Use the new emoticons today

You don’t want to wait until Windows Live 2010 (Wave 4) is released?  There is a way how you can use the new emoticons right now.  Here is how it works:

1. Download the Messenger 2010 Emoticon Pack:
   Windows Live Essentials 2011 Emoticons 2011 / 15.3
2. Extract the file contents to a folder of your choice.
3. Sign in to Messenger, and open any conversation window.
4. Click the   button, and choose Show all.
5. Click the Create button, then click Find image…
6. Select the first emoticon from your disk and click Open.
7. Enter a shortcut, and press OK.
8. Repeat the last 3 steps for each emoticon you want to add.
9. Done — now you can use the new Messenger 2010 emoticons in your chats as custom emoticons.

Download: Windows Live Essentials 2011 Emoticons 2011 / 15.3

Therewhile, LiveSino.net has published a new screenshot of the Windows Live Mail Wave 4 main window, having the Ribbon incorporated along with more changes.

From the general look-and-feel, Windows Live Mail resembles Outlook 2010 much:

• The ribbon looks similar to the one in Outlook.
• The Calendar pane is on the right side, auto-linked to Windows Live Calendar.
• A new Conversation view is added, making possible to display and treat connected e-mails in a unity.

What do you think about Windows Live Mail Wave 4, from what we see until now?

Windows 7 Taskbar

Windows 7 enhances your task bar with new features, like multiple taskbar thumbnails for the same application, as well as toolbar interfaces.  They allow applications to offer small in-thumbnail toolbars with the most-used functionality.  Messenger Wave 4 will make use of these toolbars: You can change your status directly from the taskbar.  Messenger 2009’s Windows 7 bug, showing 2 buttons for the Messenger main window, has been fixed.

Chat window

Looking at the conversation window, we don’t see much changes at first sight.  However, many small changes have been made, most notably the addition of tabs.  So, instead of having 4 chat windows for 4 conversations, you now have 1 window with 4 tabs.  Tabs look and feel much like Internet Explorer 8 tabs.

More subtle changes include changed toolbars.  For example, the Emoticons and Winks buttons are merged into one toolbar item:

PhotoShare has been enhanced too:  You can now share photos from Windows Live Photos as well as from Bing Images, on top of adding photos from your local hard drive.

Of course, these screenshots should not be considered final, as they show an excerpt of the Messenger Team’s current work that is subject to change until Windows Live Messenger 2010 gets released.

What do you think?

Main window

First of all, we notice that the window is now wider and separated into two columns.  The left column contains social news and activity streams, including the What’s New Feed, while the right-hand section includes your Windows Live Messenger contact list and an advertisement area.  This window split can be reverted using the button on the top right edge.

Several details are interesting:

Personal message

The personal message claim has changed from “Share a quick message” to “Share something new.”  This implies that the text you enter is not only set to be your personal message, but also sent to social websites and used as your status text there.

Social streams

There are several streams shown, including the What’s New Feed.  It is split into a “highlights” section and a timeline, “recent.”  The menu design of these streams resembles Microsoft Zune-style.

More networks addable

Looking at the bottom right corner, we see: “Connected to: Windows Live | Add.”  Whether you can add more IM networks there or whether you can use it to connect to social networks like Facebook or Twitter, remains to be seen.

Contact list revamped

We still see the same square status indicators and the same wavy default scene, but there are overall less icons and more text indicators.  Take a quick look at the menu bar above the contacts—we see the category filters and an Add menu.

Bigger advertisement area

Instead of the flat ad area in Messenger 2009, we have a huge ad there in the format 300×250 pixels.  I wonder whether that generates more revenue, or what the decision was about.

Chat window

Image courtesy LiveSino.net, Early design draft

Tabbed chats

We waited for it for ages, now we get it: Chat windows are tabbed.  No more 7 independent windows to handle with, but one with 7 tabs.  Other chat clients had this function for long, and for years it was Messenger Plus! Live that added tabs to Messenger.  In fact, the tabs design reminds me of Internet Explorer.

Summary

Several expected elements are missing in these previews.  For example, Live Mesh is expected to integrate into Windows Live SkyDrive, and along with Office Web Apps, file and document sharing should be a visible part of Messenger as well.

Windows Live Messenger is going through the same metamorphosis that Internet Explorer has gone through.  With IE, this phase had started some years ago when the IE team got up and started development of Internet Explorer 7.  Suddenly all interesting features that other browsers had, became part of IE as well.  With Messenger it is the same:  It all started with Windows Live Wave 3, and Wave 4 continues this.  Strange, isn’t it?

• End of Life reached
• What people think
• Technical reasons
• Get Messenger 2009
• In case of problems

End of Life reached

Starting September 15, 2009, users are required to have the latest version of Messenger installed on their computer in order to sign in and continue using the Messenger service. To download the latest version of Messenger, go to the Windows Live Messenger website.

—help.live.com

Messenger 2008, introduced in late 2007, has many friends. Easy to use, clean glossy design. However, now has come the time to say good-bye to this version that was replaced by Messenger 2009 in January, as the Messenger servers will no longer accept clients using Messenger 8.1—Messenger 8.5 will follow shortly.

What people think about Messenger 2008

I have asked some people what they think of Messenger 2008. Here is what they said:

WLM 8.5 was user-friendly and efficient, while Messenger 2009 is more efficient and comes with a much sleeker design.

—Gregory Sampson, Messenger user

When Messenger 2008 came out, I was very enthusiastic, but then Messenger 2009 has topped this.

—Dennis Ziolkowski, Messenger user

It has now been a while since I used Messenger 8.5. I have completely switched to version 14, except for development purposes.

—Yousef El-Dardiry, BuddyFuse developer

Messenger 8.5 was the first sign of Microsoft maturing in how they designed the client itself. It was good while it lasted, but people really need to move on now…

—Will Ingles, interface and graphic designer

I miss the shared folders, otherwise I am very happy with 2009. I never had problems with it up to now.

—Max Messenger, Community evangelist

I always like the new Messenger versions when they are released, so I also liked Messenger 8.5 when it came out. With the current version in mind, though, I don’t like Messenger 2008 anymore…

—Frank Mänz, Product Manager Windows Live, Microsoft Germany

Messenger has been updated a lot, but it is not enough. Features such as contact card, what’s new, groups feature… need a complete update.

—Zhu Yan, Editor LiveSino.net

Technical reasons to upgrade Messenger

There is a security issue found in the Microsoft’s Active Template Library, which is only fixed in the latest version of Messenger.

Get Messenger 2009

You can get Messenger 2009 by downloading its installer from http://download.live.com/messenger.

In case of problems…

Several people have informed me about various error codes when trying to sign in to Messenger with the new version. Here are some troubleshooting tips if you cannot sign in properly:

• Reboot your computer and retry.
• Check for Windows Updates. For example, Messenger 2009 requires at least Windows XP Service Pack 2. To install the latest available updates, visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/, using Internet Explorer (even if you are using a different browser normally).
• In the error window, click on and take note of the displayed Error code. Then paste this error code into a web search engine (like Bing), type a space, the word “Messenger”, and submit your query.
• Visit http://people.live.com/ and try using the Web Messenger embedded there.
• I will make more information about solving Messenger sign-in problems available shortly—stay tuned!

Pra falar a verdade, me acostumei ao sistema Ribbon no Word, e de fato ela ajuda a aumentar a velocidade para encontrar a funcionalidade que esteja procurando, oferecendo todas as funcionalidades que eu precise e sem mostrar vários elementos gráficos de uma só vez. O Windows Live Writer, como parte do Windows Live Essentials, também oferece textos ricos e edição de documentos, por que não colocar a Ribbon ali também? Compare essas duas screenshots do Windows Live Movie Maker, e do Live Writer atual:

Obrigado a LiveSino pela screenshot do Movie Maker.

mynetx: Please tell me a bit about yourself. Is your life directly or indirectly involved with Windows Live?

Lance: I go by the name of Salem. I’m 22 right now, originally from South Africa (the country, not Southern Africa); however I am currently residing in the Cambridgeshire in the UK. My life doesn’t directly involve Windows Live actually—in fact, I consider myself rather new to the whole MSN/Windows Live community.

mynetx: New? Since when are you in the Live business? Tell me a bit about your history with it…

Lance: Okay, maybe not “New”; I just see myself as new to the whole community when I compare how long some people have been involved. I first started using MSN software in 2003 when I first moved to the UK from South Africa. As can be expected, the first MSN software application I used was MSN Messenger, that’s when I first became a regular user at least. I tried a couple of times before that back in South Africa to chat to my relatives in the UK, but due to terrible internet access (high cost and unreliable) I was only ever able to sign-in twice. (OK, maybe it wasn’t a South Africa-wide internet issue, maybe just our budget ISP. [laughes])

But yeah, I really got into it in 2003. Don’t ask me what version I used, I can’t remember if it was MSN Messenger 6.2 or 6.5, but somewhere around there. I applied to take part in MSN Messenger Beta testing (thinking I’d never get in) back in, I think, 2004. To my surprise, I got in…

mynetx: Do you think the Windows Live team cares for their users’ demands? Why?

Lance: I think people (Messenger users) can be very demanding. Well, Windows Live users can, too; but I’m saying Messenger users as it is by far the most used Windows Live product. Users can be very demanding: wanting things, and expecting to get a feature, just because they ask for it. Yet again, it can be kind of frustrating when specific suggestions/demands get made over and over and over again, and they are just dismissed by the developers.

I think it is easy for the casual users to demand things and not fully understanding the behind-the-scenes work that needs to be done to satisfy that demand.

mynetx: What might be the motivation behind dismissing user’s suggestions, especially when they are made really frequently (example: tabs)?

Lance: Haha, yes, tabs was one of the suggestions I was thinking about. I honestly don’t know, but I think the most likely reason would be, as I mentioned before, the scale of the work involved in getting it to work. However, considering that even a third-party developer (like Patchou) can get it working well enough in an add-on, surely Microsoft can get it working in their own software.

mynetx: Well, the Messenger Plus! creator, Patchou, is just one person and is able to implement it…

Lance: Yes, it is certainly possible. I think of the most frequent suggestions, tabs would be one of the easiest to reliably implement (compared to something like polygamy, the ability to sign-in to multiple accounts from one client).

mynetx: Use your fantasy: how do you think Messenger will look like within the next five years? What new features could it present?

Lance: Wow, really difficult question! I would like to see Silverlight/WPF used more. I mean it is Microsoft’s own technology, yet they are not using it.

mynetx: Like in the Twitter desktop client “blu”, you mean?

Lance: I have not heard of blu myself, will need to look it up!

mynetx:

Lance: I just mean, Messenger needs a total visual overhaul. I like the different look they introduced in the first beta of the renamed Messenger (from MSN to Windows Live), the orange one. I think many people complained at first about it because it was so “different” (people don’t like changes) so Microsoft reverted back to a GUI similar to previous versions.

View Full Album

mynetx: Wasn’t Wave 3 (2009) visually overhauled enough?

Lance: Apart from the new colors etc., there is not that much difference in Windows Live Messenger from MSN Messenger 6.x. Maybe I’m wanting to much but: think of the visual overhaul from Windows 9x to Windows XP, XP to Vista, and Vista to Windows 7—big changes, not these minor “tweaks” we are getting.

mynetx: I see… Apart from the user interface, what new features could Messenger present in five years?

Lance: Well… I don’t know what it could have, but I do know some things I’d like to see. Among the top items on my wish list are (in no particular order):

1. Official Polygamy Support — The ability to sign-in to multiple Messenger accounts from one Windows Live Messenger client, and have separate statuses/personal status messages/display names/display pictures for each account.
2. Tabs (although this can be done in add-ons like Messenger Plus! Live, so not that important to me).
3. Multi-party audio (or even better, video) chats.
4. The ability to export your whole WLM Contact List including the structure (groups, categories, favorites etc.). It’s a real pain when you try and migrate to a new account, as you can now only export and import the contacts, you then have to manually re-sort them in the new account.

mynetx: True, I have recently experienced the need for that, when I changed my Live ID.

Lance: It has taken me 2 years to migrate to a new account for this very reason. I just cant resort/rearrange them all; it’s a pain.

Oh, and “Bring back the MSN video carousel in the UK”, lol.

mynetx: I have always wondered that the “Video Carousel” was in 8.5? *-)

Lance: We had it in the UK when it was introduced in Windows Live Messenger, but it did not last long. It is gone now…

In fact I don’t even know if it made it past WLM 8’s beta.

mynetx: Any bugs that need fixing?

Lance: Yes, here is a “bug” I want fixed: Try adding a Yahoo! contact to your contact list (a localized one, not Yahoo.com) as a buddy. Messenger changes it to Yahoo.com even though you enter the localized one (in my case, Yahoo.co.uk). Thus, you cant add Yahoo! Messenger users who have a localized Yahoo address to your contact list. I have requested this a number of times, still not fixed.

Suggestion No. 2: Get rid of the bloody roll-over flash ads in the contact list! (That’s not a “feature” though.)

mynetx: Interoperability with other IM networks is a great field to improve, in my opinion. Yahoo looks like “hacked” into Messenger, instead of implemented correctly…

Lance: Yes, they need to add support for other Chat / instant messaging clients / protocols: Facebook Chat (as they have a stake in Facebook), definitely Jabber support please. Jabber is an open protocol, so an agreement should not be needed. I could then dump Google Talk for chatting to my MXit contacts.

mynetx: A propos Yahoo, what is your opinion on the final deal to use the Bing engine on Yahoo! websites, after all those never-ending ramblings about a cooperation, search deal, whatsoever?

Lance: Well, Microsoft needs to do something especially in search/online advertising, as Google is way ahead in market share.

mynetx: How does Bing relate?

Lance: I have tried Bing a few times. It is definitely much better than MSN Search/Windows Live Search/Live Search (whatever the last time was, lol). It also seems to be improving Microsoft’s market share. Though, I am wondering if this is because people like it, or if people are just “trying it out” as it is new—only time will tell.

mynetx: Mentioning the word “Butterfly”, what comes into your mind?

Lance: A colorful insect that flies!

mynetx: And adding “Windows Live…”?

Lance: Ahh, lol, I knew what you meant.

mynetx: What comes into your mind? What was so special about this group of exclusive people?

Lance: The Windows Live Butterfly program/group goes way back to the MSN days (hence the groups name being “Butterfly”). It was a group of beta testers who have “excelled” in Beta testing Windows Live products. Participants of the group were chosen by Microsoft and in some cases by those who were already butterflies from testers of Windows Live (and previously MSN) products/services. The group had a private discussion “area” on the Microsoft newsgroups. That’s just one of the benefits of being a member of the group. You can think of it as something similar to the MVP program, although only for MSN/Windows Live products, and lower down the hierarchy.

mynetx: Did you like being a butterfly?

Lance: I certainly did enjoy most of my time being a butterfly. It was a really good experience, not only testing, but also socializing and getting to know those with similar interests as yourself. As with any “cyber-community”, the group had its ups and downs but generally it was a good experience. It’s a shame to see the community go!

I think also what made the community so good was the way main person who managed it as he really helped things out.

mynetx: Let’s bring out a toast on Eric Chen!

Lance: Haha indeed.

mynetx: Please provide two positive and negative comments about any outstanding Windows Live product.

Lance: Hm… I choose Windows Live Mail.

Positives: Contact list/Address book synchronized with Live Messenger—that is my main reason for choosing it over other applications.

Negative: Slow (!), especially in IMAP mail downloading; furthermore it can only synchronize/use Contact list of one Windows Live ID even if you add a different Windows Live ID as account to Live Mail.

— Look how easy it was to think of negatives, and how hard it was to think of positives: it makes Live Mail not look good at all…

mynetx: OK, thanks for these.

Let’s talk a bit about your personal customs. Do you run Windows Live Messenger 24/7? Do you have some kind of a routine with Messenger and the other parts of Windows Live?

Lance: Yes, Windows Live Messenger is on 24/7—as long a PC is on it is running and signed in. Routine? Not really. I usually check if any people I chat to often are online (Messenger Plus! Live Desktop Contacts), see if I want to talk to them. I may then open Live Mail, but as it doesn’t auto-run on startup/login nor auto-run in system tray, I have to do this manually, so I often forget. However, as these are the Windows Live applications I use most, that is usually the order I would do things.

mynetx: Comparing your ideas we talked about before (like UI enhancements, tabs, multiple accounts per endpoint, more IM networks, etc), with Messenger’s current features, which of these might be added in the next release, Wave 4?

Lance: I think more IM network interoperability may be the most likely, especially as we heard rumblings about it for this version (although unconfirmed). Like I said also, Jabber could come as it is an open standard and wouldn’t need any agreements (as with other IMs like AIM).

I’d say UI change is next—but not likely. (Again, by UI change I mean a big change, not minor tweaks/changes.) Tabs would be next, and polygamy last, as I foresee this to be more work.

mynetx: Are you satisfied with the Windows Live services that are provided to you? Why?

Lance: Mostly yes. They just satisfy my communications needs, whether it be IM, social networking or e-mail. They are things I think that can be worked on (as mentioned earlier); but yes, overall I am satisfied.

mynetx: Will Windows Live be able to fill the position as overall Windows (and Office) add-on, especially when looking at Windows 7?

Lance: I think so, it is a good suite of applications for the average computer user. I think it would be better to be just integrated with Windows, but the European Union will not be happy.

mynetx: Windows Live and Office Live, along with cloud power in behind—is this the solution? Better than legacy software?

Lance: That depends on the market, in my opinion. In markets where a decent (that is, broadband) Internet connection is easily available/accessible, it is good; but otherwise it isn’t, no. I think people in Europe/the US forget about computer users in places without broadband Internet connections, not to mention those with no Internet at all.

mynetx: So, is the gap between industry lands (high-tech nations) and economically less strong areas increasing?

Lance: I don’t know whether it is increasing, but I don’t think it’s getting smaller. Take my home country for example, South Africa. Broadband Internet (ADSL) access has only become available to the general public (that is, not business) in the last 3-4 years. Here though (in the UK), it was already very common. Now, in South Africa citizens can get a broadband connection, but at a price: for example, they pay the ISP and phone line (as we do), but they also pay a charge for the phone line to be used for broadband/ADSL. So it costs at least three times as much there, plus they still have ridiculous caps/quotas making only basic net usage possible; whereas here, we are using it for much more. Just imagine cloud computing in places like that…

mynetx: To summarize: using cloud web applications is problematic for regions where no broadband web access is available.

Lance: Exactly! I’m all for it, but I wouldn’t want everything to go “to the cloud” soon as it will leave such nations behind.

mynetx: What is your favorite feature in Messenger?

Lance: Video chat is got to be.

mynetx: Why?

Lance: Being someone that lives in a different country than family and friends he grew up with, it’s good to be able to see and hear them.

mynetx: What was your first impression of Live Mesh? Could it be a new diverse method of file sharing among peers, or could it improve the current system at hand?

Lance: I loved it as soon as I tried it, and I am using it all the time now. It is what Windows Live Messenger Sharing Folders should have been. Well, apparently Mesh is intended to be more than just a file sharing service. I’m yet to see the others though, but it makes file sharing/synchronization available to the masses, for free.

mynetx: We can expect some Mesh love in Windows Live Wave 4, as it will play an important role in the upcoming “Windows Live Devices” service. How could it be connected tighter with the other services? What might we see?

