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The new messenger called Windows Live Messenger is currently still in its beta stages and only available via an invitation from someone already using it. I was lucky enough to get my hands on this and all I can say is wow.
First off the biggest change I noticed was a new feature that allows one to change the colour of WLM to match ones desktop. This really excited me as I do not like the default orange.
Second change I noticed was that WLM requires less bandwidth than MSN Messenger 7.5 does. (Trust me if you have dial up, then this is a great help) I was really surprised by this as one would expect (by looking back at past advances of Messenger) that it would require more bandwidth.
Another welcomed feature is the ability to send a message while appearing offline. I really love this feature, really handy if you only want to communicate with one person and not worry about being disturbed by anyone else.
You can also now have a timestamp on each and every message sent. Do not ask me what the implications of this could be. If you want this feature activated go to Tools à Options à Messages à Show time stamps
A new search function is built into WLM, really handy if you have hundreds of contacts and just cannot find that person you looking for.Talking about having a lot of contacts WLM now supports 600 contacts. Good luck trying to fill that up.
Now your friends can send you a message while you are offline (yes really offline not appear offline or anything) and the next time you sign in you will receive that message. I find that really useful.
You can now call from your PC to a phone with WLM. Apparently the audio quality is excellent when doing this. The catch with this is that one needs to subscribe to a service and one needs fast net access.
Ever looked at your contacts list and wished you could change your contacts name. Well WLM now supports that, now at least we don’t have to distinguish between 100 people with the same name.
As with everything WLM does have its cons. Windows Live Messenger can be slow at times especially when scrolling through ones contacts list. Also while one is chatting to ones contact; if you change the background to one of the dynamic backgrounds but do not have flash player installed, it goes completely blank. Close the window and open it up again that solves that.
Another bug exists with the rename your contact feature; you can only rename your contact once, as it will not let you rename them again.
In general WLM is great so why not give it a try?
(Please note screenshots were edited as to protect the privacy of online contacts)
