MSN Messenger - the best in online communication! (Microsoft MSN Messenger Service)

Member Name: sarahjane87

Product:	Microsoft MSN Messenger Service
Date:	12/09/08 (42 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, well-designed and a great way to stay in contact.

Disadvantages: None!

I've just tried to figure out the number of years I've been using MSN Messenger (or Windows Live Messenger, as it's now officially known) - I believe I was first introduced to it when I started secondary school, so when I was around 12. That means I've been using the service for nearly ten years now, and it is to me the ultimate in instant messaging services. I've tried Yahoo, AOL and ICQ, and none of them meet the bar in my opinion set by MSN. In the UK it definitely seems to be the most popular of messengers, and this does have a lot to do with its popularity in my mind - if you ask someone in the UK whether they have an instant messager, the answer will probably be MSN - at least, it has been in my experience.

The software is relatively quick and easy to download, and provided that you have a decent internet conncetion, very very rarely has any service or connection problems. You need a Microsoft Passport account to sign in - most commonly in the form of an @hotmail.com e-mail address, although you can create a Microsoft account without these - personally, my main messenger account is on an @ntlworld.com e-mail address, and it works fine!

Once signed in, you can then add contacts by their e-mail address, and they can be displayed in your contact list in a variety of ways - you can group them by their online/offline status, you can group them in user-created groups (school, work, family etc) or you can have them in a combination of the two. Double-clicking on a contact starts a conversation with them and you do quite literally type and send. Further to this you can change your display name to whatever you choose, and have a personal message below this. You can customise the display of your programme, and with add-ins such as Messenger Plus, you can change text on a more sophisticated level. get pop-ups telling you when you've received e-mails and show what you're listening too on a media programme to name but a few.

In terms of talking to friends, you can type, speak, send files and pictures and share links. It has essentailly everything you need for online communication with friends, and is by far the easiest and best laid out messenger on the market, in my opinion.

Summary: Online communication at its best.

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