Incommunicado? (Microsoft MSN Messenger Service)

Member Name: litefoot

Product:	Microsoft MSN Messenger Service
Date:	16/04/03 (1275 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Chat to friends anywhere in the world, Email notification

Disadvantages: Too many software updates, Possible spam

Microsoft Messenger first appeared in the late 90s. It's an extremely useful piece of software that I couldn't do without these days, as it enables me to keep in touch with many people I knew at university who are now scattered across the UK (and even beyond).

MSN Messenger is a free communication program for use over the Internet that allows you to talk to people in real time (i.e. now, and not a delayed response through email for example).

To be able to run the program you need an email address. In the early days of the program, it had to be Hotmail but now most email addresses can be used (as far as I am aware). To register, go to the MSN website at

http://messenger.msn.co.uk/

The website won't ask you for any details, personal or financial. You will be prompted to download, and then install, the program. After you've completed this process, you should be logged in automatically.

When logging on to the internet you are automatically logged into MSN Messenger (optional -you can change this in the options menu). A tall narrow window appears to the right of your screen. It will have two lists of names (called contacts). The first list is of those people who are logged on to MSN Messenger and who you can talk to (noted with a little green man). The second list below it is a list of those people who are not on MSN Messenger at the current time (a little red man). It is also possible to have your contact sorted into coworkers, family and friends.

If you are using MSN Messenger for the first time, your contact lists will be empty. You can easily add people to your list just be entering the email address that they are registered with (Go to 'Tools' and 'Add a Contact').

In order to speak to someone else, you double click their name and a talk window appears. A window then appears in the other person's menu bar and a small pop up window at the bottom right corner with the f
irst line you speak.

Aside from simple text you can also use 'emoticons' - symbols such as happy and sad faces, hearts, a rose, a wilted rose (!), a present, a star, a musical note... 43 in total.

It is possible to speak to more than one user at a time. Simply go to the Action menu at the top of your speech window and click 'Invite someone to this conversation'. It provides you with a list of other people online who you can bring into the conversation (invite is somewhat misleading as the other person won't have a choice in the matter!) Until recently it seemed to be a maximum of five people per window - however, I had six last week so perhaps it has changed?

At the bottom of the main window, an advert usually appears. Fortunately this is not distracting in any way - it isn't a separate pop-up window and you can just ignore it.

When the email account you are registered with receives any new email, a small pop up window appears at the bottom right corner of your screen for eight seconds or so to inform you of this, and who sent it. This can be useful if the account you register with is your main email account. In my case however, the account I am registered with usually just gets jam packed with spam. Which means most email notifcations are pointless for me (I'm too lazy to transfer the 40 or so people on my contact list over on to a new spamless account). Even so, it's not much of a new nuisance because the notifications disappear relatively quickly, without you having to do anything to get rid of them.

The number of unread email msgs you have is always displayed at the top of the main window.

As I mentioned above, the main advantage with having this program is being able to keep in contact with friends and relatives who I don't see in real life. I'm not a great fan of casual emails and prefer to do my talking in the here and now.

Previously I had a similar univ
ersity account but as many people have now left that establishment, their accounts have been deleted and my account will also probably be up for deletion very soon. No such problem with MSN. I can talk to friends, whether they be in Lancaster, Liverpool, London, Madrid or the US, with no apparent time delay either.

When online you can set your own 'status' that will be displayed to other users who have you on their contact lists. Statuses are 'Be Right Back', 'Out to Lunch', 'Busy', 'Away', 'On the Phone' or simply 'Online'. This feature is useful if you don't log off your machine when away from the computer. If you wish to be online without being displayed as such to others, you can select this status as well. However, your status will automatically be set to 'Away' if there is no computer activity after a specific length of time (your choice).

Another option allows you to send files such as images or Microsoft Word documents relatively quickly. Simply select 'Send a File or Photo' in the Action menu of the window of the person you wish to send it to, and then the appropiate file you wish to send. Much less hassle than creating attachments on an email.

It is possible to have an audio conversation over MSN Messenger but I have yet to try this.


Disadvantages:


1) The frequency of software updates

This happens too often - once every couple of months or even more. When you log on, a window appears prompting you to download an updated version of the software. This is annoying if you want to speak to someone urgently, or want to download something (particularly irritating if you're on a 56k modem). More often than not, when you run the new version, you are left baffled as to what difference there is in the program compared to the old version!

2) Spam

Recently, there has been a disturbing tendency to receive some
spam in the form of SPEECH WINDOWS, from people who are not on your list. This has happened to me three times in the past month (although this may be due to getting loads of spam in my inbox anyway).

3) Unreliability

On many previous occasions the software has logged me out for no reason at all. Also I have been unable to log in and received a 'too busy' notification. This has not happened for a good while now, so perhaps the MSN staff are finally getting the hang of things.

You can use Messenger on most Windows systems, and also the Mac, the Pocket PC and Microsoft TV.

For help details go to

http://messenger.msn.co.uk/support/helphome.as p?client=1

There is other Messenger software available online (e.g. Yahoo, AOL Messenger) but I have not tried these so can't compare them. However most people I know seem quite happy with MSN Messenger.

Overall then, MSN Messenger is a very worthwhile piece of software despite a few niggles. I wouldn't consider using anything else!

Summary: