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trey5498

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 16, 2008
191
0
I am attempting to get microsoft live messenger to run on my Mac running 10.5 (the current version of msn is 7.0.1, however does not have video capability) I am thinking of attempting it with VMware fusion or crossover. How do I get it to work without having to install windows and get video??
 
Mercury Messenger has A/V support but it is pretty buggy and not the best quality.

I just load up Parallels Desktop. Not the best solution. The MacBU team will eventually get off their arses and get A/V into the Mac version. Pretty pathetic they haven't already - and their lame excuses are meaningless.
 
Sorry, guys. We're waiting for the Windows Live Messenger (WLM) team to use the same A/V stack as what's used by Office Communicator, and to release that to the public. Once they do that, we'll be able to go out the door with a new version of Messenger:Mac.

I know that it's frustrating and that this has been delayed for ages. :( We didn't want to write a bunch of code to support the old A/V stack used by Windows Live Messenger 'cause they're moving to a new one. But it's taken longer than anticipated, and we know that Mac users are stuck waiting. I get video chat requests from my dad all the time, and I have to tell him that I can't do anything yet. :(

If you come to MWSF, swing by our booth, we'll be demoing video chat in Messenger there.

Regards,
Nadyne.
 
You said that over a year ago. You could have used the current technology in WLM and then updated it as required years ago.

What's the time frame now? Sometime in 2010?
 
Yeah, I know. :( No-one expected the WLM team to need so much time to get the new A/V stack out. We didn't know that it was going to be delayed, and it made sense at the time to not code to something that was about to be thrown out.

Regards,
Nadyne.
 
How long would it take to code with the current stack? Surely you could at least get something out the door - even if it was a little buggy, I'm sure the Mac community would just appreciate some sort of official A/V support implemented.

Shows a little lack of communication between the MacBU and the WLM team if they never told you they were delaying it ;)
 
Sorry, I wasn't clear - we didn't know that it was going to be delayed at the beginning of this process, and neither did anyone else (including the WLM team). The WLM team has been really good about making sure that we're in the loop with their latest plans.

Coding up A/V support is a pretty intensive bit of coding. It's not something that we could just whip out the door in a few days, or even a few weeks. It would've been a lot of work for something that's going away. None of that work would've been reusable for the new A/V stack.

Regards,
Nadyne.
 
I'm deaf, and use video messenger apps for signing with my deaf mates. MSN has always been a problem as it's one of the most popular apps in the deaf community. (AIM is more popular in the states, MSN in Europe).

Good to know it's being worked on, and thanks to Nadyne for taking the time to respond several times in this thread. It's very rare to get a response from Microsoft.
 
Skype or iChat. MSN is a joke.

iChat is completely useless outside the US since it only supports AIM and MobileMe chat(which useless since only 8 people on the entire earth use it). Here in Canada, and Europe (as far as I know), MSN is what people use and it's probably going to stay that way. It will be wonderful once Apple adds MSN support to iChat, but until then its either Adium or the official Microsoft Messenger program.
 
Coding up A/V support is a pretty intensive bit of coding. It's not something that we could just whip out the door in a few days, or even a few weeks. It would've been a lot of work for something that's going away. None of that work would've been reusable for the new A/V stack.

Reasonable I guess. Is there any time frame for the WLM lads to finishing this transition?

Couldn't you release a new version of Messenger:Mac with the new A/V stack so at least Mac users can A/V to each other? Then when the time eventually comes with WLM being updated, we're all set.

If Messenger:Mac had the new stack, it might encourage the WLM lads to get it together ;) (joke)
 
Couldn't you release a new version of Messenger:Mac with the new A/V stack so at least Mac users can A/V to each other? Then when the time eventually comes with WLM being updated, we're all set.

That would come back to her reply that it isn't ready yet, and making 2 versions isn't a good time use.
 
That would come back to her reply that it isn't ready yet, and making 2 versions isn't a good time use.

It isn't ready yet because they are waiting on the WLM team. If the MacBU is ready with it (because they are - assuming that the A/V stuff in the corporate version is what will be in the consumer one) then at least release an update with it so Mac users can video chat on Messenger:Mac.

Who said anything about making 2 versions? It is just an update to include the A/V stack, and fair enough it won't work with WLM, but we aren't loosing anything since we can't video chat with them anyway - and it'll mean Mac users can video chat for the mean time until the WLM team finally gets round to updating theirs.
 
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