methods. You can create simple skins with just a few lines of code. This works well and allows even the most novice of skinners to create good skins. You can replace everything including text strings, images, uifiles and even the Messenger Plus! design itself.
Shaping Windows
One thing that has never been possible is changing the shape of Messenger's windows. Messenger Plus! Live now allows you to manipulate windows thus opening a wider range of possibilities within Messenger's set in stone design.
Skin Options
Skinners can now set options within skins. Directly implementable in uifiles, you change just about change any aspect of Messenger with a touch of a button. I've been creating a soft patch using this method which you can view in the screenshot below:
Skins may be compatible with several versions of Messenger
Depending on how a skin is designed, it may work across many versions of Windows Live Messenger thus meaning it is not tied to a specific build (like it currently is).
No Limitations
Whatever was possible in skinning in MSN Messenger is still possible. RLE files are back to PNGs and extra features such as shaping windows and advanced options really make skinning the best it has ever been.
The learning curve is also very low. Some of the stuff above may looks daunting, but it isn't. Skinning is not complicated and just about anyone can create an advanced skin, never mind a basic one. Yes you can create your own Messenger skin within minutes!
>> Download the current release of Messenger Plus! Live
Skins for Windows Live Messenger 8.5
on Tue 04 Sep 2007 (21:31 GMT)
on Tue 04 Sep 2007 (21:31 GMT)
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 database
A unique Vista skin: Windows Aero Messenger
on Sun 29 Jul 2007 (19:14 GMT)
on Sun 29 Jul 2007 (19:14 GMT)
Rejoice 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
Vista Live Messenger update for 8.1
on Sun 01 Jul 2007 (17:59 GMT)
on Sun 01 Jul 2007 (17:59 GMT)
Vista Live Messenger is probably the most popular skin for Windows Live Messenger. We have covered a range of news posts on it (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and I'm happy to announce it has been updated to work with Windows Live Messenger 8.1.
The skin has some small changes to it, and simple things really make it blend in with Microsoft's new operating system, Windows Vista. The skin deserves credit, it is rare we see a skin of such good quality. I highly recommend this using it.
>> Download Vista Live Messenger from Deviantart
>> Download Vista Live Messenger in-house
>> View our skins database
The skin has some small changes to it, and simple things really make it blend in with Microsoft's new operating system, Windows Vista. The skin deserves credit, it is rare we see a skin of such good quality. I highly recommend this using it.
>> Download Vista Live Messenger from Deviantart
>> Download Vista Live Messenger in-house
>> View our skins database