Messenger 5 for Mac

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

According to MessagerForMac.com (http://r-james.myby.co.uk/messenger/), Microsoft is releasing Messenger 5 for Mac on Monday, May 16th.

New features are reported to include (http://r-james.myby.co.uk/messenger/latest.php):

Brushed Metal look and feel
Display pictures
Improved File Transfers
and more...

[PPC970FX]

Well good that MSN for mac is not dead in MS eyes. If MS wanted Mac doomed cutting off MSN would be a big thing.

[Windowlicker]

MSN 5 has to pretty damn good to replace Adium. The thing is normal people don't usually go looking for a client from some small group. They go to microsoft.com and download what's available.

That being said, I truly hope the next version will be so much better the 4.x and 5.x can't be discussed on the same sentence.

[cwedl]

If they allowed us to do what you can do on msn messager for windows, I may consider the move from adium, have to try it out first.

[SAukland]

They're a little late to the brushed metal party. By the looks of Mail got Tiger, we may be on the way out of that tunnel. Perhaps not though.

Its good to see continued support. Didn't MSN Explorer mac support get dropped this year?

[andrewm]

I think that the interface shown is fine, but--open-source or not--it will not be as nice a licence as existing open-source products, I'm sure. If someone wants to put in multi-protocol support, for instance, can MS just stand by?

MS has killed IE for Mac since no one would want to use it over Safari or Firefox except for some very-limited ActiveX things (and maybe the scrapbook--anything else that I've missed?). MS would do better to do the same: licence the protocol 'officially' to Apple, sanctioning its use in iChat; maybe open-sourcing this will do, that, but I doubt it. If they are going to open source anything. If they have videoconferencing, I doubt that they will.

Some of those more versed with the law may be able to point something out that I've missed, but the article *is* a bit vague. In the meantime, suffice it to say that I'll generally take open standards for a protocol that I want to use over open-source for a programme that I don't. iChat plus Adium are one two many programmes already for what should be a fully-integrated experience.

[mcarvin]

Its good to see continued support. Didn't MSN Explorer mac support get dropped this year?

Back in mid-2003, right before or right after they announced no more standalone versions of IE would be released for Windows. It was 3 announcements from them at once - AOL renewing the IE license even though AOL owned Netscape/Mozilla, no more standalone IE's for Windows, and no more IE/Mac because of Safari.

It was cheesy - they cried "Apple is integrating the browser into the OS! No fair because we can't take advantage of that!" MS conveniently "forgot" that the browser != rendering engine.

And Adium doesn't consistently kick me off MSN after 5 minutes like MSN Messenger does. And Messenger 5 is nowhere even remotely close to feature-parity with the Window's version.

[hob]

And Adium doesn't consistently kick me off MSN after 5 minutes like MSN Messenger does. And Messenger 5 is nowhere even remotely close to feature-parity with the Window's version.
I hope messenger 5 is a good release - I actually prefer to use MSN messenger than Adium - something about that program doesn't sit right with me.

Though of course the best thing would be iChat with integrated MSN!!

[DrNeroCF]

Well, I thought that ichat supported MSN chat with the Jabber protocol?

[biohazard6969]

ITS ABOUT [expletive deleted] TIME!! i hate aduim, the one thing its supposed to do, it doesn't do correctyly, half the time i don't even recieve the messages that are sent to me, and also i get a ton of "unknown conversation error"' s i've been using MSN mac for a while now because of this, and i can't stand either of them, i'm starting to use teh phone more and more :)

[asif786]

I hope messenger 5 is a good release - I actually prefer to use MSN messenger than Adium - something about that program doesn't sit right with me.

Though of course the best thing would be iChat with integrated MSN!!

dude, i dunno if you've seen this yet, but take a look at:

http://allforces.com/2005/05/06/ichat-to-msn-through-jabber/

it's a bit of a pain in the ass to set up, but with tiger it's now do-able :)

[Stella]

No Video / Audio?

Then its a complete and utter waste of time.

[Bobak]

the funny thing is, msn 7 for pc has now has MSN music store links on the name of the song that your buddy is listening to and shows your buddys display pic next to their screen name in the contact list.

now where have i seen that before :rolleyes:

microsoft cannot borrow ideas form ichat have give hardly anything back to mac os x. apple need to start getting more patents.

[swissmann]

Just make iChat compatible with all the others and then who cares about messenger updates.

[vouder17]

dude, i dunno if you've seen this yet, but take a look at:

http://allforces.com/2005/05/06/ichat-to-msn-through-jabber/

it's a bit of a pain in the ass to set up, but with tiger it's now do-able :)

Yeah but really, iChat in my opinion ...sucks. It has very little features, and it looks terrible. With a jabber account you are so limited, it basically allows you to chat and that is it, no video/audio. I just use Adium..i think it is really cool, and so customizable. But my bro still like to use MSN, so he will be happy about the new MSN 5.

[wrldwzrd89]

Just make iChat compatible with all the others and then who cares about messenger updates.
We all wish this was the case, but practicalities get in the way:

Yahoo and MSN probably don't want to open their networks to Apple's iChat.
Open-source developers that have already solved this problem refuse to cooperate with Apple unless they open-source iChat, which Apple refuses to do for AOL's sake and their own.

Anyway, I've pretty much abandoned all chats other than iChat and IRC, so a new MSN Messenger release is of zero interest to me.

[FelixDerKater]

I guess they will never add audio or video chat.

[guifa]

We all wish this was the case, but practicalities get in the way:

Yahoo and MSN probably don't want to open their networks to Apple's iChat.
Open-source developers that have already solved this problem refuse to cooperate with Apple unless they open-source iChat, which Apple refuses to do for AOL's sake and their own.

Anyway, I've pretty much abandoned all chats other than iChat and IRC, so a new MSN Messenger release is of zero interest to me.
Oh really? You *do* know that Proteus' developer was hired by Apple, right? And I know for a fact that several other programmers on the current multi-protocol chat programs for OS X are *current* Apple employees (though, granted, most don't actually work in the iApps deptartment).

Apple has the knowledge, the skill, and the man power, but they are not doing it for other reasons, whatever those may be.

[wrldwzrd89]

Oh really? You *do* know that Proteus' developer was hired by Apple, right? And I know for a fact that several other programmers on the current multi-protocol chat programs for OS X are *current* Apple employees (though, granted, most don't actually work in the iApps deptartment).

Apple has the knowledge, the skill, and the man power, but they are not doing it for other reasons, whatever those may be.
No, I was not aware of any of that. Thanks for enlightening me, though! That being the case...I'm as stumped as you are.

[Dr.Gargoyle]

Both Yahoo and MSN IM for OSX has so far proven to be harshly scaled down versions of the Windows version, so why both at all. We will never get anything close to what Windows users get. I agree with previous posters that argued for making iChat compatible with the other services.
Can it really be that hard?

[~Shard~]

I don't use IM a lot, but when I do MSN suits my needs just fine. I'll be downloading this update once it is released and am looking forward to the new features.

MSN and Office are the only MS pieces of software I have on my Mac! (Hmm, and I think IE might still be kicking around in my Apps folder, never used it though...)

[SAukland]

Both Yahoo and MSN IM for OSX has so far proven to be harshly scaled down versions of the Windows version, so why both at all. We will never get anything close to what Windows users get.

Unfortunately, it seems as though the mac versions of all the messenger clients are crap-tastic mini versions. Yahoo is a joke. MSN is dismal at best. And the only one I regularly use is AIM, which I had crash about 20 times in one week. Apple makes the widgets... the messenger developers shouldn't be.

So, here I am with Adium, that doesn't even direct connect.

[javiercr]

If it doesn't include video i don't see it as a big step, i use Fire (http://fire.sourceforge.net/) it doesn't have video either but connects to MSN , AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, ICR etc

[poundsmack]

ummmmmm.....thats cool and al that thye may port over version 5......buit arnt they on like version 7 or something......why do we get old technology?

[revenuee]

I use aMSN ... it's the linux version ported to mac os X

it's my understanding that .. the differences in communication protocols are the reason mac MSN doesn't have video

[Mainyehc]

dude, i dunno if you've seen this yet, but take a look at:

http://allforces.com/2005/05/06/ichat-to-msn-through-jabber/

it's a bit of a pain in the ass to set up, but with tiger it's now do-able :)

I wouldn't advise you to do so... Sure, the Address Book integration thing is nice, and iChat looks sleek and very Apple-like but... meh, the functionality of MSN chatting through the Jabber protocol is even worse than that of Messenger 4... And strangely enough, even though I disconnected from the server, I was still on-line! How is that possible? Maybe I did something wrong, but, IMHO, IM protocols are supposed to be intuitive!

If you want a nice third-party, open-source MSN client, try aMSN. It has a lot of the funcionality found in Messenger 6 and the Messenger Plus! plugin by Patchou. Go to http://amsn.sourceforge.net , and by the way, if you live in Europe, take a bit of time to browse through the linked page, http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ .



microsoft cannot borrow ideas form ichat have give hardly anything back to mac os x. apple need to start getting more patents.
And you should read that too... You should learn a bit about software patents, my friend. Software patents are putting open-source software at risk... I'll confess you something: I only started using Macs because Linux still isn't usable enough and Apple hardware is just plain gorgeous; ironically, I was just running away from Windows because of ideological reasons (eventually, Windows would be rendered nearly unusable by all sorts of malware, but by that time, I had already switched :D ), and I ended up "feeding" Apple (I'm already on my second iMac, I have a 3G 20GB iPod and a Shuffle, and yes, I paid €119 for Tiger), which would be just another greedy corporation like Microsoft if it wasn't for its passion for well-designed products and other small details about it that make a bit of a difference.

