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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
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
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 4.50.310 released!
on Sun 09 Dec 2007 (07:11 GMT)
on Sun 09 Dec 2007 (07:11 GMT)
After 6 months of development Messenger Plus! Live 4.50 has been released to the public. The main update was the introduction of a Messenger skins manager, improvements to existing features and WLM 9 compatibility.
You can download the build from the offical website and add skins from the database. I suggest reading this article if you want to give skinning a go, which we be building useful links of skinning tutorials.
In the next few months you can expect a huge amount of skins to arrive. The learning curve is small and just about anyone can create a skin. Some will be fantastic, and some will just be plain awful. We will be hosting any that catch our eye in our skins database, giving you a selection of the best.
>> Download Messenger Plus! Live
>> View Patchou's announcement of the release
You can download the build from the offical website and add skins from the database. I suggest reading this article if you want to give skinning a go, which we be building useful links of skinning tutorials.
In the next few months you can expect a huge amount of skins to arrive. The learning curve is small and just about anyone can create a skin. Some will be fantastic, and some will just be plain awful. We will be hosting any that catch our eye in our skins database, giving you a selection of the best.
>> Download Messenger Plus! Live
>> View Patchou's announcement of the release
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
Exclusive look at Messenger Plus! Live 4.50
on Sat 17 Nov 2007 (12:21 GMT)
on Sat 17 Nov 2007 (12:21 GMT)
Messenger Plus! Live 4.50 has been in beta testers hands for a few weeks now, and there are some significant changes. A new design, numerous tweaks and some impressive new features really make this release one of the best ever. Here are the main changes:
Skinning
Messenger Plus! Live's main new feature is fully integrated skins within Messenger! The program manages skins, allows skin creators to develop them easier than ever before (no more .rle issues) and customize Messenger's design to its full potential. It is seriously impressive and I bet more skins like the ones available for MSN Messenger. Skins will be made faster and in a larger quantity. Windows Live Messenger itself could not implement this feature better. Skinning also allows manipulation of Messenger's windows, something which was never possible before. You can see a basic example of this happening in the screenshot below:
Design
Messenger Plus! Live has fully integrated its design with Windows Live Messenger 8.5, but with additional tweaks that Messenger itself can benefit from. Check a look at some screenshots in our gallery and see the new design for yourself.
Changes to contact list clean-up
The new contact list clean up wizard has two modes: one for the contacts on your list and one for the contacts that have you on their list. This helps you know the people you have deleted that still have you in their contact list and who knows you may want to add them again.
Event notifications within conversations
Chat logging
The chat log viewer has had various improvements, which can make the script we talked about, Log Manager seem a little dated. However, new features such as a print preview menu, faster browsing their ability to search within multiple logs, reading over old chats is better than ever.
Scripts
A new debug window is present and the script editor window now has line numbers and the ability to close off certain sections. Basically the script editor is now more practical and similar to that of most modern code editors.
Others
I can assure you the changelog goes on and on and on and you will notice the various little tweaks for yourself. The list above are just the main changes. However, what you will really notice is the development of skins. If you are skinner don't think we have been skinning for long, testers only got it enabled as of yesterday, so you are pretty much in the same shoes as us.
>> View some screenshots in our gallery
>> Download the current release of Messenger Plus! Live
Skinning
Messenger Plus! Live's main new feature is fully integrated skins within Messenger! The program manages skins, allows skin creators to develop them easier than ever before (no more .rle issues) and customize Messenger's design to its full potential. It is seriously impressive and I bet more skins like the ones available for MSN Messenger. Skins will be made faster and in a larger quantity. Windows Live Messenger itself could not implement this feature better. Skinning also allows manipulation of Messenger's windows, something which was never possible before. You can see a basic example of this happening in the screenshot below:
Design
Messenger Plus! Live has fully integrated its design with Windows Live Messenger 8.5, but with additional tweaks that Messenger itself can benefit from. Check a look at some screenshots in our gallery and see the new design for yourself.
Changes to contact list clean-up
The new contact list clean up wizard has two modes: one for the contacts on your list and one for the contacts that have you on their list. This helps you know the people you have deleted that still have you in their contact list and who knows you may want to add them again.
Event notifications within conversations
This feature notifies you of your contact events in the chat window themselves, in the area where 'user is typing' is generally displayed. This is mostly visible if you're using Windows Live Messenger 8.5.
Chat logging
The chat log viewer has had various improvements, which can make the script we talked about, Log Manager seem a little dated. However, new features such as a print preview menu, faster browsing their ability to search within multiple logs, reading over old chats is better than ever.
Scripts
A new debug window is present and the script editor window now has line numbers and the ability to close off certain sections. Basically the script editor is now more practical and similar to that of most modern code editors.
Others
- An additional options menu has been adding to contact cards.
- Encrypted log files an now have an optional password hint.
- Event notifications such as when a contact signs out is enabled by default.
- The installer system has been improved with a bigger uninstaller menu and is faster on Windows Vista.
- An option has been added that allows you to hide your 'contact is typing a message notification', something we have already talked about in the past.
- You can show your currently installed scripts with the (!SVER) command.
- A /exit command has been added which closes all current chats and exits Messenger.
- There is now 'disable sign-out confirmation when chats are opened' option in the Customize section of the preferences.
I can assure you the changelog goes on and on and on and you will notice the various little tweaks for yourself. The list above are just the main changes. However, what you will really notice is the development of skins. If you are skinner don't think we have been skinning for long, testers only got it enabled as of yesterday, so you are pretty much in the same shoes as us.
>> View some screenshots in our gallery
>> Download the current release of Messenger Plus! Live
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
Windows Live Messenger skins database!
on Mon 30 Apr 2007 (17:31 GMT)
on Mon 30 Apr 2007 (17:31 GMT)
I think a 'whoo-hoo' is in order here. I have added the big list of skins that I had on the liveskins page of this website into the downloads database. This means you won't find any broken URL's, and you can browse a large variety of skins ready to customise Windows Live Messenger.
I have also been searching hard for new skins, and the database is now up-to-date. There are also some very goods skins out at the moment. Enjoy!
>> View skins for Windows Live Messenger 8.0
>> View skins for Windows Live Messenger 8.1
>> View our skinning tutorial
I have also been searching hard for new skins, and the database is now up-to-date. There are also some very goods skins out at the moment. Enjoy!
>> View skins for Windows Live Messenger 8.0
>> View skins for Windows Live Messenger 8.1
>> View our skinning tutorial
Upcoming: Vista Live Messenger for Messenger 8.1
on Wed 18 Apr 2007 (20:59 GMT)
on Wed 18 Apr 2007 (20:59 GMT)
The highly popular skin Vista Live Messenger started development again today, with the 3 creators Stian, Willz and iPab springing into action changing Messenger to look and feel like Windows Vista.
The skin has proved to be very popular, and I'm constantly being emailed about installing it as well as people requesting an update. Now the skin is now being designed for Windows Live Messenger 8.1 (finally) and the future looks even brighter. Just take a look at the image below:
>> Discuss the new skin in our forums
>> Download Vista Live Messenger (for Messenger 8.0)
>> View skins for Windows Live Messenger
>> Learn how to skin via our skinning tutorial
The skin has proved to be very popular, and I'm constantly being emailed about installing it as well as people requesting an update. Now the skin is now being designed for Windows Live Messenger 8.1 (finally) and the future looks even brighter. Just take a look at the image below:
>> Discuss the new skin in our forums
>> Download Vista Live Messenger (for Messenger 8.0)
>> View skins for Windows Live Messenger
>> Learn how to skin via our skinning tutorial
EvO, a skin to get excited about
on Mon 26 Mar 2007 (18:00 GMT)
on Mon 26 Mar 2007 (18:00 GMT)
Themes for Messenger have been in a downward spiral for a while now, and the classic skinners have disappeared. Windows Live Messenger has started to develop a boring look. Most skinners have great ideas, but they rarely come together well, there are often flaws at the end result, in fact I have only found 3 skins which I deem to be a good quality. They are Vista Live Messenger, Messed Skin and EvO.
EvO has been out for a few months now, but it came out just before Windows Live Messenger 8.1, and the skin was only compatible with 8.0. This affected its popularity. Today Willz, the creator of the skin released the 8.1 compatible version, and it does not disappoint.
The skin is so easy to use, its NSIS installer is impressive and gives you a lot of choice. This makes it so much more user friendly, and will hopefully same me and my admins having to reply to a flood of emails I get about installing skins.
