Third Office for Mac 2011 Beta Reveals New Icons, Splash Screens, more

[.Neo]

why not just use trillian or meebo for messaging, they work great

Trillian for Mac hasn't even hit beta stage yet and is far from feature complete. To get all features you need to pay up. Meebo is hardly a real replacement.

[Xtreme $niper]

Does Adium support offline messaging and A/V for MSN/Windows Live contacts? Messenger 8 will introduce A/V support.

Adium supports offline messaging. It doesn't support A/V but I think I remember a client called aMSN did for a while. Not sure if it still works (protocol changes).

I think it's rather embarrassing how slowly the Mac BU has been developing Messenger for the Mac. Ever since I've owned a Mac (2006), I've been hearing the same crap from them. "A/V support is coming soon". Yeah, 4 years and counting. Still waiiitttinnngg.

Besides, Adium is small, fast, and very customizable. I have my entire contact list displayed on the side of my screen in a small (and transparent) form-factor. Messenger is bulky and takes up a lot of space with its un-customizable interface. Typical Microsoft.

[saxondale.]

how stable is this build of msn?

[rawr_boy81]

how stable is this build of msn?

I've seen forum posts that things are pretty stable but given they're still in beta I'd say that there might be some more changes in store :) Its been a while since I've been this excited about an Office release :D

[Chasethebase Veteran]

Messenger for Mac looks pretty good now, compared to previous versions I've seen this looks decent.

[revanmj]

Messenger for Mac looks pretty good now, compared to previous versions I've seen this looks decent.

Yeah, but even Messenger for iPhone has more functions.

[PyX]

Ohhh, MSN?s icon looks good. I hope the rest of the app will receive a major facelift, but at Beta 4, I think not.

[.Neo]

Well they still need to fix the IM window, so who knows.

Messenger for Mac looks pretty good now, compared to previous versions I've seen this looks decent.

How exactly? Beyond few changed icons and home screen background Messenger 8's interface is virtually identical to Messenger 7 and 6.

[rajputwarrior]

Well they still need to fix the IM window, so who knows.

How exactly? Beyond few changed icons and home screen background Messenger 8's interface is virtually identical to Messenger 7 and 6.

yeah it is, and video chat is hella CPU intensive...

[.Neo]

I noticed that. Honestly it's hilarious how poorly this application is written. But then again, when looking at Windows Live Messenger on Windows it doesn't exactly make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside either. :/ Not sure what Microsoft's game is here.

[Xtreme $niper]

I noticed that. Honestly it's hilarious how poorly this application is written. But then again, when looking at Windows Live Messenger on Windows it doesn't exactly make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside either. :/ Not sure what Microsoft's game is here.

They must be getting paid by the Adium devs (or even Trillian) to suck at developing a decent app. They're really trying hard to not impress the masses but still look like they're doing something.

[Quillz]

They must be getting paid by the Adium devs (or even Trillian) to suck at developing a decent app. They're really trying hard to not impress the masses but still look like they're doing something.

Adium is open source... Why would they spend money they aren't earning on Microsoft, as a bribe to have them develop a poor app?

Why not wait until the final release of Office 2010 before criticizing Messenger? I don't personally think it will be much better, but to say a beta application is poorly written or put together is to be expected somewhat.

[.Neo]

Adium is open source... Why would they spend money they aren't earning on Microsoft, as a bribe to have them develop a poor app?

I'm going out on a limb here here saying that his post wasn't intended to be taken too seriously.

Why not wait until the final release of Office 2010 before criticizing Messenger? I don't personally think it will be much better, but to say a beta application is poorly written or put together is to be expected somewhat.

Okay, then I'll say Messenger for Mac 7 is poorly written and seriously lacking in features. Considering Messenger 8 isn't a rewrite and directly based of off Messenger 7 my original point still stands. Messenger 8 being a beta or not.

[Xtreme $niper]

Yeahh my post was just a joke.. Not a great one, but a joke nonetheless. Obviously beta software cannot be really judged too harshly, but I agree with .Neo in that if it's not a re-write of Messenger 7 then there really isn't much hope for a vastly better program.

[SmugMac]

Very nice product. I'll use it!

[rajputwarrior]

so i threw the beta of office 2011 on my hackintosh dell mini. lags like crazy. the program doesn't keep up with what i am typing. tried iwork 09, runs beautifully. i really hope the final is optimized better.

[Osiris]

oh I want candy :(

[rawr_boy81]

Office 2011 Beta 4 was released almost two weeks ago:

http://www.techeye.net/software/we-take-office-2011-beta-4-for-mac-for-a-spin

Includes some neat new screen shots. It would be interesting to see what the eventual product looks like when shipped - hopefully the short comings of Messenger will be addressed.

[.Neo]

Office 2011 Beta 4 was released almost two weeks ago:

Beta 4 was released well over a month ago...

Beta 4 has been released.

[Quillz]

Just got a notice on Beta 4 that it expires in a week. I assume that means there will be a Beta 5 or a RC release before then.

[rajputwarrior]

yeah there has to be something leaking soon

[rawr_boy81]

Beta 4 was released well over a month ago...

Grrrr I hate when websites post news and claim that they've 'just received it' grrrr

Someone should firebomb the TechEye server for posting out of date crap.

[rawr_boy81]

Grrrr I hate when websites post news and claim that they've 'just received it' grrrr

Someone should firebomb the TechEye server for posting out of date crap.

It appears that Messenger 8.0 Beta 5 has been finally cleaned up and looking more like a Mac OS X application :)

[revanmj]

It appears that Messenger 8.0 Beta 5 has been finally cleaned up and looking more like a Mac OS X application :)

Well I don't see any differences from Beta 4 on these pictures ...

[rawr_boy81]

Well I don't see any differences from Beta 4 on these pictures ...

In Beta 4 the messenger had a border around it and now it is borderless. I'm installing Beta 5 right now to see what the changes are hands on - if people would like me to screenshot the different parts and give an over view give me feed back - I don't want to spend my time doing an 'article' if it is going to be ignored.