Lance: No idea actually; though, I am excited and looking forward to see what they have planned.

mynetx: Me too. I will tell you as soon as I know more details…

Lance: It looks like Wave 4 will be a better release than Wave 3 (I honestly wasn’t happy with Wave 3 at all.)

mynetx: What was wrong or missing in Wave 3, the 2008-2009 release of Windows Live?

Lance: The beta ran extremely long to me—too long for what we saw as changes. Sure, Movie Maker joined Windows Live; but apart from that and minor visual changes, there wasn’t much. I don’t know, maybe I just expected too much.

mynetx: Do you wish Messenger would have a feature that a third-party IM software already has?

Lance: Well, I don’t use any other IM apps (apart from Google Talk, which is crap considering its features; the only reason I use it is for communicating with MXit people), so I don’t really know what other IM applications offer.

mynetx: Ahh, so you are a loyal Windows Live user?

Lance: (laughes) Not loyal; there is just no real need to use anything else. Most of my contacts are on WLM or Skype, but Skype doesn’t offer anything different that I want in Messenger.

mynetx: As Messenger user, I’m sure you’ve got a good tip that not everybody might know about yet—any tweak, counsel, suggestion, whatever comes into your mind.

Lance: One good tip is allowing two WLM instances to run at the same time. It is a registry setting that needs modifying; the only thing is it won’t auto sign-in to a second account (Live ID). [Read more about this tip soon.]

mynetx: How would you summarize your overall experience with Windows Live in a brief sentence?

Lance: Windows Live services help me keep in touch and share my views/stories.

mynetx: Lance, I found it very interesting to talk with you about all of this!

Lance: I enjoyed it too; thanks for thinking of me as some to interview and for taking the time to do so.

Thanks to thirteen23 labs, Alto Voltaje Design, Bram Vandeperre, Messenger Stuff, BuddyFuse and LiveSino for the images.

mynetx: Sorry to steal your night, I find it good that you have some minutes nevertheless.

Picturepan2: No problem, haha.

mynetx: So, try describing yourself and your connection to Windows Live, in one sentence.

Picturepan2: I am Picturepan2, self-proclaimed Microsoft fanboy, from LiveSino.net where I blog about Windows Live and other Microsoft stuff.

mynetx: Fan-boy you say. There aren’t many such people in China, true?

Picturepan2: Yes, true.

mynetx: And how come you became a Windows Liver? Since when are you in the business? Tell me a bit about your story.

Picturepan2: I was a normal Windows Live user (or tester) since November 2005, when Windows Live was first announced. In summer 2006, I accidentally found a fatal bug which I could use to get any Windows Live Spaces users’ Windows Live IDs without tools or permissions. After that I contacted Kip at LiveSide and kept watching Windows Live until now.

By the way, I am also the LiveSide representative for China and this is why I started blogging at LiveSino.

mynetx: Ah, quite interesting.

Picturepan2: I didnt even know what Windows Live was when I found that bug.

mynetx: You’re using Windows Live Messenger since you got to know it?

Picturepan2: I think the answer is Yes. The first Windows Live Messenger I used looked cute and much more different than what it looks today.

mynetx: What version was that?

Picturepan2: Windows Live Messenger 8.0 Beta 1 in 2005 Dec.; http://livesino.net/archives/321.live.

mynetx: Do you think Messenger has improved from back in version 8.0 until today, 14.0?

Picturepan2: Hmmm. You can hardly say it has improved a lot, but I have to say some parts have.

mynetx: Like?

Picturepan2: Such as What’s New integration, user interface…

mynetx: Hmm. And what do you like most in Windows Live at all? Apart from Messenger, that is.

Picturepan2: What’s New! Actually there are some others.

mynetx: So, pick one.

