Chat, play, share (Microsoft MSN Messenger Service)

Member Name: kingseany

Product:	Microsoft MSN Messenger Service
Date:	29/10/04 (291 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free, Works well, Free

Disadvantages: None

I've used various chat programs in the past, but only one has stuck with me through thick and thin, and that's MSN Messenger. Basically it lets you communicate with other users who also use the same program.

Best of all, it's completely free, just go to http://messenger.msn.com/ and download it. The current version is 6.2, which has gone a long way since the first release.

So what can you do with it? Quite a lot.

Chat with your friends via the keyboard
Chat via a microphone
Chat via webcam
Play games with your friends
Share files

Chatting via the keyboard, you can communicate with your friends - not just one, but lots at the same time. Your friends can be in different conversations, or you can invite (or be invited) to join group discussion. The more people in a conversation, the more confusing, and less reliable the service becomes - 5 is about the maximum.

The chat via microphone is really good, and I use it as an alternative to the telephone, when talking to friends in the UK. So wherever your friend is in the world, the voice conversation costs you nothing (apart from your normal internet charge). Occasionally there may be problems connecting, or a few lost words, and sudden disconnection, but on the whole I find this reliable and stable. You can only chat with one person at a time using the microphone, but still carry on keyboard chatting with others. Three way voice conversation would be a great leap forward, so we'll have to wait and see on that one.

The webcam chat demands more of the connection, and so can be less reliable - although it is possible to get good communication at times. The size of the picture can be changed. The quality depends on your webcam, but it's not too bad - for free. You can add audio to your web cam chat, and of course use the keyboard at the same time too.

Playing games is a fairly recent development, so if you are bored, and your friend is too - you can play draughts and the like. You can be holding a voice, web-cam or keyboard chat at the same time.

It can be fun whilst chatting to share photos and so on, so MSN Messenger provides a couple of options to send and receive files. Files can be queud up, and multiple transfers can be performed at the same time. This can be happening whilst you are chatting away.

The usual facilities such as adding, blocking and deleting contacts, changing your name, using smiley faces and so on are all available. You can change your status to a variety of things, such as "At Lunch" or "Busy", or you can not show yourself to others - but still see them.

If all these features are not enough, try adding a free plugin, called MessengerPlus (http://www.msgplus.net/) - software produced by a third party to give you even more enjoyment!

Overall, MSN Messenger is a handy thing to have. If email isn't fast enough for you, then install this.

Summary: