Live Messenger/Skype ... we're going backwards


Recommended Posts

I've been a user of WLM for many years now and think it's a great IM client. Now Microsoft are phasing out WLM in favour of the Skype client - which doesn't support tabbed conversations and doesn't allow you to remove profile pictures from the chat screen. Anyone else think this move has sent us backwards?

  • Like 7

Can't stand the mess this fusion is. :sleep2:

I will hold back as long as possible to be sure to get the most tested and fixed migration experience possible.

We're losing MANY features with this transition. Ridiculous move.

If only they had given Skype more features before doing this. :sleep:

Whats up with them charging for sharing screens now?? Not impressed

They are?

Yaaaay, we're traveling back in time in terms of features.

Monetize everything! :pirate:

Glassed Silver:mac

I've been a user of WLM for many years now and think it's a great IM client. Now Microsoft are phasing out WLM in favour of the Skype client - which doesn't support tabbed conversations and doesn't allow you to remove profile pictures from the chat screen. Anyone else think this move has sent us backwards?

The reasoning is simple. people don't use chat clients like they used to, people don't want all these advance features. or rather it's more of a case of many more users and the advanced users who used to use them are now a minority niche group.

The reasoning is simple. people don't use chat clients like they used to, people don't want all these advance features. or rather it's more of a case of many more users and the advanced users who used to use them are now a minority niche group.

True. I don't even use Skype that much, usually when I do, it's with one person, and we're video chatting.

I don't need tabs, or any of the other junk WLM had. I uninstalled Trillian years ago. AOL messenger I used while I was a freshman in college and fast gave that one up too.

Keep in mind the Skype client is relatively unchanged from when Microsoft bought it. I have been hoping for a major revamp, but I don't think that's coming.

The first order of business for Microsoft was to fire the Skype UX team. They obviously don't understand a single thing in how we/humans use software. Their stupid UI design also continues in the Skype metro app - which is horrible and stupid.

  • Like 2

The first order of business for Microsoft was to fire the Skype UX team. They obviously don't understand a single thing in how we/humans use software. Their stupid UI design also continues in the Skype metro app - which is horrible and stupid.

I prefer the Metro app over the desktop client. It's not as buggy, and it's relatively straight forward.

I hate using Skype for IM on my phone (Lumia 920). Messages rarely arrive unless my phone is awake, unlike using the integrated WLM function they always arrive. Until messaging is that reliable on all platforms, I am hesitant to make a complete conversion.

Part of me wishes that MS had integrated Skype to WLM for video chat. The WLM window is less cluttered than Skype, which looked like a mess the first time I launched it.

Granted, my use of WLM is low (family really).

  • Like 1

Do you not understand english? The skype client doesn't support MSN group chats which is something me and my friends use very often.

and you can't transfer over? what's so special about MSN's version?

Can't stand the mess this fusion is. :sleep2:

I will hold back as long as possible to be sure to get the most tested and fixed migration experience possible.

We're losing MANY features with this transition. Ridiculous move.

If only they had given Skype more features before doing this. :sleep:

They are?

Yaaaay, we're traveling back in time in terms of features.

Monetize everything! :pirate:

Glassed Silver:mac

Yea I did i with a friend yesterday and it had to get activated and told me it's a I think 7 day trial period :crazy:

Because we all have several people on our contacts still using MSN?

MS has already solved that problem, you just sign into skype with your microsoft account and it combines your accounts

Yea I did i with a friend yesterday and it had to get activated and told me it's a I think 7 day trial period :crazy:

i think the whole having to pay to share desktops changed shortly before MS bought skype though

i know it's been like that for quite awhile now

MS has already solved that problem, you just sign into skype with your microsoft account and it combines your accounts

And we are back to the original argument. They aren't combined. You're just signed onto 2 different accounts with the same program. The WLM and Skype are separate for now and there's things you can't do with your WLM contacts in the skype client (like group chats with WLM contacts).

i think the whole having to pay to share desktops changed shortly before MS bought skype though

i know it's been like that for quite awhile now

Ok, I haven't shared a screen since they bought it...still sucks

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • For a guy who claims to hate Farage and the ignorant, gullible, rightwing racist skinheads sponsored by Putin that his lies represent, you sure are quoting them time and time and time again, mate. I guess you're conveniently ignoring the fact that your country and commonwealth just happened to work much better when it was still part of the E.U.? Denial isn't just a river in Egypt.
    • Do you live in the U.K? Do any of the people here that are against the UK leaving the E.U, live in the U.K? If not then why are you bothered? If you do live here then it is a different thing . Brexit was a good idea, should have done it years before, it was done badly, but the idea was good. You are saying the same thing as remainers do, oh we did what Putin wanted, we listened to the lies and Farage. I hate Farage and never believed most of what he said, certainly did not believe the £350m a week for the NHS. But we did pay a lot of money to the E.U and yes some of it came back, but what is the point of paying it out for only some of it to come back? Get out of the E.U, no money to them and in theory we can use the money to do things in the country. I said in theory, but our governments are a total and complete waste of space. No matter what colour rosette they wear. You and others say it was a mistake and yet the two main parties in the U.K are not looking at rejoining the EU, I wonder why that is? I was not tricked by anyone. Makes no odds now, we are out and have been for 10 years, what we need is a decent government to run the country. All they do is shout at each other like a load of kids and seems to do nothing and make this country more into a police and nanny state. Getting more like China all the time.
    • 4TB TEAMGROUP MP44Q, 2TB T-Force G50, and 2TB WD My Passport SSDs drop to great prices by Fiza Ali Prime Day may be over, but there are still worthwhile storage deals available, including discounts on SSDs for shoppers who missed the event or are looking to upgrade their storage solution. Particularly, 2TB Western Digital My Passport, 2TB TEAMGROUP T-Force G50, and 4TB TEAMGROUP MP44Q SSD are selling at great prices with up to 23% off. The 2TB TEAMGROUP T-Force G50 is an M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe SSD with sequential read speeds of up to 5,000MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 4,500MB/s. The drive has an endurance rating of 1,300 TBW (terabytes written) and features a DRAM-less design. The company specifies a mean time between failures (MTBF) of 3 million hours. The drive includes an "ultra-thin" graphene heat spreader that helps dissipate heat without significantly increasing the drive's thickness. It also supports S.M.A.R.T. monitoring, allowing compatible software to monitor drive health and operating status. The SSD is rated for operating temperatures from 0°C to 70°C, with a storage temperature range of -40°C to 85°C. The drive is backed by a five-year limited warranty as well. 2TB TEAMGROUP T-Force G50 SSD: $269.99 (Amazon US) The TEAMGROUP MP44Q is an M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe SSD that delivers sequential read speeds of up to 7,000MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 5,900MB/s. It uses 3D QLC NAND flash memory to provide 4TB of storage capacity for games, applications, media files, and other data. The drive has an endurance rating of 2,000 TBW and an MTBF of 1.6 million hours. The SSD features a DRAM-less design and supports TEAMGROUP's S.M.A.R.T. monitoring software, allowing users to monitor drive health, temperature, and remaining lifespan. For thermal management, the MP44Q also includes an "ultra-thin" graphene heat spreader. It is designed to operate at temperatures between 0°C and 70°C and can be stored at temperatures ranging from -40°C to 85°C. The SSD is also backed by a five-year limited warranty. 4TB TEAMGROUP MP44Q SSD: $478.99 (Amazon US) The 2TB WD My Passport SSD connects via a USB-C port using the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface. It delivers sequential read speeds of up to 1,050MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 1,000MB/s through NVMe technology. In terms of security features, the drive includes password protection with 256-bit AES hardware encryption. The SSD is also designed to resist shock and vibration and is rated to withstand drops from heights of up to 6.5 feet. The recommended operating temperature range is 5°C to 35°C, while the non-operating temperature range is -20°C to 65°C. This drive is also backed by a five-year limited warranty. 2TB Western Digital My Passport SSD: $279.99 (Amazon US) Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • Yeah... The root of my comment, ostensibly, is how to spin the story via the actual technical merits of the solution! * Decentralized (aka federated) solution with built-in encrypted ephemeral message transport, * Transport via Relays (intermediary servers) with no message archival, * Second configurable pathway are actual email servers (if DNS records are programmed accordingly) via IMAP protocols carriage, * "Chat-over-Email" is the design pattern adopted; it can either leverage full-blown Email Server (must use the INBOX folder) to exchange all received messages/edits/reactions (so be weary of notifications overloads) [best practice is creating a separate email acct used explicitly for federated chat purposes!] or leverage its built-in Relay Server mechanism which actually resides on-device (by default but can be configured otherwise), * By virtue of be a decentralized/federated model, all other intermediary servers who may pass-along messages (while the recipient's final relay/device is inaccessible) cannot snoop on the messages due to the encrypted nature of contents. The intermediaries may, however, analyze the metadata due to the simple fact that routing mechanisms require hints for relay destinations. Unfortunately, whomever is posting about DeltaChat across socials are misleading with "zero metadata" claims -- especially when the Relays (according to their own technical documents) mandate the addition of chat-version metadata and other decorations in order to actually transport any message. -- Based on this summary, I'd prefer if they'd better dual-path message transport (email server add-in, federated relay engine) rather than patch-on email protocols to existing federated social media frameworks. They're frankensteining something rather than extending widely-deployed technology stacks.
    • Decentralized search result anonymization...
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Woland13 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Woland13 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      bernmeister earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      493
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      225
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      148
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      75
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      71
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!