MSN 7.5 Advanced Online Communication Service (Microsoft MSN Messenger Service)

Member Name: topsyturvy

Product:	Microsoft MSN Messenger Service
Date:	19/05/06 (3102 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: saves phone bills, many features, fun to use

Disadvantages: words can be misinterpreted

Like me probably most of you love talking to friends and family but the only annoyance with it is the price of a phone bill. I have a sister who is at university and some family in other countries so to phone them is going to cost a lot especially if there’s a lot to catch up on. I do not like internet chat rooms but talking to people I know on an online messenger service I can deal with.

The only downside to it is if you don’t type quick it can be a slow process as typing doesn’t fit in as much as using your voice does, there are however ways around this. Also I have had many arguments over people misinterpreting the tone I have typed things in but apart from this it is a good thing.

To download MSN Messenger is quite an easy process you go to http://www.msn.co.uk and at the top of the page is a blue tab titled Messenger. Once you click this just click the Get It Free tab and it’s easily downloaded. If you have broadband this should take literally minutes but on a 56K modem you could be waiting hours. Once downloaded to sign in is easy if you have an msn.com or hotmail email address of some kind. You do not have to go through any registration process, you simply sign in just as you do with your e-mail account and you can start talking.

Once you sign in on the bottom right hand corner of your screen the Messenger icon will start going from green to white. Once you are signed in it is one figure that stays green it tells you how many e-mails you have and the MSN today square comes up with latest news and shows you your inbox. I usually have no problems with signing in only on one or two occasions have I had to try 4 or so times or have just not been able to sign in at all.

So adding contacts, yet again easily done you get the friends e-mail address. You click add a contact then you should enter the e-mail once you do so it will say contact successfully added. Their icon should appear on your list and this is done. It’s quite good on Messenger because you can arrange your contacts under sub-headings such as Friends, Family, Co-workers, and Other Contacts. This is quite helpful if you have a lot of people on your list so you can check who is online. If a contact is online their person will be a teal colour instead of red which means offline.

You can change your status on Messenger which most seem to offer these days. You have your online one which is most common. You then have Busy, Be Right Back, Away, On The Phone, Out To Lunch. I think these are ok but the out to lunch one I feel is quite stupid because I would just sign out if that were the case. You can also Appear Offline this is a good option if you want to say, see what e-mails are coming in but yet don’t want to talk to anyone at that particular moment. It means you can be signed in if someone you want to talk to comes online but others will see you as offline until you sign in.

So actually talking to people, this is done easy. If someone wants to talk to you they double click your name and then type something it will appear on my screen and then I click their name to open a chat window and vice versa for you talking to someone. As soon as someone responds to your conversation a message tone always sounds, this gets very irritating f you are on for a while and I tend to talk with the sound off. It flashes orange on your toolbar anyone if someone replies so you can see they have spoken.

On MSN, if someone doesn’t respond for a while or you want their attention there is a nudge key. You click this and the screen shudders and makes a sound to alert them, this can be used to annoy as well which really does annoy. Sending files is easy you just click send file and can send anything on your computer but I prefer sending photos and song files anything bigger takes too long. Personally for transferring songs you are better to use something like http://www.yousendit.com as it is a million times quicker. MSN is not really the best for transferring files. The same goes for photos just upload them to something like Photobucket if you want to show an image, it’s much quicker.

Not only does MSN have to be about typing. There is a key under the typing box which is of a pen line and you can click this and actually handwrite. If you have a graphics tablet this is probably easier as half of the things try to write with the mouse is illegible. Again like most messengers you can also change your font and change the colours to make it more yourself. I tend to be boring and stick with black as if someone does a bright colour it really hurts to read.

There is an option for talking through microphones as well. You click voice and can start having almost like a phone conversation. This is quite good I have tried this with a lot of people, it’s weird at first but if you do it a lot you get more comfortable with it. The only thing I hate is hearing my voice if it comes through the person you’re talking to’s microphone. Webcam talking is an option again but I don’t like the idea of anyone seeing me. You can view anyone on your lists webcam but only with permission from them. One thing I will say is be warned of strange people adding you to their list for viewing webcam’s. The other week I had some pervert add me who knew my name which was creepy then I saw a bit too much of him. I reported this to MSN.

This brings me to my next point. If you do have strange people adding you as this happens a lot to me and they say they haven’t added you. Just use my favourite thing the block tool. This means they no longer see you online and you can just delete them from your list. I would rather have a small list of people I talk to rather than a lengthy one of nobody’s.

When talking it can be a lot of fun. I use a lot of emoticons when talking. You can add your own to the list from other websites or make your own photos emoticons. I also think their emoticons are quite good, they have a wide range of expressions on them. They are yellow faces but they have stars, cats, dogs you name it. I like being able to add my own as well though.

When talking you have your chat window open and you can also create a background for this. You can have an image of a band you like or actor/actress a pretty scene. Anything you like and you can also share your background with people if you want them to have it. I like this option as it makes the chat window personal and really decorates it. I remember the basic MSN used to just be grey whereas now it’s far from being a basic dull window. Yahoo and AOL for example are still plain to me.

There is an option now called winks as well. They give you about 8 free then you can buy more. These are moveable things that come up there is one that bows and basically it appear as big on your screen, a yellow face bows and there is an applause sound. There are also other strange ones like a guy smashing his guitar which I’m guessing is if you’re angry. They are quite a nice touch anyway even if some are quite unusual.

While talking on MSN you can have your own image. Like having your own chat name which makes each person on your list individual and identifiable now there is an image. Basically on the main Messenger window it has all contacts and beside their name if you choose to have an image it will have a mini square with the photo. Also when they sign in it says so and so has signed in and you see their image. I usually have all types of photos as my icon it means on the chat window you have the image on the right hand corner which is always there when you talk to someone and they have an image as well. I like changing them and feel it s quite a good idea.

Every so often there are e-mail alerts while on MSN so you can see what e-mails are coming in. If you want to read it you click the blue square before it goes and this will automatically take you into the message.

I find usually my computer runs at an ok speed when using MSN. Only sometimes does it slow it down but if this occurs I sign off. On the computer you can have as many users as you want use the same program. I just keep mine on remember me because I use it most. Other people in my house can use MSN if they want all they do is click the forget me option so that each time it asks for an e-mail and password.

One last feature I like on MSN is Remote Access. You go to Actions and Request Remote Assistance. What this does is asks the user if they want to accept it. For example if my contact asks me for remote assistance I accept and it gives me permission to look into their computer. This isn’t used to be nosey though. I use it if someone is having a problem and I am trying to see what is wrong so I can fix it. It gives me full control over their PC until they cancel. This has helped me and others many times.

Last but not least, I promise I’m getting there is the games feature. You invite whoever you’re talking to, to play games. There is Tic Tac Toe, Checkers I think and card games. These can be quite fun another game I forgot to mention is Minesweep. I like laying these but if whoever you’re playing keeps losing then it can cause arguments.

I love MSN for the reasons that it is advanced above all Messengers. When it doesn’t work and I have to use say AOL I feel there are so many missing features. I like how MSN is not just a Messenger for talking but also, voice, webcam for playing games, sending stuff. It really is a good way to communicate and if you don’t have it you should try it.

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