Anyway, even though I'm completely hooked to Apple stuff now and won't definitely look back, I still don't mind *being able* to download and run open-source apps and OSes whether the hardware I'm using is PPC or x86. Just because I probably won't do so, doesn't mean I won't need it one day, just like I have to use aMSN today because Messenger 4 just plain sucks.

[Darwin]

I guess they will never add audio or video chat.

Speaking of which does anyone know what codecs are used for MSN audio & video?

If there is no Mac encoder & decoder for it then theres no hope that we will ever get this

Out of the two its Yahoo that is annoying me, they have Video but decided to leave out the audio, that was nice of them, that makes the video conferencing idea useless :rolleyes:

[Mord]

http://www.mercury.to/

it supports video, one way only but it works, half the time.

[SiliconAddict]

Well good that MSN for mac is not dead in MS eyes. If MS wanted Mac doomed cutting off MSN would be a big thing.


Ummm not really since there are other clients that can do MSN. What would be huge would be Office....

[Nermal]

ummmmmm.....thats cool and al that thye may port over version 5......buit arnt they on like version 7 or something......why do we get old technology?

They're not porting version 5. They're upgrading the current Mac version, 4.0.1, so the next Mac version will be 5.0. The numbers don't really mean anything, for example Mac 3.0 included features from Windows 4.0.

[poundsmack]

ahhh thats for the clerification

[Darwin]

http://www.mercury.to/

it supports video, one way only but it works, half the time.

A step in the right direction I guess :), isn't there another client that is suppose to be trying out Video conferencing as well? I forget the name

[jalagl]

And Adium doesn't consistently kick me off MSN after 5 minutes like MSN Messenger does.

I have the exact same problem. I recently switched to Adium after using Fire for a while. The official client just dropped me off every few minutes. I don't have that problem with Fire or Adium.

So I'll probably install version 5 anyway just to check it out, but will probably continue to use Adium.

[samh004]

Unfortunately this update really isn't worth it and I am not looking forward to this new brushed meta look... I would much prefer what it is now, a sort of aqua, or perhaps the platinum look in mail :)

Hopefully we'll be able to change the appearance of it, unfortunately we probably wont and I'll have an ugly looking thing on my desktop... :(

[Ringo]

Speaking of which does anyone know what codecs are used for MSN audio & video?

If there is no Mac encoder & decoder for it then theres no hope that we will ever get this

Out of the two its Yahoo that is annoying me, they have Video but decided to leave out the audio, that was nice of them, that makes the video conferencing idea useless :rolleyes:

They made that to satisfy horny teen who dont need audio... you know something like some "cough" body language "cough"... :o :o

[FlyNolJ]

If they allowed us to do what you can do on msn messager for windows, I may consider the move from adium, have to try it out first.

Yeah, I hear that MSN Messenger for windows is kick-ass. Version for 5 sounds really errr....ummm...... *cough cough* cool. Yeah, the new features as in "brushed metal" is really gonna make me wanna hook up my 56k for the 30 minute download.... :(

[kewpid]

This is a totally craptacular update. Brushed metal and "improved file transfers" does not warrant upping it an entire version number.

[cooknwitha]

I gave up on MSN a while ago. I now use Skype. It does fast file transfers, IM chat and audio chat. All with Mac and Windows.

As for video chat, am I the only person who doesn't want to look at the people I talk to?! :D

[cwedl]

In fact don't have to use adium or msn messenger anymore, I now use Ichat!

Msn on iChat using jabber (http://allforces.com/2005/05/06/ichat-to-msn-through-jabber/)

It does work and because is sort of build in it great to have the status in the top bar!

[wrldwzrd89]

In fact don't have to use adium or msn messenger anymore, I now use Ichat!

Msn on iChat using jabber (http://allforces.com/2005/05/06/ichat-to-msn-through-jabber/)

It does work and because is sort of build in it great to have the status in the top bar!
Like you said, it's slightly inconvenient, but it does work. I'll have to try this sometime.

[Swinny]

Methinks this is just Microsoft being mean personally and crippling MSN for Mac...if aMSN and Mercury can both have a stab at video (and Mercury even has the drawing and game linking features!) - then why the hell can't Microsoft?

Granted, its a free, niche app for a niche market, but still - some of the open-source clients prove these more advanced features are possible, and it just leads me to believe Microsoft are holding back their Mac client on purpose.

[wowser]

I'd rather they got round to updating the awful Windows Media Player, perhaps so it could play the latest codecs. The current one is becoming more and more useless.

[Mord]

VLC > WMP
mercury/amsn/adium > msn messenger

it's as simple as that people.

[graphyte]

I also use aMSN with some packages with avatars, nudges and stuff like that, it works pretty well. We all know how much is M$ going to do for us Mac users... :(
I like the messengerformac.com web site and the banner, Apple-style, is very cool :D

[Sedulous]

Maybe I am missing something, but what huge features are missing from iChat? People lament that it lacks features so they use a buggy program instead. Makes no sense from my point of view.

[Platform]

Sounds good just hope they release it :rolleyes: ;)

[J@ffa]

If MSN 5 supports direct file transfers I'll probably start using it again. They're soooo slow otherwise… I know aMSN supports it, but I feel like I'm sullying the beauty of OS X when the javaness comes into being. :P

[tugger]

No Video / Audio?

Then its a complete and utter waste of time.

I totally agree. As lame as it is, at least the Mac version of Yahoo Messenger has video. And Skype already does everything MSM offers, and more--and does it better. I don't understand why Microsoft even bothers with this crippled product. I couldn't care less about appearance. Include some features!

[The Truth]

Maybe I am missing something, but what huge features are missing from iChat? People lament that it lacks features so they use a buggy program instead. Makes no sense from my point of view.

The main reason people are forced to use "buggy programs" is that iChat users can not talk to MSN users.

[wowser]

Never mind

[thevessels]

monday morning and no new messenger yet.....

i for one am not too picky about my msn messenger features , as long as it doesnt sign me out every 5 minutes and i can transfer files ill be fine ...

:rolleyes:

[Maxiseller]

(Clicks tongue)

So, is it to be released or no?

[J@ffa]

(Clicks tongue)

So, is it to be released or no?

If it is going to be released then it'll probably be AM Microsoft time, which is what, Redmond? 7:20 AM in California, anyhow. Probably 11am-ish if it is going to happen. They did announce they were releasing this in the first half of may, and this is the last day for that, so it makes sense.

[blackcrayon]

I don't think anyone mentioned- the Mac MSN Messenger also can not connect via an Exchange server- some corporations (the one i work at) use this for chatting within the company... Obviously it wouldn't be that hard to allow the Mac version to do this like the Win version. I do believe they are specifically leaving features out to ensure that the Mac is not a "first class citizen" in the workplace...

Compare to Entourage, with its very half-assed Exchange support. They already had a feature reduced, but "true" Exchange client in Outlook 2001 for OS 9. Four years later, they still refuse to offer a true Exchange client for OS X, instead trickling in very rudimentary support to Entourage... :mad:

[asif786]

i think the guys/gals in the mac business unit really want to make great products, but the top execs are making them slow down the pace just to keep the mac software sub-par.

remember, no matter how bad ms office is, we all have to buy it. with messenger it's even worse, because they dont *have* to update it..

[wrldwzrd89]

i think the guys/gals in the mac business unit really want to make great products, but the top execs are making them slow down the pace just to keep the mac software sub-par.

remember, no matter how bad ms office is, we all have to buy it. with messenger it's even worse, because they dont *have* to update it..
I certainly don't. I do just fine without MS Office, MSN Messenger, and Windows Media Player. Admittedly, Excel spreadsheets are still problematic, but I can cope with everything else.

[Maxiseller]

Hey guys -

Is iChat AV 3 MSN compatible or not?

It seems to be a confusing point. Some Mac Mags have actually been saying that as iChat supports Jabber, it is MSN compatible, while others have been saying its not. Throughout the internet, all I can find are incomplete answers. Anyone got a clue?

[asif786]

I certainly don't. I do just fine without MS Office, MSN Messenger, and Windows Media Player. Admittedly, Excel spreadsheets are still problematic, but I can cope with everything else.

apologies - i meant most of us have to purchase it - often because of jobs/school etc.

i know pages and keynote are slowly taking over, but i wish apple would either do it properly or just not bother. the usability of iwork is rather terrible - it seems to me like it was a half-baked attempt.

i have a student copy of office, but i dont have it installed on my system right now. i'd rather keep that junk off my system. if there comes a day when i need it, then i'll install it. until then, no chance.

[andysmith]

Hey guys -

Is iChat AV 3 MSN compatible or not?

It seems to be a confusing point. Some Mac Mags have actually been saying that as iChat supports Jabber, it is MSN compatible, while others have been saying its not. Throughout the internet, all I can find are incomplete answers. Anyone got a clue?
iChat only supports AIM/.Mac and Jabber - although there are ways of using its Jabber cababilites to get it to work with MSN. See this (http://allforces.com/2005/05/06/ichat-to-msn-through-jabber/) article (haven't tried it myself) :)

[asif786]

Hey guys -

Is iChat AV 3 MSN compatible or not?

