MSN Messenger 5.0 for Mac announced!


Recommended Posts

Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit has announced several updates to products at Macworld Conference & Expo on Tuesday, including MSN Messenger 5.0.

Version 5.0 of MSN Messenger for Mac will be released in the first half of 2005, adding several new features, like improved security and the ability to add users listed in a company?s Global Address List (GAL) or corporate address book. It will also enable users to view both personal and corporate messaging accounts from one location.

Other improvements remain unknown but we're hoping there will be plenty. As you can judge yourself from this feature comparison table, MSN Messenger for Mac has a lot to catch up with if it wants to match up with the Windows client.

Source: MacCentral via Mess with MSN Messenger

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/270088-msn-messenger-50-for-mac-announced/
Share on other sites

Wow - it does actually look better than the Windows version. Finally, my friends can stop pestering me about my display picture, but I can still tell them that I can't get the 'games to work on my computer'.

I'm impressed Microsoft. Shame I'm about to ditch most of the Office suite for iWork, but you can't win them all, can you?

:)

ya, what a VERY fair poll. its like microsoft.com having a poll "what OS do you use"

"Mac"

"Windows XP"

"linux / other"

of cource windows is gonna win. they got that same poll on MSN Messenger for Mac. Thats so bias!

That even looks better than the upcoming msn7

585276117[/snapback]

You could just download a skin to have it like that....

They deserve the damn update. Its about time for MS to give Mac users the chance of compatibility with Windows users.

Next: MSN Messenger for Linux :D :laugh:

You could just download a skin to have it like that....

They deserve the damn update. Its about time for MS to give Mac users the chance of compatibility with Windows users.

Next: MSN Messenger for Linux  :D  :laugh:

585282347[/snapback]

A simple skin is not going to add the functionality. By looks I dont mean the appareance, but the functionaltiy.

A simple skin is not going to add the functionality.  By looks I dont mean the appareance, but the functionaltiy.

585282357[/snapback]

Hmmm im confused hehe

How can looks = functionality?

looks are apparance.....Maybe i mistook the context of what you were saying. I said it looks better than the upcoming MSN. By apparence yes it does and i said that it could be changed with a skin. By looks as features, MSN 7 brings little changes while MSN 5 Mac brings big changes from its last (and current) version. I think you mean the second one right..................

I'm not a MAC user, but it sounds nice. It's really funny that Microsoft creates software for the Macintosh  :p

585285333[/snapback]

Bill Gates aka Microsoft started out in life writing software for Apple, then the giants compared to the Microsoft minnows. Strange twist of fate really. Maybe if the bold Bill hadn't stolen the Macintosh iconic operating system for his Windows, things would be a lot different.....

That aside, Microsoft's 20 years of writing Mac software, you'd think that they would at least ensure Messenger for Mac had all the fuctionality of its Windows equivalent. If they can produce better versions of their Office suite on the Mac, there is no reason Messenger should lag behind..

:wacko:

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

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Wow, Microsoft IS cooking lately... This only shows that they COULD improve, they just chose not to for whatever reasons. That obsession with AI was destroying them from the inside out.
    • BATorrent 4.1.0 by Razvan Serea BATorrent is a lightweight, open-source BitTorrent client built with modern C++ and Qt 6, offering a clean, fast, and privacy-focused alternative to traditional torrent apps. It supports magnet links, .torrent files, resume data, sequential downloading, per-file priorities, and even imports from qBittorrent. Power users benefit from integrated RSS auto-download with regex filtering, duplicate detection, and automatic tracker lists from Stremio. Streaming is seamless thanks to auto-detected players like VLC and IINA. BATorrent includes robust VPN tools—interface binding, auto-detection for WireGuard-based services like Mullvad and NordLynx, kill switch, proxy support, and IP filtering. A full WebUI enables remote control, while integrations with Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby automate library updates. With themes, speed scheduling, system-tray alerts, and cross-platform support for Windows, Linux, and macOS, BATorrent delivers a polished, high-performance torrenting experience. BATorrent features: Core .torrent file and magnet link support Resume data — picks up where you left off after restart Import torrents from qBittorrent Create .torrent files from any file or folder Sequential download mode Per-file priority control (skip, low, normal, high) Seed ratio limits with auto-pause DHT, PEX, UPnP, NAT-PMP RSS Auto-Download Subscribe to RSS feeds — automatically download new torrents as they appear Regex filters — match only what you want (e.g. 1080p|720p, S01E\d+) Per-feed settings — custom save path, check interval (5–1440 min), enable/disable Auto-download — matched items are downloaded automatically in the background Supports magnet links, .torrent URLs, and tags Tray notifications when items are auto-downloaded Duplicate detection — never downloads the same item twice Stremio Stremio Addon System pre-installed — works out of the box Auto tracker list from ngosang/trackerslist Streaming Play while downloading — stream video files before the download is complete Supports mp4, mkv, avi, mov, wmv, flv, webm, m4v, ts Auto-detects installed players (VLC, IINA, system default) VPN & Privacy Interface binding — lock torrent traffic to a specific network interface (e.g. tun0) Auto VPN detection — identifies VPN interfaces (tun, tap, WireGuard, Mullvad, NordLynx, ProtonVPN) Kill switch — automatically pauses all torrents if the VPN interface drops Auto-resume — resumes only the torrents paused by the kill switch when VPN reconnects Proxy support — SOCKS5 and HTTP proxy with optional authentication IP filtering — load P2P blocklists to block unwanted IP ranges Protocol encryption (enabled / forced / disabled) WebUI Remote management — control torrents from any browser at http://localhost:8080 REST API with JSON responses Add torrents via magnet link or .torrent upload Pause, resume, remove torrents remotely View peers and files per torrent Dark theme matching the desktop app HTTP Basic Auth with SHA-256 password hashing Configurable port and remote access (localhost vs 0.0.0.0) Interface 3 themes: Dark, Light, Midnight (bat/vampire aesthetic) Real-time speed graph Detailed panel with tabs: General, Peers, Files, Trackers Filter bar: search by name, filter by state (Active, Downloading, Seeding, Paused, Finished) Drag & drop .torrent files and magnet links Drag & drop reorder in torrent list System tray with notifications (download complete, kill switch events, RSS auto-downloads) Splash screen with bat animation Bilingual: English and Portuguese (BR), auto-detected from system locale Bandwidth Scheduler Alternative speed limits — set different download/upload limits on a schedule Time range — configure active hours (e.g. 01:00 to 07:00), supports overnight ranges Per-day control — choose which days of the week the schedule applies Automatically switches between normal and alternative speeds Media Server Integration Plex — automatically trigger library scan when a download completes Jellyfin / Emby — same automatic library refresh via API Configure server URL and authentication token/key in Settings System Cross-platform: Windows, Linux, macOS Auto-shutdown — automatically shut down PC when all downloads complete (60s cancellable countdown) Auto-update system (AppImage on Linux, installer on Windows, DMG on macOS) CLI arguments: pass .torrent files or magnet: URIs directly Keyboard shortcuts: Space to toggle pause, Ctrl+A to select all, Ctrl+O to open BATorrent 4.1.0 release notes: A community-driven release: everything here came straight from your reports and requests. It closes the remaining gaps with qBittorrent and fixes the Windows settings/tray/splash issues several of you hit. Fixed Settings now actually save. A whole class of preferences — speed limits (and the alternative limits), max active downloads, seed ratio, listen port, max connections, DHT/uTP/encryption, VPN interface, kill switch and proxy — weren't being persisted and reset to defaults on every launch. They now round-trip correctly. (Thanks to everyone who reported "the upload limit always goes back to 0".) Splash and tray toggles stick on Windows. Turning off the startup animation (or "close to tray") no longer reverts — the Windows registry stored these booleans as integers and the UI was misreading them. Close-to-tray hint. The first time the window hides to the tray you get a one-time notification, so the app doesn't look like it vanished (Windows 11 tucks new tray icons into the overflow). macOS Dock icon size. The icon filled its canvas edge-to-edge and rendered larger than neighbouring apps; it now uses the standard safe-area padding. Native file picker language. The "Torrent file / All files" filter in the open dialog follows the app language instead of being hard-coded. Added — qBittorrent parity Alternative speed limits toggle — a turtle button in the toolbar flips your throttled limits on/off instantly, independent of the scheduler. Follow system theme — switch light/dark automatically with the OS (Settings → Appearance). Pre-allocate disk space — reserve the full file size up front to reduce fragmentation (Settings → Downloads). Recheck data on add — optionally force a hash check when adding a torrent, so existing or partial files on disk are detected. Port status indicator — a 🔴 dot in the status bar shows whether your listen port looks reachable (UPnP/NAT-PMP + listen state; fully local, no external check). Add torrent from URL — File → Add torrent from URL (Ctrl+U) fetches a remote .torrent and routes it through the normal add dialog. Export .torrent — right-click a torrent → Export .torrent to save its metadata file. Already there (in case you missed it) Watch folder — auto-add .torrent files dropped into a monitored directory (Settings → Files). This release just surfaces it. Incomplete files already carry a .!bt suffix until they finish. Under the hood Regression tests for the settings-persistence and Windows boolean bugs. A new Qt Quick Test harness covering the startup splash and the design-system widgets. Download: BATorrent 4.1.0 | 37.5 MB (Open Source) Download: BATorrent Portable | 51.7 MB Links: BATorrent Website | Screenshot | Changelog Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Disabling open on hover, great! That was so stupid! They need to do a fix, where if a network share is disconnected, it doesn't hang when opening "This PC" for 20 seconds.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Very Popular
      AndrewSteel earned a badge
      Very Popular
    • Veteran
      Taliseian went up a rank
      Veteran
    • One Month Later
      Clizby earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      Timaximus earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Timaximus earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      523
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      170
    3. 3
      +Edouard
      162
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      83
    5. 5
      ATLien_0
      78
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!