sibot Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 (edited) Hey everybody, I just upgraded to the latest Windows Live Messenger today and I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised with the major changes they have made with the UI and the features. I've been using Windows Live Messenger formerly MSN Messenger for over a more than 9 years now and it really has developed into a fine messenger. I've used other messengers like Yahoo, Skype, AOL, etc. too, but WLM has been my fav till date. Here's a quick preview of the new features on WLM that I noticed off hand. The main sign-in screen has a new clean look with warm colors. A clean and a well defined layout. On the main screen, you can notice alot of changes. The whole messenger has more of a hud feel that has all the controls integrated. None of the buttons seem out of place. First off you would notice that the mail button has been moved to the far right, in contrast to the till date followed layout of having the mail button on the far left. To my surprise, Messenger Plus fully supports the WLM and that was a major go ahead with me, since it helps me to log my chats. You would also notice, there is a favorites group on top, it's a really cool feature that allows you to add your favorite contacts for easy access. Better yet you can also select the size of the contacts display card shown in the main messenger window. The new messenger also allows you to choose from a wide variety of options in the layout section, making the WLM UI totally customizable. Sign in from Multiple places at a given time. I've been thinking about this for a very long time and I don't know, maybe through telepathy, Microsoft heard me out. I love the feature of Skype, that one can sign into multiple places at a given time and messages will be sent out to all the places that the user has signed in from. It used to be an issue for me, when I had to log in from my classes, knowing the fact that I'd be logged out from my home and when I finish with my classes, I'd be logged out from both places for a good one or more hours. Note:- This feature is only supported when all the messengers being used to sign in are WLM 2009, otherwise signing in from a different messenger version would sign you out from WLM 2009. And Microsoft has introduced a new feature in WLM 2009, the option of logging in from multiple places. What's totally cool is, it would give you a list of places that you have logged in from. So any rouge access will never go undetected. New mouse over contact menu The new mouse over contact menu comes with a fancy glass look, with several options to select from. All in all, a great integration and alternative to the usual right click menu. What's new toolbar The What's New Toolbar allows you to keep a tab on the latest updates amongst your contacts. The toolbar can be disabled from the settings and can be fully customized to receive particular updates. Sounds The new WLM comes with new default sound scheme, it's more on the lines of Vista's minimalistic sound scheme. The nudge sound isn't that loud anymore, though the contact sign in and new message sound could've been louder. Chat Window The chat window has drastically changed, with a new top hud and most of the side bar being shifted from the right to the left. It looked a bit odd at the start, but it settles in and its all the same! Here's a closer look at the top hud, like I mentioned before, nothing looks out of place, the integration of the tabs has been perfectly achieved. The sidebar can be concealed as always, but the transaction is smoother, there is a smooth flow of the sidebar as it shifts and conceals itself. Contrary to earlier versions where the sidebar would just vanish. Rolling over to the sidebar gives you a gleam effect. Wonderful! Background/Scene Selection WLM has always had the option of selecting personal background colors for your Messenger and background images for the chat window, but now it allows you to personalize the Main Messenger Window background to a wide variety of MS provided backgrounds or select from your own personal library of pictures. The option has been very tactically placed, giving it a good look. Moving your mouse over the top right corner, a book-page-flip animation comes up, clicking on it takes you to the Scene Selection menu. The scene selection menu:- Although, MS has given a wide variety of options to select from, I'm disappointed to say that even after selecting a high resolution wallpaper for the background, the end result is highly pixelated. The image is 2560X1600 resolution. Windows Live Photo Sharing Microsoft has introduced a very convenient way for sharing photos with your friends over WLM, I'd like to call it Windows Live Photo Sharing. Its more or less based on Yahoo's Photo Sharing feature. It offers a panel integrated into the chat window with the photos displayed and an easy navigation tool to cruise through the photos. On the right hand side you will see a categorized thumbnails of photos that have been shared. Either one of the parties can upload photos to the Windows Live Photo Sharing tool and they can be saved. All this has been done with a very clean and organized layout, with no extra controls, just the basic to give it a cleaner smoother look. Recommendations for enhancing your Windows Live Messenger experience 1. Messenger Plus: ->Link<- 2. A-Patch: ->Link<- Allows you to tweak WLM 2009 by giving you options to remove ads, disable nudge delay, nudge shake and quite some other things! Hope you liked the review. Constructive criticism/Comments are more than welcome. Cheers, Sibot Edited March 29, 2009 by sibot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemo Live Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Great writeup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad. Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Love the review, I finally gave in and upgraded to WLM 2009 - as I loved 8.5 and it suited the rest of my desktop :p I hadn't liked what I had seen of 2009 since I upgraded, it looked so bulky and ''fat'', until I customised it to my needs :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonjour Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I strongly recommend people stay with 8.5 old version if you like clean and well defined functions. MSN 2009 is the worst version I've ever seen in the history and it may look a bit fancy for teenagers but definitely not for any adults or professionals who prefer a neat and convenient interface. The new icon for each contact looks so weird and it also lost some really convenient features like "you cannot simple view each one's space by right click on the name and choose view space". They also secretly added some add-on exe running background and demand for internet access, I forgot the exe name, but once you were seduced to upgrade, you will find out (if you got a firewall, it will report). I think Microsoft should hire skype developers as skype 4.0 upgrade is fantastic, very neat very prof very straight forward with improvements not only on UI but also on voice quality, speed and whatsoever.... my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+shift. MVC Posted March 23, 2009 MVC Share Posted March 23, 2009 I strongly recommend people stay with 8.5 old version if you like clean and well defined functions.MSN 2009 is the worst version I've ever seen in the history and it may look a bit fancy for teenagers but definitely not for any adults or professionals who prefer a neat and convenient interface. The new icon for each contact looks so weird and it also lost some really convenient features like "you cannot simple view each one's space by right click on the name and choose view space". They also secretly added some add-on exe running background and demand for internet access, I forgot the exe name, but once you were seduced to upgrade, you will find out (if you got a firewall, it will report). I think Microsoft should hire skype developers as skype 4.0 upgrade is fantastic, very neat very prof very straight forward with improvements not only on UI but also on voice quality, speed and whatsoever.... my 2 cents. To each their own. I know a lot of people who aren't teenagers and like the interface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 MSN 2009 is the worst version I've ever seen in the history and it may look a bit fancy for teenagers but definitely not for any adults or professionals who prefer a neat and convenient interface. Really? 2009 and we are still calling Windows Live Messenger MSN? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleNeutrino Veteran Posted March 23, 2009 Veteran Share Posted March 23, 2009 i have to say that i like how the program looks and the features it has however, its bloaty now. the response time on it is slower than ever. even after A Patch is used on it. I wish it was smoother but it still looks nice and the features are spot on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xiphi Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 littleneutrino, it seems to be pretty fast to me. Everything opens up as soon as I click on it, and there's no sluggishness. What areas aren't as smooth as you'd expect? bonjour, what's a adult/professional interface supposed to look like? I'm an adult (25), and I happen to love the updated interface. Looks very clean and smooth, and also gives me plenty of options to have a minimal approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundayx Veteran Posted March 23, 2009 Veteran Share Posted March 23, 2009 I'm still on 8.1, it's hard to accept the UI changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deletedxyz Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I'm still on 8.1, it's hard to accept the UI changes. It's bulky and ugly. I wish they streamlined and made it look minimalist instead of making it feel so cluttered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 At first I thought the new UI was a bit clunky, and some of the extra features were a bit superfluous, but I've gotten used to it now, and actually quite like it. Logging-in from multiple locations is a great feature. I haven't really got my head around the photo sharing part of it... not quite sure if I like the way that's been changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mystic MVC Posted March 23, 2009 MVC Share Posted March 23, 2009 I still haven't made up my mind about it yet. I liked the color schemes of 8.5 where you could have the whole messenger window as one hue. I also am kind of ****ed about them taking off the Xbox tab which let me easily check to see who was on Xbox Live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titanium_NX Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I like it, I don't find it slow. 8.5 was more streamlined but 9 has a good feel too after patching of course. Only thing I dislike about it is the abilitiy to set my backgrounds that cover the full messenger window, 9 doesn't support that anymore :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mystic MVC Posted March 23, 2009 MVC Share Posted March 23, 2009 I like it, I don't find it slow. 8.5 was more streamlined but 9 has a good feel too after patching of course. Only thing I dislike about it is the abilitiy to set my backgrounds that cover the full messenger window, 9 doesn't support that anymore :( Whew, thought I was the only one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerAusgewanderte Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 It's bulky and ugly. I wish they streamlined and made it look minimalist instead of making it feel so cluttered. make use of the A-Patch143b2_WLM9 (as mentioned by others here) and you can make it mean and lean, yeah even minimalistic if you want but still have all the functionality of the newest version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean B. Veteran Posted March 23, 2009 Veteran Share Posted March 23, 2009 MSN 2009 is the worst version I've ever seen in the history and it may look a bit fancy for teenagers but definitely not for any adults or professionals who prefer a neat and convenient interface. I'm not sure how cleaner you could get: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xiphi Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I'm not sure how cleaner you could get: Here's an even cleaner contact list: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Gil Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I strongly recommend people stay with 8.5 old version if you like clean and well defined functions.MSN 2009 is the worst version I've ever seen in the history and it may look a bit fancy for teenagers but definitely not for any adults or professionals who prefer a neat and convenient interface. I call myself a professional and I like the interface. It's hidden most of the time in the tray, but when I open it it's simple and clean. It's really a matter of how you set it up to look. The new icon for each contact looks so weird and it also lost some really convenient features like "you cannot simple view each one's space by right click on the name and choose view space". Viewing spaces is convenient? Everyone has different priorities I guess. They also secretly added some add-on exe running background and demand for internet access, I forgot the exe name, but once you were seduced to upgrade, you will find out (if you got a firewall, it will report). Would it be better if they used another thread instead? Unless it uses a huge amount of resources I don't see the problem. I think Microsoft should hire skype developers as skype 4.0 upgrade is fantastic, very neat very prof very straight forward with improvements not only on UI but also on voice quality, speed and whatsoever.... If you prefer Skype then go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deletedxyz Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I detest how I can't make it minimalistic in the sense that I can reduce the font size of the names of the people I'm talking to. I do use a patch and the msgplus add on but there's no option to reduce the font size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Can't say I was impressed at all with this new Messenger... This is painful this new version.. It seems every new version Windows make the installation as irritating as they can with the amount of windows live crap they include -Do I want to install 5 pointless add-ons that will do little more than probably make (an already slow) internet explorer slower if I ever try to make use of it?? Do I want to make Windows Live my homepage? NO (AS I HAVE TO HAD TO TELL YOU HUNDREDS OF TIMES IN THE PAST WITH VARIOUS WINDOWS LIVE INSTALLATIONS!!! I realised I never ever visit any Windows Live sites anymore, and I used to operate (e-mail wise) by 2 separate hotmail accounts - now I only check them when I'm bored, thanks to GoogleMail, I just use Windows Live Mail - possibly the greatest accomplishment with Hotmail/Windows Live/Microsoft since their early days - though probably because it finally took away the need of having to use the bloated, slow and ugly e-mail website. Fact is, Google are much better - every little attempt by Windows Live seems to really irritates me now despite not really using their e-mail, I am usually logged in on Messenger but rarely use it now. This is because practically every step by Windows in terms of internet advancement, simply, sucks (reflecting my decrease in use of their products in recent years). Admittedly it's harsh to impose a policy where every invention or update is compared to Google's but with many new features in recent years, there's been regularlities with Google services and other services... Take the GoogleTalk windows application in comparison to Windows Live now. Windows Live is the most unaesthetically pleasing UI I think I've seen for years on such a mainstream program. 1. The themes are cheap and, as usual very childish, and there is no option to turn off the themes to use a solid colour or similar theme to the previous versions (which were possibly the best versions of the windows messenger we grew used to - they were fairly simple and operated easy; the only major irritation I found was the ridiculous security you had to go through in order to receive a file, especially an .mp3 - a separate complaint) 2. Was there any thought on the layout?? Let's throw a cheap page curler to change the theme (and then to find out the default theme is the best..), throw a mail box in the bottom left with no info on new # emails etc.. Cramp everything too at the top. Special praise to the colour schemes - I changed my WL User image because the red glow around it looked horrible (red glow as my status is busy), it still, well, just looks wrong. 3. Your contacts - I have never been one to use groups, always seemed ridiculous separating friends into groups (unless you use Messenger for some real professional purposes, I'm pretty sure most banks and businesses use e-mails/meetings for this type of thing rather than IMs and any professional nerds will know osmething better). Anyway as I said, I don't use the groups, I like to divide mine into offline and online (and further by status if possible). Yes it divides people in to offline and online simple enough, but these new icon squares look atrocious. If you have someone's image it makes your contact list take forever to get through and look horrendously untidy (I speak with only 91 contacts too, some I'm sure are dead e-mails now too - I know people with much more and they will probably use this feature thinking it looks good). Now when I look at my list I have an assortment of jelly beans it looks like, red, orange, green squares everywhere.. Surely if someone's status is away they're probably not ONLINE but they appear anywhere in my online group. 4. When I hover on someone's username, I want just their e-mail to come up so I know who it definitely is. If I want to message them, I will right click them, It works better than everytime I hover on someone getting 5 options to: Instant Message - Yes, but I can just double click on their name without having to move the mouse (or right click and, again, move the mouse less) Send e-mail - Similar reason to above Enter a phone number - Why do they keep up this phone business?? Do they actually have much success with it? I can't ever see myself using it, when GMail do a great webcam video chat feature for free, I have a mobile phone with a good contract, I use a computer to e-mail and type, not physically talk to. If you want to do that, you can even get Skype too, which I imagine would do better deals than any Windows Live calling. Add to your profile - What? Add a person to my profile? As a what, friend? Surely if they're on my contact list they're a friend/acquaintance, plus I already have a Facebook and a MySpace account to log-into when I'm bored and need a 'social' networking fix... Why am I required to provide a list for (anyone online?) to see of my friends? Seems like personal intrusion more than anything. View profile - Read previous point pretty much. This is obviously Windows Live's, 5 minute attempt at the social networking fad. Again, Windows Live have shown no changes in the company, no innovation. Everyone knows Microsoft want to catch-up with Google in the internet race, but why is it that just because they had success in the Computing 90s age, they have to be successful in the 200x internet race? What says the same won't happen to Google in several years and it will be the company's downfall/fall into the background with Microsoft? If anything, Microsoft's problem is their own fault now - they've harped on a similar attitude since the beggining, that was to open up their product, however, trying to mould the marketplace where you're in the strongest position with computers isn't a wise move. I write this as a Windows XP user and computer science student, I wouldn't use anything other than Windows in terms of OS now and with their success behind that side of things, don't see why they couldn't have success on the internet side. I think it would be great, the more people trying to advance something the better. Sadly, the business-side comes into play (funny how the business-side is probably the side being the biggest buffer in Microsoft's step-forwards with the internet) - Windows Live Messenger is another example, of what Windows have not (fortunately for them) had much competition with. USA had AIM, Europe and UK had MSN (now WL) so why change it? This is the Windows advancement, we'll progress things in terms of the Windows box, but don't think outside that. Like vista, we'll throw in a load of features, that should solve it. Google Chrome - multiple proccesses rather than the traditional explorer single-thread operation. It's not really that drastic a change, I mean Google are still developing this (so far exciting) browser that could finally beat Firefox (it had the speed to do it, just lacked the add-ons) so why can't Windows do this? Take note that stubborn attitudes can hold a company seriously back.Windows Live Messenger is