It seems to be a confusing point. Some Mac Mags have actually been saying that as iChat supports Jabber, it is MSN compatible, while others have been saying its not. Throughout the internet, all I can find are incomplete answers. Anyone got a clue?

yes, ichat does support jabber, which in turn supports msn messenger. so you *can* talk to your msn buddies via ichat. there's a step by step guide here:

http://allforces.com/2005/05/06/ichat-to-msn-through-jabber/

[iEric]

Wherrre is ittttt? :)

[cwedl]

Hey guys -

Is iChat AV 3 MSN compatible or not?

It seems to be a confusing point. Some Mac Mags have actually been saying that as iChat supports Jabber, it is MSN compatible, while others have been saying its not. Throughout the internet, all I can find are incomplete answers. Anyone got a clue?

Whilst the MSN protocol is not directly compatible with iChat, you can create a jabber account and associate your msn account with your jabber account. Jabber can then be added to your iChat account, and it will work.

[Philus]

Wherrre is ittttt? :)

Still nothing in Mactopia`s Homepage, Did Microsoft oficially announced it today???

[J@ffa]

Still nothing in Mactopia`s Homepage, Did Microsoft oficially announced it today???

The rumour is that they will. I can't find the article but it was announced by Microsoft that it'd be out by mid-May, so…?

[Mord]

Whilst the MSN protocol is not directly compatible with iChat, you can create a jabber account and associate your msn account with your jabber account. Jabber can then be added to your iChat account, and it will work.


WE ALL KNOW

Jesus read the thread it's been said like 10 times.

[Maxiseller]

Thanks for all your help with that - Ill give it a go.

Regarding the "WE ALL KNOW" comment, each post has given a slightly different viewpoint. Isn't it the point of forums to help others out and offer opinions? Somthing you clearly have not.

[J@ffa]

I don't think anyone mentioned- the Mac MSN Messenger also can not connect via an Exchange server- some corporations (the one i work at) use this for chatting within the company... Obviously it wouldn't be that hard to allow the Mac version to do this like the Win version. I do believe they are specifically leaving features out to ensure that the Mac is not a "first class citizen" in the workplace...

Compare to Entourage, with its very half-assed Exchange support. They already had a feature reduced, but "true" Exchange client in Outlook 2001 for OS 9. Four years later, they still refuse to offer a true Exchange client for OS X, instead trickling in very rudimentary support to Entourage... :mad:

Microsoft announced today that MSN Messenger 5.0 would be released in the first half of 2005, adding several new features. The new version will include improved security and the ability to add users listed in a company’s Global Address List (GAL) or corporate address book and it will enable users to view both personal and corporate messaging accounts from one location.

Support for Exchange will once again be updated adding improvements that allow viewing of multiple calendars and increased integration with a GAL. Enhancements also include better server and client synchronization and permissions, as well as improved public folder experience and mailbox quota management tools. This update will be released during the second half of 2005.

:P

[wowser]

Thanks for all your help with that - Ill give it a go.

Regarding the "WE ALL KNOW" comment, each post has given a slightly different viewpoint. Isn't it the point of forums to help others out and offer opinions? Somthing you clearly have not.


Perhaps people are getting a bit tetchy - anxiously awaiting MSN 5 ;)

[Philus]

Microsoft announced today that MSN Messenger 5.0 would be released in the first half of 2005, adding several new features...
This was an article from Macworld in January here is the link fot that...

http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/01/11/microsoft/index.php


... Still waiting for MSN Messenger 5.0...

[blackcrayon]

:P

...And if it's another example of what Microsoft considers "support" for the Mac (as in "just barely") it will probably fall far short of useful :) But we'll see.

[Philus]

In the messengerformac.com page, where originally said " Available for download May 17 " changed to a " Coming soon" Screen , So maybe we'll have to wait a few days more ....

[~Shard~]

In the messengerformac.com page, where originally said " Available for download May 17 " changed to a " Coming soon" Screen , So maybe we'll have to wait a few days more ....

That sounds about right for a Microsoft product. ;)

[J@ffa]

Have any of you actually LOOKED at this site? It's a spoof!

[TorbX]

www.messengerformac.com said may 16th. Now it says "Coming soon" with fontsize 36 or so. People are mocking the author around on his own forum :o

I kinda like this guy. He is REALLY in to getting Messenger for Mac up to speed. Or up to "en par" with Messenger for XP 7.x. Dedikating a .mac-domain, organizing a petition (21702 signatures until now). Thats grat, although I doubt MS gives a *****.

Dude, if u read this, keep it up :cool: :D

[unknownfairy]

Anyway, I've pretty much abandoned all chats other than iChat and IRC, so a new MSN Messenger release is of zero interest to me.

Why bother commenting then? Some of us actually care.

[Platform]

www.messengerformac.com said may 16th. Now it says "Coming soon" with fontsize 36 or so. People are mocking the author around on his own forum :o

I kinda like this guy. He is REALLY in to getting Messenger for Mac up to speed. Or up to "en par" with Messenger for XP 7.x. Dedikating a .mac-domain, organizing a petition (21702 signatures until now). Thats grat, although I doubt MS gives a *****.

Dude, if u read this, keep it up :cool: :D

Maby that is why apple still has QT7 for windows on "commin soon" :p

[iEric]

*sigh* maybe next week.

[nms]

JUST as i'm logged out of messenger for the 6th consecutive time in 10 minutes, and i decide to try aMSN, i see this. Get your ass into gear, ms, because im relying on you...

[j_maddison]

Just a quick comment from my own experience:

Every single person I know who has left the Mac platform, usually graphic design students, have done so because of the lack of IM support. Its mainly been msn messenger, but a few have left because of yahoo messengers lack of features to.

Most computer users that I know use their computer to chat and socialise with other people. Because of the paranoia in 'wincrap' world regarding viruses, people are reluctant to download programmes like Skype or even aim. Any assurance I give them that they wont get a virus from downloading the programmes is completely ignored as windoze users start having cold sweats at the thought of downloading an application! If it’s not the paranoia around catching a virus, it’s the anxiety of their system locking up or crashing that causes them to be reluctant to download anything new. I used to think they were having me on, or just being stubborn when they refused to download applications. I was put right by a friend of mine who switched a few years ago, he was a solicitor (lawyer) at the time. He assured me that winblows users paranoia is founded on bad experiences, and not pure nescience.

So msn updates with webcam support and all the bells and whistles that come with msn 7, would go along way to entice many UK users to the Mac platform. ichat is just redundant most of the time, I don’t know anyone in the UK who uses aim and I know two or three other Mac users. As for adium, I'm sure it’s a great app for many, but for me it’s a waste of time.

I did say quick comment didn’t I?? :D

Jay

[Mord]

tell them to use mercury messenger, it's nearly as fully featured as the pc version and has a few of it's own features, there is nothing as good as it, the only things you cant do is send video and use audio

[johnnyjibbs]

Still no video or auido then?

[Mord]

one way video only

[rickvanr]

Ummm not really since there are other clients that can do MSN. What would be huge would be Office....

I think he means if they killed support and made it impossible for msn users to connect via a mac. This would hurt mac sales, as alot of the new kiddies switching are dependent on msn to chat with other kids.

Edit: don't want to start a debate, but Proteus is so much cooler then Adium.

[wrldwzrd89]

I think he means if they killed support and made it impossible for msn users to connect via a mac. This would hurt mac sales, as alot of the new kiddies switching are dependent on msn to chat with other kids.

Edit: don't want to start a debate, but Proteus is so much cooler then Adium.
Proteus isn't free, though - that's why I never bothered to try it.

[Dagless]

has anyone used Messenger 7 for windows? ouch. seriously id rather live with the current Mac Messenger than use that sad example of software. i mean... an IM app where you can BUY pictures to send to another person? what?!

this is where Mac Messenger 5 comes in. base it on Messenger 6 (windows) but add little cool things like individual log-in noises for your mates, avatar speech bubbles for text (like Adium, but actually looking good). the key to a perfect messaging system isn't an awkward design with a horribly cluttered feel (Messenger 7) its lots of little and small trinkets. of course keeping logged in for more than 5 minutes will be useful too.

needless to say MSN7 has been removed from all my PC computers replaced with the much friendlier 6. good day microsoft!

[furryrabidbunny]

I wouldn't want Microsoft Messenger to turn into MSN Messenger Seven. MSN M. 7 has to be the worst piece of software made. Look at the contact list with all of those tabs. Who really needs all of that cr@p in an I.M. program? Maybe a 13 year old girl... Whatever happen to simple text/audio/video chat?

[jeffy.dee-lux]

For those of you who haven't tried it or perhaps haven't discovered the its wonderful customizability, I give you a screen shot of adium:

ps: check out this site to download different icons, sound sets, layouts...
http://adiumxtras.com/

[rickvanr]

Proteus isn't free, though - that's why I never bothered to try it.

yeah, it is shareware, and you lose zero of the features by not paying.

[Nermal]

Edit: don't want to start a debate, but Proteus is so much cooler then Adium.

I tried Proteus twice. The first time, I didn't really like it that much. A few (several?) versions later, I tried it again. It deleted about 10 people from my contact list! :eek: Specifically, everyone I'd added since the previous time I'd run it. I immediately opened the official client again, and they were gone out of there too :(

Needless to say, I'm not going to risk trying it a third time!

[rickvanr]

I tried Proteus twice. The first time, I didn't really like it that much. A few (several?) versions later, I tried it again. It deleted about 10 people from my contact list! :eek: Specifically, everyone I'd added since the previous time I'd run it. I immediately opened the official client again, and they were gone out of there too :(

Needless to say, I'm not going to risk trying it a third time!

Strangely enough, I've had that problem with Adium, but never with Proteus. I will admit the newest version of Adium is attractive, but I like to be able to turn off groups, and organize statuses by colour, and I hate the message window in Adium, I like the tabs on the side, not on the bottom. Hopefully iChat will start to kick butt, as Proteus' creator and lead, Justin Wood, was hired by Apple. Proteus isn't what it used to be since he's left either.

[sgwigle3]

Well I'm sorry but until MSN 5 is used by all my friends, supports AT LEAST 10 audio conversations and 4-way video calls using H:264 encoding over black table, has a brushed metal look, is integrated with Mail, address book iCal etc, can transfer files easily between Macs & PCs and sits neatly on my menu bar only when I need it, I'm not interested in getting it.

Wouldn't it be cool if there was a program out there like that though?! :p :rolleyes:

[iBlue]

right now I'd accept any IM application that woould WORK. ever since I downloaded the update to 10.3.9 I have had no luck getting onto any messenger service (yahoo or MSN) --- yeah yeah, "get Tiger" :rolleyes:

Yahoo and MSN are two shades of suck when it comes to Mac platforms. good thing I'm not much into chatting on those, but I would like to figure out how to fix it.
BTW, Adium didn't work either.

edit: Also, OnyX didn't solve it but it sped things up a bit. The Java update on Apple was no use either.
totally bizarre.

[7on]

If MS could get video/audio to work, I'd pay for it.

[Nermal]

right now I'd accept any IM application that woould WORK. ever since I downloaded the update to 10.3.9 I have had no luck getting onto any messenger service (yahoo or MSN) --- yeah yeah, "get Tiger" :rolleyes:

MSN worked fine for me when I had 10.3.9 :confused:

[iBlue]

MSN worked fine for me when I had 10.3.9 :confused:

I don't know - it's one of the first (ever) problems I have had with OS X ... I am not terribly concerned but I'm very curious about it.

[iQuit]

I use Fire,it has a nice interface and a bunch of features,still no videochat but if you look on the site they have plans for it. Fire IMO is the best chatting program for the Mac Platform,Virtual PC is worth the money just for all the little programs like MSN Messenger,I'm going to get VPC very soon.

[iQuit]

A bunch of home developers should get together to make a better chatting program.

[ravenvii]

Well I'm sorry but until MSN 5 is used by all my friends, supports AT LEAST 10 audio conversations and 4-way video calls using H:264 encoding over black table, has a brushed metal look, is integrated with Mail, address book iCal etc, can transfer files easily between Macs & PCs and sits neatly on my menu bar only when I need it, I'm not interested in getting it.

Wouldn't it be cool if there was a program out there like that though?! :p :rolleyes:

*nods at each point*

That, my friends, is why iChat pwns Adium for me.

Sucks for the Europeans on here, you should've gone onto the AIM bandwagon like the Americans did :D

[osiris315]

I gave up on MSN a while ago. I now use Skype. It does fast file transfers, IM chat and audio chat. All with Mac and Windows.


I agree with this. Why bother to use M$N when Skype is available. To top it off, all sessions, both text and voice, are all encrypted. I have to travel to many different offices and rely on IM to chat to other engineers. Skype works wonders when most firewalls in offices block M$N.

It may not look like the best IM program inthe world but it does "just work"! :p

[ambush]

Uhhh.... deception again

Where the hell is the web cam support .... games? WTF.

[j_maddison]

I agree with this. Why bother to use M$N when Skype is available. To top it off, all sessions, both text and voice, are all encrypted. I have to travel to many different offices and rely on IM to chat to other engineers. Skype works wonders when most firewalls in offices block M$N.

It may not look like the best IM program inthe world but it does "just work"! :p

The main reason is that everyone is using msn in the UK. A few years ago I used to chat alot on yahoo, but now it just seems everyone is on msn. I know about two people who use skype and about two or three people i can chat to on ichat. The only problem with those mates are that they are never online! So I have to use vpc7 if i want a decent msn im client! That sucks

jay

[cheekyspanky]

I used to use Yahoo all the time a few years back but over maybe the last three years everyone I chat to online has switched to MSN messenger.

I know a few people that use Skype, but everyone seems to have MSN anyway so that is predominantly used.

Was AIM heavily marketed in the US and thats why you all seem to use it - as I hadn't even heard of it until maybe 2003?

Hopefully this new version of MSN will come out soon as the whole Jabber/iChat solution doesn't work as well as I'd like.

[emulator]

Sucks for the Europeans on here, you should've gone onto the AIM bandwagon like the Americans did :D
Europeans are smart enough not to touch anything with a name 'America Online'. :p

[Mord]

yeah, as soon as i suggest AIM to someone they just say "eww AOL, hell no".

i only have 5 people from the uk on my ichat list only two that i have met personally.

[Gordy]

Coming to OSx for the first proper time, msn has been the biggest dissapointment. Its awful I use v7 on my pc and its miles ahead of the mac version, I cant wait for the update its not a minute too soon. I.ve tried all the mac alternatives and they've been dissapointing :(

[Mord]

when you say all do you mean all but mercury messenger? because thats what i thought before i tryed it, i cant stand fire/adium/aMSN

[Gordy]

when you say all do you mean all but mercury messenger? because thats what i thought before i tryed it, i cant stand fire/adium/aMSN


Yeah tried all those you mentioned :(

[Mord]

what dont you like about mercury? i use it on my pc instead of msn 7.

avatars, one way video, nice brushed metal look, customiseable, you can tell when someone blocks/deletes you and it dose not discoonect you every 5 mins like msn 4 dose

[TorbX]

what dont you like about mercury? i use it on my pc instead of msn 7.

avatars, one way video, nice brushed metal look, customiseable, you can tell when someone blocks/deletes you and it dose not discoonect you every 5 mins like msn 4 dose

Its not extactly good looking, is it? Thats what I'm in for. And it is the reason I can't stand aMSN. Java, slow, ugly...

[hob]

what dont you like about mercury? i use it on my pc instead of msn 7.

avatars, one way video, nice brushed metal look, customiseable, you can tell when someone blocks/deletes you and it dose not discoonect you every 5 mins like msn 4 dose
You've switched me! I like it a lot :)

My cool discovery of the week GasLight (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20050520103632) (just incase you were interested)

Hob

[poundsmack]

i had thought MS dropped the mac version of MSN entirely. i am glad i was wrong. now give itt o us and make sure it doesnt suck! :D

[wrldwzrd89]

i had thought MS dropped the mac version of MSN entirely. i am glad i was wrong. now give itt o us and make sure it doesnt suck! :D
You're getting MSN Explorer and MSN Messenger confused. MSN Explorer was dropped; MSN Messenger is still supported. This thread is about MSN Messenger (the one that's still supported).

[Abstract]

As for video chat, am I the only person who doesn't want to look at the people I talk to?! :D

Get better looking friends. :p

[~Shard~]

You're getting MSN Explorer and MSN Messenger confused. MSN Explorer was dropped; MSN Messenger is still supported. This thread is about MSN Messenger (the one that's still supported).

How does someone get confused between a Browser and an IM client? :p ;)

I still have IE5 on my Mac, but never use it. As for Messenger, I don't IM a lot, but it suits my needs, so I'll definitely be grabbing this update once it is (eventually) released.

[7on]

How does someone get confused between a Browser and an IM client? :p ;)

I still have IE5 on my Mac, but never use it. As for Messenger, I don't IM a lot, but it suits my needs, so I'll definitely be grabbing this update once it is (eventually) released.

lol, MSN Explorer. I've actually never seen ANYONE use it. Including PC peeps. It should be the butterfly icon in your start menu.

[~Shard~]

lol, MSN Explorer. I've actually never seen ANYONE use it. Including PC peeps. It should be the butterfly icon in your start menu.

Yeah, talk about a useless piece of software...

[wrldwzrd89]

lol, MSN Explorer. I've actually never seen ANYONE use it. Including PC peeps. It should be the butterfly icon in your start menu.
I have also never seen anyone (other than myself, when I was experimenting with it on my Windows box before I found Firefox) use MSN Explorer. I agree with ~Shard~ - it's pretty useless in most cases.

[Gordy]

what dont you like about mercury? i use it on my pc instead of msn 7.

avatars, one way video, nice brushed metal look, customiseable, you can tell when someone blocks/deletes you and it dose not discoonect you every 5 mins like msn 4 dose

I didnt do all the simple thing that I want , like right click on the icon gives me all the easy option like the pc version, and when clicking on you have new mail links I want programs to take me to the email not the inbox. (Most of the replacements suffered from a variation on these problems)

I think mercury was my fav of the replacements but it wasnt as good as the standard msn for my use :)

[~Shard~]

I have also never seen anyone (other than myself, when I was experimenting with it on my Windows box before I found Firefox) use MSN Explorer. I agree with ~Shard~ - it's pretty useless in most cases.

See, I didn't even want to experiment with it. Sure, the butterfly looks all nice and innocent, but I had a feeling it was nothing but trouble and a potential source of frustration. "No one ever suspects the butterfly"...

[TorbX]

Maybe off-topic, but what the heck.

I downloaded Mercury. How do I use the Sametime Host-stuff? What do I type in?

[MacJeep]

what dont you like about mercury? i use it on my pc instead of msn 7.

avatars, one way video, nice brushed metal look, customiseable, you can tell when someone blocks/deletes you and it dose not discoonect you every 5 mins like msn 4 dose

Can you provide screenshots or a link to some screenshots?

[Mord]

www.mercury.to, download it and try for yourself

i have no idea what this server stuff you talk about is :S

[wnameth]

no sign of messenger yet, where is it? has anyone gotten it yet?

[ZaniCWB]

no sign of messenger yet, where is it? has anyone gotten it yet?


More info on the following link (http://r-james.myby.co.uk/messenger/).

[mad jew]

More info on the following link (http://r-james.myby.co.uk/messenger/).


Thanks for that, an interesting link. It's a shame Microsoft has no idea how to make an app pretty using brushed metal. That drawer is hideous. :(

[SilvorX]

Howcome people still bother with that site? who IS his source? a teenager who sits infront of the computer all day saying that he's 1337 and has "lots of information about Messenger 5", I'll believe it when the supposed release date on the website is true, the "supposed" release date has changed so much from April to now June, how do we know if he even knows if he really DOES have any information about it?

I'll just keep my eye on the mactopia website, the forum, and macupdate/versiontracker

[grafenberg]

adium has bveen great for me.. icq is a far superior protocal than msn's, and msn doesn't even allow you to receive offline messages... wtf?

but how about adium picking up the msn protocal and adding it to their app, that would solve this whole problem, innit. :)

[wrldwzrd89]

adium has bveen great for me.. icq is a far superior protocal than msn's, and msn doesn't even allow you to receive offline messages... wtf?

but how about adium picking up the msn protocal and adding it to their app, that would solve this whole problem, innit. :)
Adium already supports chatting via MSN. What exactly do you mean by "picking up the msn protocol"?

[killuminati]

Thanks for that, an interesting link. It's a shame Microsoft has no idea how to make an app pretty using brushed metal. That drawer is hideous. :(

It looks like one window behind another :rolleyes: .

I don't understand why Microsoft can't make the mac version even close to par with the pc version. I mean, once their doing it they might as well do it right.

[im_to_hyper]

More info on the following link (http://r-james.myby.co.uk/messenger/).

The link appears to be dead.

The Mercury link seems to be dead as well.... (mercury.to) ... what does the ".to" stand for.

[~Shard~]

The link appears to be dead.

The Mercury link seems to be dead as well.... (mercury.to) ... what does the ".to" stand for.

Technically, ".to" is the Internet country code for Tonga. ;)

[ZaniCWB]

The link appears to be dead.

The Mercury link seems to be dead as well.... (mercury.to) ... what does the ".to" stand for.

I believe it's just a redirection: link (http://www.messengerformac.com/).

[Dagless]

Mercury is cool but the splash screen loading is horrible. and for some reason i couldnt actually click a name to send a message. double clicking, menu>send message... etc. i was relying on other people messaging me!

Adium. nah.

ICQ? Mac? urgh. i was looking on thier website a few days ago and the newest version was made in 2002/3 (i forget exactly). but it was old compared to the Windows version. and if i know ICQ correctly; old versions are ugly and work bad.

im making do with Messenger 4 on mac for now. i just boot up my PC and remind myself of Messenger 7 to think how lucky i am for Mac Messenger 4. :)

[wnameth]

Still no messenger 5.0!!!! where the hell is it?

[Jo-Kun]

mercury is quite nice, I use it allready for a long while now...

the link does work, just be patient, it's not on a very fast server so it seems...

next mercury version WILL have webcam sending for Mac... so not only receiving, allso sending... nice one...

[Mord]

personally i cant wait my isight will finaly get some decent usage :D

[biohazard6969]

adium has bveen great for me.. icq is a far superior protocal than msn's, and msn doesn't even allow you to receive offline messages... wtf?

but how about adium picking up the msn protocal and adding it to their app, that would solve this whole problem, innit. :)

i agree adium is a great app, but as i've posted many a time, i get HUGE UNACCEPTABLE probblems with it, it cant do the things it was made to do, i have a very hard time recieving messages, and i think the person just doewn't want to talk to me then like 5 mins later i get "helooooooooooooooo are you there" then i have to ask them to retype everything they just did. if they would fix this problem once and for all, that would be great, i still have the little red duckie (changed the colour) in my dock, rigtht beside MSN, but i'm too afraid to use it. maybe when its out of beta. and it would be so cool if adium or some other program made it possible to voice and webcam as well as chat with other msn users on the pc and mac. i tried skype (www.skype.com) but i felt it was way too unsafe, anyone can call you from anywhere at anytime. my friend had someone add her to her msn and he keeps harassing her, making new emails as she blocks the others...not to discourage people from ussing skype, i thought it was great until the safety risk became a factor....

anyways, are there any suggestions on a webcam msn client for mac? i know of mercury messenger (http://www.soft32.com/download_75589.html) and i think its supposed to be able to do webcam, but it doesn't work.

[jeffy.dee-lux]

i agree adium is a great app, but as i've posted many a time, i get HUGE UNACCEPTABLE probblems with it, it cant do the things it was made to do, i have a very hard time recieving messages, and i think the person just doewn't want to talk to me then like 5 mins later i get "helooooooooooooooo are you there" then i have to ask them to retype everything they just did. if they would fix this problem once and for all, that would be great, i still have the little red duckie (changed the colour) in my dock, rigtht beside MSN, but i'm too afraid to use it. maybe when its out of beta.

i dunno man, i'm constantly using adium and i've never had that problem. maybe you should reinstall it or something along those lines.

[Truffy]

Those links now give 404 errors. And the M$ website still has Messenger 4.01. So I guess this was a red herring? :confused:

[Sir]

Howcome people still bother with that site? who IS his source? a teenager who sits infront of the computer all day saying that he's 1337 and has "lots of information about Messenger 5", I'll believe it when the supposed release date on the website is true, the "supposed" release date has changed so much from April to now June, how do we know if he even knows if he really DOES have any information about it?

I'll just keep my eye on the mactopia website, the forum, and macupdate/versiontracker

Calm now.....relax......think about your heart......Zennnnnnn

[joecool85]

Ugh...still no Messenger 5 :-(

[j_maddison]

personally i cant wait my isight will finaly get some decent usage :D

Start whipping that isight out more cause mercury seems to be flying!

http://www.mercury.to/index.php


I've been chatting all morning on it, and using webcam!!!!!! RIP Adium

Jay

[~Shard~]

Start whipping that isight out more cause mercury seems to be flying!

http://www.mercury.to/index.php


I've been chatting all morning on it, and using webcam!!!!!! RIP Adium

Jay

This Mercury program seems to be creating quite the buzz - maybe I'll have to give it a try myself...

[Nermal]

Today at WWDC, Roz said that the next version of MSN is still a few months away :(

[Fiddytree85]

Hey, at least Mercury Messenger is getting a lot further than MSN when it comes to video conferencing. How embarassing.

[Darwin]

Today at WWDC, Roz said that the next version of MSN is still a few months away :(

Yeah I was overjoyed when I heard that :rolleyes: and I guess you could hear that the crowd was as well, especially when the guys from Mathematica had just shown the Intel version that took 2 hours to move over

[chameeeleon]

RIP Adium

Not so fast - Mercury's user interface is a complete abomination and, as far as I'm concerned, until the app starts using a more Mac OS X-y feel the program will never be able to take on the design marvel of Adium. If the webcam stuff gets good, then I'll probably end up sticking with Adium for chatting, and using Mercury for webcam. I'll stay that way until Mercury gets its makeover.
Still, I definitely appreciate all the hard work they've put into the webcam aspect! I just hope think it's an Adium replacement by any means.

[Nermal]

Yeah I was overjoyed when I heard that :rolleyes: and I guess you could hear that the crowd was as well

They sure were! Dead silence = infinite joy :D

[Brother Michael]

Eh, I guess a new messenger will be cool. I dont really use anything in messenger besides just chatting.

Mike

[Nermal]

I just want a version of Messenger that doesn't periodically say stuff like "Ben just sent you a wink. Please upgrade to the latest version by going to http://www.this.link.doesnt.even.work.com."

[andysmith]

I just want a version of Messenger that doesn't periodically say stuff like "Ben just sent you a wink. Please upgrade to the latest version by going to http://www.this.link.doesnt.even.work.com."
At least that's not as annoying as actually receiving one of those damn winks ;)

I'll be loving Adium again when the fix this (http://trac.adiumx.com/ticket/72) damn bug.

[j_maddison]

Guys you're missing the point about winks and nudges. The messenger clients are supposed to be fun, what you guys want is a simple business tool by the looks of it. I use vpc to run msn 7 and mercury on the mac to use cam, and I have to say the winks are quite fun when your flirting.


By the way, cam is working fine in mercury. Both sending and receiving are stable.

Jay

[im_to_hyper]

I've been having a new thought about the delay in MSN 5 being released... with this whole new Mac-Intel deal MS may have agreed to make apps for the Mac as full-featured as their Windows counterparts in exchange for not making Mac OS x86 available to other PC manufacturers.

In other words, MS probably scrapped their current build of MSN 5 to make one with as many features as the Windows version (and that works properly) and with run on both x86 and PPC processors without any problems.

I haven't used any of the other messenging programs for Mac.. I use MSN 4 on my iBook and MSN 7 on my Toshiba laptop.

[Nermal]

At least that's not as annoying as actually receiving one of those damn winks ;)

I don't even know what a wink is!

[j_maddison]

I've been having a new thought about the delay in MSN 5 being released... with this whole new Mac-Intel deal MS may have agreed to make apps for the Mac as full-featured as their Windows counterparts in exchange for not making Mac OS x86 available to other PC manufacturers.

In other words, MS probably scrapped their current build of MSN 5 to make one with as many features as the Windows version (and that works properly) and with run on both x86 and PPC processors without any problems.

I haven't used any of the other messenging programs for Mac.. I use MSN 4 on my iBook and MSN 7 on my Toshiba laptop.

I so hope your right!!!!!!! :D

[im_to_hyper]

I so hope your right!!!!!!! :D

I sure hope I'm right, too . :p

Otherwise... I'll be prett upset that its taken so long. I would prefer to use my iBook more for MSN but at its current evolution, it seems like an ape while 7.0 is like a genetically modified human.

To me this seems like the most logical explanation other than MS scrapping any new Mac builds forever.

[andysmith]

I don't even know what a wink is!
It's a big flash animation (about 500x500px) that pops up in the middle of your screen when someone sends it to you.

I'm all for 'fun' features - custom emoticons, display pics, backgrounds and the like, but winks are just annoying. I'd rather MS spent their time developing some useful features :)

[Dagless]

im sickened by the fact that you have to buy some things in Messenger 7. most of these 'fun' features have a charge somewhere. talk about scraping the barrel M$.

[gangst]

I've been having a new thought about the delay in MSN 5 being released... with this whole new Mac-Intel deal MS may have agreed to make apps for the Mac as full-featured as their Windows counterparts in exchange for not making Mac OS x86 available to other PC manufacturers.

In other words, MS probably scrapped their current build of MSN 5 to make one with as many features as the Windows version (and that works properly) and with run on both x86 and PPC processors without any problems.

I haven't used any of the other messenging programs for Mac.. I use MSN 4 on my iBook and MSN 7 on my Toshiba laptop.

I really hope you right to, but I cannot see Microsoft making a full featured version of MSN for the Mac, because its Microsofts way of making the Mac look like it can't handle video etc and possibly getting buyers for Windows :mad:

[nw43]

I really hope you right to, but I cannot see Microsoft making a full featured version of MSN for the Mac, because its Microsofts way of making the Mac look like it can't handle video etc and possibly getting buyers for Windows :mad:

While I wouldn't put that past MS, it doesn't really make avery convincing argument. Are people really going to buy a Windows box instead of a Mac just so they can get some added Instant Messaging functionality?

[abc123]

While I wouldn't put that past MS, it doesn't really make avery convincing argument. Are people really going to buy a Windows box instead of a Mac just so they can get some added Instant Messaging functionality?
this happened on another (non-computer related) message board that i post on...

username1: "Hi
This might be a truly daft question...
Can MAC laptop things have MSN???"
username2:Yes, there is an MSN Mac version. I use it, but find that it freezes and shuts down a lot.
Sometimes if I leave MSN online, but idle for awhile, it tells me I'm online and have no new emails, then after awhile realise when I try to use it, I'm actually offline and haven't been receiving email alerts.
V.V. annoying!
username1:Aww thanks guys! I am contemplating buying a Mac laptop.... but love MSN to keep in contact with all my mates OS and interstate....
Maybe I would just be better getting a normal laptop...

[im_to_hyper]

this happened on another (non-computer related) message board that i post on...

username1:Aww thanks guys! I am contemplating buying a Mac laptop.... but love MSN to keep in contact with all my mates OS and interstate....
Maybe I would just be better getting a normal laptop...

Keep in mind... people tend to make stuff up just to make you feel better if they know you are a Mac fan... or they just say stupid things.

Unless there is an official poll about people buying laptops just to use messaging clients, its highly doubtful that someone wouldn't buy a $500 mini or $1000 iBook JUST because it cannot run a version of MSN similar to 7.0. If they really wanted a Mac they would go ahead and buy one.

[streetspirit]

Well I'm a new mac user having dumped my windows laptop last week for a new iMac.

The one downer is MSN. I've built up lots of people over my years on PC and all I want to do is be able to have a decent chat with them like I was but instead, there's no option of displaying a photograph or web cam. It all looks a bit second rate really.

Anyway apoligies if this has been discussed to the bone already but what is the best client to use that mirrors msn but offers a better service? I've heard they've all got their pros and cons but which one is the best?

I've actually found that Yahoos chat client is really good on Mac but I only know one person who uses it.

[j_maddison]

Well I'm a new mac user having dumped my windows laptop last week for a new iMac.

The one downer is MSN. I've built up lots of people over my years on PC and all I want to do is be able to have a decent chat with them like I was but instead, there's no option of displaying a photograph or web cam. It all looks a bit second rate really.

Anyway apoligies if this has been discussed to the bone already but what is the best client to use that mirrors msn but offers a better service? I've heard they've all got their pros and cons but which one is the best?

I've actually found that Yahoos chat client is really good on Mac but I only know one person who uses it.

I think general consensus is that Adium is the best msn client on the mac, but it does lack webcam support. For this reason I'm not a fan of it.

Your other two main choices are aMsn or Mercury. Both are claimed to support, or will shortly support webcam use with msn 7 users. aMsn seems to have kind of dissapeard though, in the senose of its been months since the product was updated. This could be because the developer is a student and I'm sure I heard him mention on a forum that he wont be so active while he is doing his exams, so expect some updates (hopefully) over the next few months.

With Mercury its a bit hit and miss at the moment with webcam ussage. I found the 1709 RC9a buil offered good picture quality for both sent and received images, but with the release of 1709 10 this all seems to have gone wrong somehow. The picture (for me) is kind of fuzzy with the latest release, with windows users asking me to turn it off because its just not good enough.

There are other options out there such as proteous (apologies if its miss-spelt) or ichat through the use of a work around. There are a few other options out there to

So to conclude, use Mercury at the moment if you want a good webcam experience with some support for emoticions and display pictures, or adium if your happy with a text based client.

Hope this helps
Jason

[Will_reed]

I hate mercury to be honest
I think its got a lowsy interface and it feels unweildy to use.
as long as msn 7 for mac can do everything the pc version does and look like a well designed mac app Ill be happy.

I dont know about everyone else but I find im on the mac a bit fiddly compared to pc even with expose maybe an advaced version of tabbed chat could solve this?

[SpaceMagic]

I use adium, but it really can't handle mutliuser chats at all.

[chimera963]

ah, now june 25th, so msn 5 for mac. this is totally unacceptable, i mean honestly. its crap like this that makes me hate Microsoft even more. If they're not prepared to release MSN on time or any time soon, maybe Apple should consider cutting off a couple f programs from Windows, just like what M$ did with msn explorer.
then again, when was the last time Microsh*t release anything on time? (this is a rhetorical question, please don't answer it ;))

[MacNoobie]

My god still no MSN 5 for Mac, pretty pathetic from MS, makes me want to buy more Apple products.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Darwin]

My god still no MSN 5 for Mac, pretty pathetic from MS, makes me want to buy more Apple products.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

What with all the cool features (:p) that are being put in this release I don't see why people are waiting for it when as soon as you get it there won't really be anything new

[streetspirit]

Personally the chat side of computing is a complete and utter mess as far as Apple is concerned.

We have this great software on our macs called iChat but there's never a need to use it because it only supports people with an AOL screen name or a .MAC account. Even worse, iSight only works on iChat as well.

Meanwhile MSN for mac is twaddle. Try and send a smiley and you get a stupid message come up telling you to upgrade and the link it supplies doesn't even work. Meanwhile forget about being able to see something as it doesn't even support web cams.

It's this side of computing which makes me want to bang Microsoft and Apples heads together.

Unless someone wants to tell me if there's a way of allowing MSN chats through iChat of course

[Darwin]

Unless someone wants to tell me if there's a way of allowing MSN chats through iChat of course

The only way is going through Jabber and connecting to a Jabber server that has MSN support, someone will have a link with the step-step guide

[Orlando Furioso]

who cares about winks and nudges? sheesh, it is a chat client.... use your words people, words.

[FelixDerKater]

I wonder what on earth is taking them so long at this point.

[J@ffa]

The only way is going through Jabber and connecting to a Jabber server that has MSN support, someone will have a link with the step-step guide

Only thing with that is file transfers don't work (I don't think), and obviously pictures and the like don't either.

Talking about official MSN, how does such a meaningless upgrade - essentially a 4.1, if that - justify god knows how many months of development? I know the PR flannel would have us believe that the folks over at the MacBU are mac fanatics, but seriously, it's an updated file transfer system and a bunch of user icons. The last update was almost an entire year ago!

[Will_reed]

It's freakin july weres MSN 5 for mac

[iCe Cube]

yea, exactly! where is it?

[CubaTBird]

msn 5... msn 4 is OKAY... not GREAT... but OKAY... i think that the new one should have better file transfer feature b/c version 4 is really getting to me on that end..

[xNew_MSNx]

:confused:

Oh kei, Well I've read this whole thread, And I must say Im confused. I mean it started in May, and this is July. And I mean maybe I'm a little confused but I dont see MSN 5 for mac's...
So if someone could please post and let me know what is happening. That'd be great..

Take Care,
Allison :p

[SpaceMagic]

:confused:

Oh kei, Well I've read this whole thread, And I must say Im confused. I mean it started in May, and this is July. And I mean maybe I'm a little confused but I dont see MSN 5 for mac's...
So if someone could please post and let me know what is happening. That'd be great..

Take Care,
Allison :p

You summed it up. MSN 5 for Mac was promised anytime after WWDC by a Microsoft representative, however we're yet to see anything of it!

[Darwin]

You summed it up. MSN 5 for Mac was promised anytime after WWDC by a Microsoft representative, however we're yet to see anything of it!

The representative mentioned month or months in her little speech :p

[BenAKL]

Yes, whatever it is.... we're still waiting. :eek:

[ph0rce]

it is on a M$ time scale remember....

[CodenameWinger]

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=139574

[drsuse]

though it doesn't have webcam, the skype service is pretty cool - mp3 quality audio chat without lag, plus IM and file transfer that actually works in all the versions (os x / linux / windows). not a lot of people use it though (read: nobody i know, aside from the friend i convinced to install it so i could try out the audio chat).

[~Shard~]

though it doesn't have webcam, the skype service is pretty cool - mp3 quality audio chat without lag, plus IM and file transfer that actually works in all the versions (os x / linux / windows). not a lot of people use it though (read: nobody i know, aside from the friend i convinced to install it so i could try out the audio chat).

Skype is indeed very cool. I heard Niklas Zennström speak at a VoIP Conference back in April and he was definitely the highlight of the conference. Amazing speaker, excellent vision. I think you're wrong though when you say not a lot of people use it. There have been over 140 million downloads of the Skype software, so someone out there has to be using it! The SkypeIn and SkypeOut services are growing quite quickly as well. :cool:

[Nermal]

The representative mentioned month or months in her little speech :p

If you can call that garble a "speech" :eek:

[ph0rce]

was rather rubbish....

[BlizzardBomb]

May 16th, first half 2005, June, July. Hmm... ok, where is it? Did microsoft forget about MSN 5 for Mac and just decide to waste time drawing all over XP to make it look like a new version?

[the-fish]

May 16th, first half 2005, June, July. Hmm... ok, where is it? Did microsoft forget about MSN 5 for Mac and just decide to waste time drawing all over XP to make it look like a new version?
They'll give Mac just enough stuff to keep us vaguely in the loop with the "Windows-centric world". If they truly think that Apple can be defeated, they will cut all ports to the Mac - but I think with all Apple's (and faithful developers') efforts, we are now fully compatible. We just need to wait for Leopard and, uh, it's identical-yet-Windows-branded counterpart to come out, so Leopard can PWN everything! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

[andysmith]

It could be August 9th now - see the article on here: http://www.mess.be/ (scroll down to July 28th)

[Nermal]

Apparently, the new Mac version will allow connecting to other protocols, like Yahoo! Messenger and AIM.

Either someone's fantasising or MS wants to get people off Adium and onto MSN :rolleyes:

[GilGrissom]

Either someone's fantasising or MS wants to get people off Adium and onto MSN :rolleyes:
Thats what sites are pointing to, but theres a catch. It's only for corporate networks running a Windows Exchange Server (I think), either way its only for corporate networks. So no normal home user could make use of the multiple protocols.

[akshea]

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1225

Check this out guys.. MSN 5 tomorrow morning.
Let see if it's real this time.

[~Shard~]

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1225

Check this out guys.. MSN 5 tomorrow morning.
Let see if it's real this time.

Already submitted this bit of news to MacRumors myself when I saw it - let's hope it's true this time!

[Nermal]

Some screenies (http://www.microsoft.com/nz/mac/messenger/default.aspx) courtesy of Microsoft NZ :D

[~Shard~]

Some screenies (http://www.microsoft.com/nz/mac/messenger/default.aspx) courtesy of Microsoft NZ :D

Cool, thanks for the link! Looks like tomorrow will finally be the day!

[im_to_hyper]

Well, its now the 9th! Here's to hoping it comes out today!!!

Its sure lookin' good from New Zealand!

:D

[Chundles]

Well, its now the 9th! Here's to hoping it comes out today!!!

Its sure lookin' good from New Zealand!

:D

Hope so, looking forward to the new Messenger, can't wait to start showing off my "corporate" tab and user pictures. They will be so handy when trying to talk to friends and family across the globe - certainly more handy than ooo, webcam support or voice chatting.

Yeah I could use iChat but nobody I know uses AIM or Jabber, I think they're only popular in the states.

[Bern]

Yeah I could use iChat but nobody I know uses AIM or Jabber, I think they're only popular in the states.

I agree, I paid for the privilege of having iChat (via a .Mac account) only to find everyone I know uses MSN and refuse to change over to AIM.

This year I won't be re-subscribing to .Mac (I'll use my free AIM account thank you) and hopefully we'll have the new MSN up tomorrow like mentioned earlier here.

[DarkNetworks]

I agree, I paid for the privilege of having iChat (via a .Mac account) only to find everyone I know uses MSN and refuse to change over to AIM.

This year I won't be re-subscribing to .Mac (I'll use my free AIM account thank you) and hopefully we'll have the new MSN up tomorrow like mentioned earlier here.

Yeah i kinda agree too in the first part, but i think .Mac is not just all about iChat.

"Control the status of your personal and business accounts by synchronizing them or setting one to “busy” while the other one indicates you are online."
This is something really new that i've not seen before, even in the windows platform, not even the MSN Messenger 7.5 Beta.

[iEdd]

I use http://messengerformac.com .. 5 could be out any time now.. tho most probably delayed.. again:D

EDIT: weak... site changed... :S

[Chundles]

Seems like for the first time in the history of the world the Kiwis are ahead of the pack on something. (yes i realise the whole dateline thing means you get to the new day first but that doesn't count when it's 45 years behind)

Sorry, don't mean to offend, still annoyed at Billy Bowden.

[Nermal]

I agree, I paid for the privilege of having iChat (via a .Mac account)

Err, iChat is free. You don't need a .mac subscription to use it, a free trial account works fine.

[Abstract]

It would be pretty harsh to find out that it doesn't support Webcam.

I really need it. It's ridiculous that Apple only has iChat and Mercury that allows for webcam. I don't know a single person who uses anything other than MSN, including my gf, and when she moves, I really want her to be able to see me through MSN. :( I'll try Mercury for now.

[John Lockwood]

Some screenies (http://www.microsoft.com/nz/mac/messenger/default.aspx) courtesy of Microsoft NZ :D

From the above Microsoft page one can reasonably deduce that the new MSN Messenger for Mac does not include video/voice capabilities. Logically if such a major feature had been added it would be prominently mentioned.

So it is no surprise at all that Microsoft have once again totally ignored the NUMBER ONE feature request THOUSANDS of users have been asking for and instead provided yet more useless fluff and spun it as a 'major' upgrade.

Strangely the http://www.messengerformac.com/ petition site now redirects to the Microsoft MSN Messenger for Mac download page. Perhaps RJT has given up in disgust, however it might have been more appropriate to redirect to the Adium download page.

Note: Microsoft also completely missed the plot with their pathetic PST import tool for Entourage, in that 99.9999999% of people want to import PST files from PCs and 0.0000001% want to import from Outlook 2001 for Mac Classic. Guess which it supports.

I can understand and accept companies not wanting to out and out help their competitors but what really causes me to retch is the nausea causing marketing spin they issue saying this rubbish is the greatest thing ever. I remember well a Microsoft Marketing Moron™ spouting rubbish that Outlook 2001 for Mac was now as good as Outlook for Windows (in a pigs eye).

Note: I do not blindly hate all Microsoft things (well not much), I do for example plan to build my own HTPC running MCE Vista which is much better than the Apple alternative (which is a big fat nothing).

[Chundles]

It would be pretty harsh to find out that it doesn't support Webcam.

I really need it. It's ridiculous that Apple only has iChat and Mercury that allows for webcam. I don't know a single person who uses anything other than MSN, including my gf, and when she moves, I really want her to be able to see me through MSN. :( I'll try Mercury for now.

MSN 5 won't have webcam - M$ just couldn't be stuffed opening up the servers to us.

I'm annoyed about that but I want the new version cause I use MSN all the time and hell, a new version's better than an old one eh?

[BlizzardBomb]

Can't... resist... must... refresh Mactopia repeatedly...

[Peer]

I agree with Abstract. Mercury is so much better AND it supports a webcam!! I've tried this with my iSight which seems to work towards PC Msn users. Have not tried it between mac users. But this is a really good "alternative".!!

[DJY]

I am sooo glad to be mostly away from Microsoft!

Shame they don't seem willing to provide a Messenger for Mac that includes video and audio chats...
I'm still hopeful that Adium will, as I haven't seen a timeline over on their site yet?

I will still grab this new version though - but can't see myself moving from Adium and iChat as my main two IMs

[BlizzardBomb]

I agree with Abstract. Mercury is so much better AND it supports a webcam!! I've tried this with my iSight which seems to work towards PC Msn users. Have not tried it between mac users. But this is a really good "alternative".!!

I agree, Mercury is a really good alternative, however, I think it looks really unprofessional and isn't as easy on the eyes as others.

[joecool85]

Wow...I thought this thread died a while ago. Still no MSN 5, so oh well.

[Chundles]

There's a download link on the Australian site but it doesn't work yet - the site has the same sort of stuff as the Kiwi site.

http://www.microsoft.com/australia/office/mac/messenger.aspx

[DarkNetworks]

Yeah.., still not out yet...i kind of agree with the Mecury thing, it does not look good at all...

[Chundles]

They've announced it, still not available, they say it's more of an enterprise focussed release.

[DarkNetworks]

i went to download.com
and it's like the screenshot is the new one but it seems like it's the old version..how wierd...
http://www.download.com/MSN-Messenger/3004-2146_4-10327715.html?tag=tab_scr

[joecool85]

I would love having that iChat-like brushed metal interface. Matches my PB and PM :-)

[Chundles]

Gee they're dragging the chain, was announced over an hour ago and still not available.

[BlizzardBomb]

Tell the guys in USA to update their site already!!!!!!!!!!! That's where everyone else is pointing to and only MSN Messenger for Mac 4 is there!

[bousozoku]

I noticed that they're still doing multiple executables for the various languages rather than giving us one executable, properly packaged, as should be the way with Mac OS X applications.

It's probably the fact that they're using such old code that prevents them from actually cleaning up the thing. Of course, adding voice and video could possibly remove one hurdle for Windows users to switch to Mac OS X and they wouldn't want to do that.

[DarkNetworks]

OMGawd those guys at Microsoft are SLOW! :mad:

[im_to_hyper]

I am seriously hoping that this release would have been announced sometime this morning! Here's to hoping it will be released after noon, MS Time, which is 3 PM Eastern/2 Central/1 Mountain/4 Atlantic for those of you in northeastern Maine and in far eastern Canada.

In my opinion, noon would be a perfect release time: smack dab in the middle of the day! What more could you need? I was really hoping for audio and video chat, considering that a microphone is built right into all Macs!

Argh. If they think that it will help switchers decide to make that move, that is rediculus... they should be helping their current user base.

Here's to hoping that 5.5 or 6.0 is 80 times better and supports winks and access to other people's spaces and what-not. :rolleyes:

With a delay of this long you would have expected a lot more from Microsoft. Unless of course, these features are included but just well buried.

[fjleon]

for all of you people that want to try mercury

there is a java bug on tiger which makes the menus repeat themselves along the menu bar indefinitely on mercury.

panther works fine.

you need to go inside the global preferences and disable the java macosx skin and choose metal.

then close mercury and restart

mercury is done in java and needs at least 512MB RAM to work properly. Otherwise it will swap sooner or later.

another thing: mercury phones home when connecting. if it can't connect to its server, it denies you connection to msn.

[im_to_hyper]

US Site has been updated: download link still not working, though. It requires 10.3 or higher.

I'm hoping they will have it available for download soon!

[GilGrissom]

US Site has been updated: download link still not working, though. It requires 10.3 or higher.

I'm hoping they will have it available for download soon!
Same here in the UK.
Gosh we really take for granted our (in comparison reliable and clockwork) way of the Apple Store going offline for a bit before coming back online and all links working instantly and effectively. This is shocking from Microsoft! That they put a link up that doesn't work after announcing a new product! (on second thoughts, we're Mac users, is it that surprising?!!)

[macdonsp]

Direct download is here.

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx?pid=download&location=/mac/download/misc/messenger50_download.xml&secid=35&ssid=4&flgnosysreq=True

Have a blast

[im_to_hyper]

Direct download is here.

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx?pid=download&location=/mac/download/misc/messenger50_download.xml&secid=35&ssid=4&flgnosysreq=True

Have a blast

Takes you to the download page, but the download doesn't doesn't work.

This request could not be forwarded to the origin server or to any parent caches. The most likely cause for this error is that:

* The cache administrator does not allow this cache to make direct connections to origin servers, and
* All configured parent caches are currently unreachable.

[Xanderxxx]

This thing is taking ages to download. Only 4.5 kbs/sec! :(

[robinmurphy]

Ok Ive got it downloading - but at 5.5kbps on 1meg adsl. I guess this overload of downloaders (im guessing this is the reason for slowdown) shows how much people have wanted an upgraded messenger for mac.

EDIT: Ive got it, installing soon.

[mara]

Is it just me or do the download links not work? Ive tried every language!

Works for me (english) half of the file has downloaded... very slow..

[applecrag]

link isnt working for me either :(

[DarkNetworks]

Yeah it is FINALLY up there now
usual site, u guys know it, mactopia.com
:D

[number61]

Another horrible update to MSN Messenger for Mac! Where are the features that MSN Messenger for Windows has? Mac users always gets screwed with Microsoft applications.

I was excited about Office 2004, because they actually started to care.

But more importantly, what the heck did they go with the brushed metal interface - horrible.

But I guess it's getting better :/

[rhpenguin]

cant get it to download on my ibook, but downloads slowly on my thinkpad... garbage..

[GilGrissom]

Ok Ive got it downloading - but at 5.5kbps on 1meg adsl. I guess this overload of downloaders (im guessing this is the reason for slowdown) shows how much people have wanted an upgraded messenger for mac.
Working now. I've downloaded it and are installing as we speak. It takes its time in finding previous versions though during the install.

EDIT - Had to cancel the checking for previous installs, was taking too long, I don't why.
It's now installed and it looks good. It includes the display pictures, so it is a step in the right direction. Certainly looks better than the previous version. Just wish it had webcam support and easier intergration with .mac iChat and AIM. Ah well. Better than it was. Enjoy fokes.

[DarkNetworks]

me too..downloads are pretty slow at the moment...mine's around 9.8Kbps and i'm not running any aps except Safari...

EDIT: I've Got the file at last..now installing it...

[im_to_hyper]

The download link is still not working for me... I keep getting the same error as stated in my previous post.

EDIT: GOT IT! 500 KB/s, then slowed to 225.

[~Shard~]

Yikes, sounds like all sorts of downloading problems. I think I'll wait until later to give it a try - after all, I've waited this long.... ;)

[DarkNetworks]

Gee..this sucks... :(

Apart from DIsplay Pictures and the so called Coporate thing, i don't see any features that would make any Mac user happy with this LONG awaited MSN messenger...

[OllyM]

If anybody's having problems downloading, feel free to grab it from my dedi box here (http://www.cap.me.uk/Messenger500.dmg) (UK Server). It took me ages to download the damn thing from Microsoft :(

http://www.cap.me.uk/fast.png

[dops7107]

Yikes, sounds like all sorts of downloading problems. I think I'll wait until later to give it a try - after all, I've waited this long.... ;)

All fine here in UK now. Came down in 2 seconds flat!

[~Shard~]

All fine here in UK now. Came down in 2 seconds flat!

Good to know - I'll grab it when I get home from work tonight. :cool:

[7on]

Works for me, one more thing -
Checking the "Open at startup" box does not put MS messenger into the Login items. I went ahead and unchecked it and added it manually. Exactly what did MS do to enable MS to startup? Are they putting a file in the startup items?

[robinmurphy]

Ive just managed to download it on my PC and copied it to my iBook G4.

Installation is quite simple, there is a big Microsoft ('wizard' dare I say it) that will setup your .Net account etc. One step in this installation is checking for previous installations. This took fooorrreeeveer, well seemed to anyway so I just skipped it.

Loaded it up and the contact list looks pretty good. Its still nothing on iChat and the actual list is very similar if not identical to 4.0.1. Your display picture is at the top next to your name. There are now two tabs, coprate and personal aswell so you can switch between coporate and personal accounts.

The conversation window has hardly changed (identical to 4.0.1 aside from the brushed metal look). The display pictures 'drawer' was a novelty at first but within 2 minutes I have closed it in order to slim down the chunky window. One note about this display pic drawer, it is grey, not brushed metal like the rest of the window.

Having no idea about the Corporate side of messanger I can't really say how good it is nor can I say I am bothered it was included.

So apart from a brushed metal theme and pictures that I found oversized and irritating this version 5 of messenger seems to me like a pretty poor update. Look at it this way, take version 4.0.1 paint it silver and you have version 5, well almost. What has been done will definatly make messenger more pleasent to use, but its still far behind MSN Messenger for Windows.

[fjleon]

so in short, the new protocol features are:

display pictures
animated and custom emoticon VIEWING
improved file transfer

but, no webcam, which is the only one i want. mercury and amsn are too slow for me to use.

[DarkNetworks]

OMG after getting that error, i can't even open Microsoft Messenger anymore...the program seems to stop responding each time i try it...OMG this is bad...the new messenger is rough! :mad:

[JW8725]

I keep getting kicked off after 3 mins or so. Is this happening to anyone else??

[~Shard~]

OMG after getting that error, i can't even open Microsoft Messenger anymore...the program seems to stop responding each time i try it...OMG this is bad...the new messenger is rough! :mad:

Need I say it? It's a Microsoft product? :o ;)

[GilGrissom]

I keep getting kicked off after 3 mins or so. Is this happening to anyone else??
Nope I'm fine. Only had the one problem during the install, took forever to find previous versions. Been on for a while now, changed some stuff, no problems.
Need I say it? It's a Microsoft product?
Hehe. Beat me too it!

[DarkNetworks]

Need I say it? It's a Microsoft product? :o ;)

Seriously, i'm totally off with this Microsoft Messenger. After so long, this is what they can come up with? Who cares about the brushed metal surface and the corporate thing? What i want ( i assume many of us mac users want) is at least the webcam feature to be available, or at least audio capabilities would at least be something...this? is nothing except the ability to Display Pictures... :mad:

[GilGrissom]

Seriously, i'm totally off with this Microsoft Messenger. After so long, this is what they can come up with? Who cares about the brushed metal surface and the corporate thing? What i want ( i assume many of us mac users want) is at least the webcam feature to be available, or at least audio capabilities would at least be something...this? is nothing except the ability to Display Pictures... :mad:
I know how you feel. I too, as you say, want webcam capabilities and all the extras that Messenger for Windows has. But at least its a step, true we haven't got what we wanted totally but a lot of us would be happier with this update than none at all.

There is one side of the coin that makes sense for Microsoft not to make their Mac version as good as their Windows version, promotes Windows usage! At the same time it contradicts other possible market groups that they could totally exploit (and are I guess) with Office for Mac. Therefore they really should pay more attention to this software product. As often the case with Microsoft I've found that their practices with various things contradict each other. This I feel is more bad Microsoft practice than a tactical business decision.