MSN Messenger 7 for mac just got released

And what a disappointment.

Here I was downloading MSN Messenger and noticed that version 7 just got released. I was excited to see the size of the download more than doubled the previous version (Messenger 6.0.3 was 9.5mb, version 7 is 21.3mb).

So I thought they added the much needed audio/video support for iSight. They did add it for corporate accounts but not personal. And for corporate, your company has to have Office Communications Server 2007 and Messenger for Mac 7 installed within the corporate network, for the audio/video chat to work.

So what does the new version bring to most of us Live Messenger users? Nothing. It just takes longer now to download.

 

besides the file size and the slightly cooler dock icon, nothing noticeable is changed!

 

I'm glad it hasn't changed. It means I continue to live in the happy world of Adium, san video naturally. Who needs microsofts messenger when other programs do it better anyways. Roll on Trillian Astra.

 

What's the point of adium or any other 3rd party messenger client, if none of them offers integrated webcam / audio support?

 

By typing on a forum that doesn't use audio or video to leave comments you have kinda answered our own question. Not everyone needs audio or video. In fact sometimes I prefer to just type. Its less ignorant to respond to a friends comment 10 minutes after they made it if you type it. If I sat there ignoring them for 10 mins on a webcam I think I know where they would tell me to stick my response.

 

Honestly how hard is it for microsoft to include offline messaging, and receiving messages that were sent when you were offline.

Whenever i login in in windows(once a month), i get a ton of messages that i missed because they didnt put it in.

And also you cant message people who are appearing to be offline(unless they message you first and keep your window open)

I really wish they put those features in...such a pain without them

 

Microsoft's taking forever...in the meantime I'm on Adium and Skype for video.

 

If you want to blame anyone for the lack of A/V support in Mac Messenger, the blame should actually go to Live Messenger. Both corporate Messenger and Mac Messenger have transitioned to the new A/V stack, which is why A/V is supported in corporate environments, and we are currently waiting on Live Messenger to finish it's transition. We have no one to talk to because we are ahead of the game.

(Although technically, once Live Messenger moves to the new A/V stack, Mac Messenger will need to be modified to the idiosyncrasies of the Live Messenger implementation. Sadly, even though we are first, the minority will bow to the majority.)

 

So I installed Mac Messenger 7... it's not too bad. Yeah, there aren't any noticeable difference other than the dock icon... at least not for what I use it for. Sure I'd love to have audio/video support... but I'll be patient. The big thing for me was offline messaging.. and it still doesn't have that
I also noticed that the sound is a little buggy... the notification sound doesn't always work... but maybe that'll be fixed once I restart. We'll see.

 

I really can not figure out why it is so hard to put audio/video in it. If that is so hard, then learn something from skype. I use skype to do video and audio chatting and if in Microsoft's logic, then we have to wait for 3-5 years to have the audio/video for MSN for messenger. Also I really hate that microsoft send emails to my hotmail account about "What is new with hotmail".

I think that the top reason that they did not release the support for audio/video/offline is because that they want to make money first.

Besides, everybody please see the video about M$ CEO on youtube http://youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc

 

If MSN:Mac had tabbed convos, I'd switch to it. But it doesn't, so I'm sticking with Adium.

 

I usually talk on IRC, so I'm used to a text only format. Adium suits me perfectly for everything else.

If a friend wants me to see their webcam, I fire up iChat. If they don't have AIM, I tell them that their webcam can be unviewed (Not that I really care about webcams).

They have their place, and people that enjoy them... but I'm not one of them.

 

I don't see what interest Microsoft would have in releasing a fully featured MSN Messenger for Mac, their OS competitor?

 

At the end of the day MSFT would rather you and me use MSN Messenger on a mac than the alternatives for mac. Market share is, and always was, very important to MSFT. It never was about making an inferior mac version of messenger so that people will switch to windows.

 

I just wish file transfers worked better over adium.