It has the simplicity of a Mac, but with great attention to detail. You can certainly tell this is not a rushed project. However I have to be picky about the contact list, my contacts appear very cramped together, some padding between them will really make this skin shine. Also the background colour in the conversions is a little too much. That being said this is a very good skin and I highly recommend it. Enjoy!
>> Download EvO
>> View our selection of screenshots (White edition with Sky Blue)
>> Visit the official website
>> View our selection of Windows Live Messenger skins (just updated)
>> View our skinning tutorial
EvO has been out for a few months now, but it came out just before Windows Live Messenger 8.1, and the skin was only compatible with 8.0. This affected its popularity. Today Willz, the creator of the skin released the 8.1 compatible version, and it does not disappoint.
The skin is so easy to use, its NSIS installer is impressive and gives you a lot of choice. This makes it so much more user friendly, and will hopefully same me and my admins having to reply to a flood of emails I get about installing skins.
It has the simplicity of a Mac, but with great attention to detail. You can certainly tell this is not a rushed project. However I have to be picky about the contact list, my contacts appear very cramped together, some padding between them will really make this skin shine. Also the background colour in the conversions is a little too much. That being said this is a very good skin and I highly recommend it. Enjoy!
>> Download EvO
>> View our selection of screenshots (White edition with Sky Blue)
>> Visit the official website
>> View our selection of Windows Live Messenger skins (just updated)
>> View our skinning tutorial
Another dream list for Messenger
on Fri 16 Feb 2007 (19:00 GMT)
on Fri 16 Feb 2007 (19:00 GMT)
Once again we face that time of year where the Messenger team look into their magic ball, and see what they will create in the future. Tabbed chatting, skinning and better chat logging have been promised for years, so will we actually see them being coded?
Steve, a Messenger feedback hawk, posted over at MessengerSays what people have been asking for, using the feedback forms. Here is the list (in it's simple form):
Some old faces are among that list. I hope this isn't a dream list again, I've seen too many empty promises from Messenger in the past. Good luck to the team, the list is pretty much what is needed, it focuses on improving on what already is possible.
>> View the post over at the MessengerSays blog
Steve, a Messenger feedback hawk, posted over at MessengerSays what people have been asking for, using the feedback forms. Here is the list (in it's simple form):
- Contact/group unique behaviors
- Support for multiple accounts at the same time
- A Spelling / grammar checker for conversations
- Tabbed chats
- A way to automatically install messenger updates and fixes without downloading a whole new messenger (like Windows does)
- The ability to appear offline or have different statuses for different groups or contacts
- An easier way to invite friends and family
- Animated display pictures or custom avatars
- Stored and searchable chat history
- Better formatting of text within individual IMs (bold, underline, colors, fonts)
- Easier/better search for contacts
- N-way audio/video conferencing
- File transfer resume
- Skinning
- Support for multiple accounts at the same time
- A Spelling / grammar checker for conversations
- Tabbed chats
- A way to automatically install messenger updates and fixes without downloading a whole new messenger (like Windows does)
- The ability to appear offline or have different statuses for different groups or contacts
- An easier way to invite friends and family
- Animated display pictures or custom avatars
- Stored and searchable chat history
- Better formatting of text within individual IMs (bold, underline, colors, fonts)
- Easier/better search for contacts
- N-way audio/video conferencing
- File transfer resume
- Skinning
Some old faces are among that list. I hope this isn't a dream list again, I've seen too many empty promises from Messenger in the past. Good luck to the team, the list is pretty much what is needed, it focuses on improving on what already is possible.
>> View the post over at the MessengerSays blog
What's happened to skinning Messenger?
on Tue 09 Jan 2007 (20:52 GMT)
on Tue 09 Jan 2007 (20:52 GMT)
MSN Messenger was a skinning dream. The resources were simple and easy to locate, often small tutorials were posted to help skinners get started. Even grasping uifiles wasn't that hard, and many skins from all different abilities kept appearing. I remember MSN Messenger 7.0 inparticular because it had over a 100 skins for it.
Windows Live Messenger has changed all of this. The resources were dramatically modified, PNGs were changed into Microsoft's dreaded .rle extension, something which cannot be edited. Although progress towards solving the extension is currently under way, it's still not going to be perfect. This huge change to how Messenger works has gotten rid of the small time skinners will big ambitions.
Skinners who know their stuff, kept on going. But it was hard. PNGs had to be manually coded back in, a chore which was just ridiculous, and made skinning Messenger well over twice as long. This made some give up, me included - it simply was not worth the effort.
Despite all the problems Windows Live Messenger gave, there were some signs of hope. Some skins did appear, mainly one got the attention of the pubic, that being Vista Live Messenger. Others that were in development seem to have disappeared, and well, skinning Messenger seems to be dying, and it soon will be gone.
Unless something changes ...
Windows Live Messenger has changed all of this. The resources were dramatically modified, PNGs were changed into Microsoft's dreaded .rle extension, something which cannot be edited. Although progress towards solving the extension is currently under way, it's still not going to be perfect. This huge change to how Messenger works has gotten rid of the small time skinners will big ambitions.
Skinners who know their stuff, kept on going. But it was hard. PNGs had to be manually coded back in, a chore which was just ridiculous, and made skinning Messenger well over twice as long. This made some give up, me included - it simply was not worth the effort.
Despite all the problems Windows Live Messenger gave, there were some signs of hope. Some skins did appear, mainly one got the attention of the pubic, that being Vista Live Messenger. Others that were in development seem to have disappeared, and well, skinning Messenger seems to be dying, and it soon will be gone.
Unless something changes ...
A new feature list is out, is Messenger stealing Plus! ideas?
on Mon 23 Oct 2006 (20:42 GMT)
on Mon 23 Oct 2006 (20:42 GMT)
It would appear that the Windows Live Messenger team has already started planning new features etc for Windows Live Messenger 9. Although the list does have some good bits it does, however, include stealing ideas from Messenger Plus! Live.
This was posted by Zack Whittaker, an intern at Microsoft, at MSBLOG. He then went on to say:
So it looks like one of the main features of Plus!, adding colours to names, will definitely be included in the next main/milestone version along with "Adding features that Messenger Plus! Live offers as an addition to the original client".
This is a real disappointment; it seems that Plus! is too good for its own sake and will have no features left by the time version 10 of Messenger comes out. I wonder if any of this was discussed with Patchou when he went to Redmond - surely they wouldn't actually tell him that they are going to ruin his program.
Comment by absorbation: The feature list itself looks very nice, although I would target improving current features to get to their very best. I like the 'Theme of the client' part, may be a full skinning system will arrive for Messenger. Let's hope my file transfer criticisms got noticed to.
>> View the discussion thread at the Messenger Plus! forums
>> View the full blog post
Some things to think about include:
- Theme of the client
- Adding features that Messenger Plus! Live offers as an addition to the original client
- Family Safety features - making sure your children and those younger are safe
- Windows Vista and Windows Aero (previously known as Aero Glass) enhancements
- Audio/video features
- Virus and malware protection
- File sharing and modifications to Sharing Folders
- Video sharing
- Windows Live Spaces within the main window (eg: blog directly from Messenger)
- Windows Live Mail within the main window (eg: send mail directly from Messenger)
- Added plug-ins and sharing activities
- Colour functionality in names by default
This was posted by Zack Whittaker, an intern at Microsoft, at MSBLOG. He then went on to say:
There is no such thing as a 'suggestion database', and most of the ideas have already been finalised. This was purely a way of getting the public's ideas on what they would like to see - so then I can pass them on, or it viewed by an employee.
So it looks like one of the main features of Plus!, adding colours to names, will definitely be included in the next main/milestone version along with "Adding features that Messenger Plus! Live offers as an addition to the original client".
This is a real disappointment; it seems that Plus! is too good for its own sake and will have no features left by the time version 10 of Messenger comes out. I wonder if any of this was discussed with Patchou when he went to Redmond - surely they wouldn't actually tell him that they are going to ruin his program.
Comment by absorbation: The feature list itself looks very nice, although I would target improving current features to get to their very best. I like the 'Theme of the client' part, may be a full skinning system will arrive for Messenger. Let's hope my file transfer criticisms got noticed to.
>> View the discussion thread at the Messenger Plus! forums
>> View the full blog post
Skins for Windows Live Messenger
on Mon 23 Oct 2006 (13:36 GMT)
on Mon 23 Oct 2006 (13:36 GMT)
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 Files\MSN 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 Files\MSN 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
Upcoming: Vista Live Messenger
on 05 Aug 2006
on 05 Aug 2006
Since we first saw the beginning of Windows Live Messenger skinning changed. The PNG format had been replaced by the .rle extension, totally turning the skinning world up-side down as there were no images we could edit. Over time people like TheSteve learnt a lot about the .rle extension and started to crack it or certain parts of it. Still a 100% solution has not been found and skinning therefore has become harder, much harder, leaving skinners to manually code the PNG's back in. However, over the past few weeks I have seen some great new skins, and here is one of them ...
Vista Live Messenger is a stunning skin made by Stian and Blue Eyes, designed to make Windows Live Messenger look and feel like Vista's Aero theme. The graphics made by Stian are amazing, it takes real talent to come up with great ideas and then make them alive, it can be seriously hard work.
Skinning is not just about images, no, far from it. There are some nasty things called uifiles, but if you know how to use them your skins can become something special. Blue Eyes has used these well, things have been moved around, bloated parts of Windows Live Messenger have been removed, and some funky menu's etc have been added. It takes a lot of time to get the effect he has, and using the skin myself all I can say is wow.
Vista Live Messenger is just one of the skins I have seen. Other great skinners are working on some fantastic skins as well and you can look forward to them to. You can't really talk about skins too much, the screenshot will speak for itself and when Vista Live Messenger is out, you can be sure to see it posted right here.
>> Download Vista Live Messenger for Windows Live Messenger 8.0
>> Download Vista Live Messenger for Windows Live Messenger 8.1
>> View our guide on installing skins
>> View a screenshot of Vista Live Messenger
>> View msgstuff's skinning tutorial
Vista Live Messenger is a stunning skin made by Stian and Blue Eyes, designed to make Windows Live Messenger look and feel like Vista's Aero theme. The graphics made by Stian are amazing, it takes real talent to come up with great ideas and then make them alive, it can be seriously hard work.
Skinning is not just about images, no, far from it. There are some nasty things called uifiles, but if you know how to use them your skins can become something special. Blue Eyes has used these well, things have been moved around, bloated parts of Windows Live Messenger have been removed, and some funky menu's etc have been added. It takes a lot of time to get the effect he has, and using the skin myself all I can say is wow.
Vista Live Messenger is just one of the skins I have seen. Other great skinners are working on some fantastic skins as well and you can look forward to them to. You can't really talk about skins too much, the screenshot will speak for itself and when Vista Live Messenger is out, you can be sure to see it posted right here.
>> Download Vista Live Messenger for Windows Live Messenger 8.0
>> Download Vista Live Messenger for Windows Live Messenger 8.1
>> View our guide on installing skins
>> View a screenshot of Vista Live Messenger
>> View msgstuff's skinning tutorial
Skinning Windows Live Messenger ... is 100% possible again!
on 03 Apr 2006
on 03 Apr 2006
MSN Messenger has a beautiful long streak of exciting and unique skins, which are easy to download and install. But big bad Windows Live Messenger made this impossible when it was first released making it seem like skinning was part of the past. However, over the months and with people like TB and TheSteve we have found alternatives to break these preventions and the first skin previews came rolling in.
Today the last piece of the puzzle was found; Monkey posted how he found a way to fix the slicing up of the buddy icons, which previously could not be skinned due to the format they were in and how they were coded into the uifiles. Now with this, skinning is 100% possible to do again, that's right no setbacks to what MSN Messenger was.
That being said skinning is much harder than it used to be. You need to learn some important stuff to achieve skinning and coding the images back in will take much longer than before thus meaning there will probably be less skins and they will take longer to release. Nevertheless, the skins released will be by the best skinners around so quality is going way up for sure and it is quality over quantity. When the first skins are released you can be sure to get them right here.
Today the last piece of the puzzle was found; Monkey posted how he found a way to fix the slicing up of the buddy icons, which previously could not be skinned due to the format they were in and how they were coded into the uifiles. Now with this, skinning is 100% possible to do again, that's right no setbacks to what MSN Messenger was.
That being said skinning is much harder than it used to be. You need to learn some important stuff to achieve skinning and coding the images back in will take much longer than before thus meaning there will probably be less skins and they will take longer to release. Nevertheless, the skins released will be by the best skinners around so quality is going way up for sure and it is quality over quantity. When the first skins are released you can be sure to get them right here.