another case of where there has been little competition (it is Europe's version of USA's AIM, or at least used to be) so advances have really sucked and there's little more than ensuring the killing of competition (like whenever you install Windows Live and have to several times tell it where to go with changing your homepage/installing loads of crap). This is another area though for heads up in, GoogleTalk seems to be one of the least touched parts of Gmail (I'm discussing the actual Windows application here), probably why it hasn't overtaken WL - it's incredibly simple and looks too simple and basic for many to be happy with. Sadly many 'average' PC users don't seem to realise how much they pay for 'nice looking software' (i.e. bloatware) these days. I wonder if Windows should be prepared though, because this is just another field that Google could take overnight. As I mentioned with the lack of competition though, Windows Live will still be at least semi-successful with this, so many will install this bloatware as a simple update (like me), and as a result we have another Windows computer that you wonder how long it will last till some bloatware eats the lasts of it up. I really wish there was some law to prevent minor questions like all of the Windows Live installation questions because I see no difference between this and spyware, just because this has the name Windows on it it gets through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleNeutrino Veteran Posted March 23, 2009 Veteran Share Posted March 23, 2009 from when i click on the icon in the task tray (next to the clock) to when the program opens is at least. 7 seconds. no other programs on my computer take that long to load. not even digsby. (and im not talking from the program not running to running just from going from task tray to open. Not really sure why it does that. My computer is rather powerful and i never really hat any issues with other programs. Also if it matters Windows XP Pro SP3 x86 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xiphi Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 from when i click on the icon in the task tray (next to the clock) to when the program opens is at least. 7 seconds. no other programs on my computer take that long to load. not even digsby. (and im not talking from the program not running to running just from going from task tray to open. Not really sure why it does that. My computer is rather powerful and i never really hat any issues with other programs. Also if it matters Windows XP Pro SP3 x86 On Windows 7, the contacts window comes up right away. Haven't noticed any lag, either, on my brothers pc which runs Vista SP1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonkwell Bogtrotter Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I'm not sure how cleaner you could get: Much cleaner (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanManIt Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 I really like the way you did this review. More people need to integrate pictures into their reviews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sibot Posted March 29, 2009 Author Share Posted March 29, 2009 (edited) Thank you everyone for your comments. I really like the new WLM, it's got many great features, that keep popping up every now and then. There's an awesome Live Picture Sharing as I'd like to call it integrated into the messenger. I'll update the main post accordingly. As for the messenger being tacky, I really don't agree on that, I've got around atleast 150 contacts on my messenger and I don't talk to them all of them all that much, the layout is MUCH more simplified by the new pre-created Favorites section, I can keep a tab on my main contacts. It's much cleaner that way. As for the extra live add-ons as pointed out by Thom, the items are pre-selected, agreed, but they can be unchecked and NOT downloaded. You don't need those applications in order to run WLM! How hard is it to uncheck a few options? Its not like MS is shoving those applications down your throat. There is absolutely no lag at all, the messenger is taking only 31MB, that's about it. I'm updating the main post! Cheers, Sibot EDIT Main Post Edited Windows Live Photo SharingMicrosoft has introduced a very convenient way for sharing photos with your friends over WLM, I'd like to call it Windows Live Photo Sharing. Its more or less based on Yahoo's Photo Sharing feature. It offers a panel integrated into the chat window with the photos displayed and an easy navigation tool to cruise through the photos. On the right hand side you will see a categorized thumbnails of photos that have been shared. Either one of the parties can upload photos to the Windows Live Photo Sharing tool and they can be saved. All this has been done with a very clean and organized layout, with no extra controls, just the basic to give it a cleaner smoother look. Recommendations for enhancing your Windows Live Messenger experience 1. Messenger Plus: ->Link<- 2. A-Patch: ->Link<- Allows you to tweak WLM 2009 by giving you options to remove ads, disable nudge delay, nudge shake and quite some other things! Edited March 29, 2009 by sibot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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