Picturepan2: Windows Live ID infrastructure enables user login and using all Microsoft offerings.

mynetx: The unified login makes sign-in at Microsoft, wherever you are, easy. Right?

Picturepan2: Yes.

mynetx: What is the thing you’d love most to be added to Messenger?

Picturepan2: A Plugin platform. As you know, Messenger Plus!’s plugin platform is awesome.

I wish Windows Live Messenger could learn something from Messenger Plus!…

mynetx: Do you think the Windows Live Team is going to add support for a plugin platform in Wave 4?

Picturepan2: I don’t think so. There is still no strong reason for them to do that. lol

mynetx: So, what about your usage of Windows Live. Is Messenger always open and signed in? Maybe you’ve got kind of a daily routine with Windows Live.

Picturepan2: Yes, almost always. But I don’t use Windows Live Messenger when i am REALLY busy.

mynetx: When you’re using Messenger intensively, maybe you have a tip that not everybody knows about?

Picturepan2: I always use PhotoShare feature to show screenshots, though it is not clear enough.

To start using it, just press Print Scrn button then Ctrl+V when back to conversation window.

mynetx: Are you working on any project at the moment which is related to Windows Live?

Picturepan2: no, I am currently only blog about Windows Live and other Microsoft offerings at LiveSino.

mynetx: Any plans for LiveSino’s future?

Picturepan2: Of course, LiveSino will cover more stuff from Microsoft and other companies related to Windows Live.

mynetx: And I will be watching LiveSino for interesting news on Windows Live. Thanks for your time.

Picturepan2: You’re welcome.

“We are currently aiming to achieve full integrative support for widely popular instant messaging networks. Therefore, we have started discussions with the back-end and front-end Developer Teams of AOL LLC, Skype Ltd and Google Inc. Furthermore, we have intensified our cooperation with Facebook Inc. for a similar purpose,” says Dharmesh Mehta, Windows Live Messenger Product Manager.

The integration of the chat networks powered by AOL, namely ICQ and AIM, has always been a big wish for Messenger users all around the world, and seems to be the continuing of what the Messenger team started when adding support for Yahoo, back in 2006. Skype integration offers interesting possibilities, such as video and voice calls right from Windows Live Call.

With Facebook, another social networking site enters the boat, and I think Microsoft is just happy about being able to continue their efforts to introduce social networking to Messenger; we have already seen the beginning of this in Wave 3 (Windows Live Profile, What’s New Feeds etc). Finally, connecting with Google opens another wide audience of Messenger users.

The current master plan for adding support for ICQ, AIM, Skype, Facebook and GTalk is Q4-2009, so it will probably make its way into Windows Live Wave 4, where ideas are currently gathered for and sorted.

“I can’t promise too much yet, but I think it’s just what Windows Live is missing currently,” states Dharmesh. “You’ll soon be able to add Facebook […] on Windows Live. This means that […], if you’re a Facebook user, you can choose to allow info and photos that you post on Facebook to show up in ‘What’s new’ for anyone in your network on Windows Live,” says Brian Hall, General Manager for Windows Live.

Adding support for all major instant messaging networks would make Windows Live Messenger the unquestionable no. 1, and it seems that Microsoft is finally realizing exactly this – if things are implemented the way they are announced.

Looking forward to hear your opinion on this!

• LiveSide.net: New IM networks for Windows Live?
• Messenger Stuff: New IM networks for Windows Live
• LiveSino.net: WL Messenger ?? AIM, ICQ, Skype, GTalk, Facebook ???
• Mess.be: Windows Live Messenger hot topic on April Fools Day 2009
• ActiveWin.com: New IM networks for Windows Live?
• Ditii.com: IM networks (ICQ, Skype, AIM, Facebook Chat and Google Talk) added to Windows Live
• WinAjuda: Novas redes a caminho do Windows Live Messenger
• TechBlips: New IM networks for Windows Live
• Windows Vista Magazine: New IM networks for Windows Live Messenger?
• SysAdmin.it: New IM networks for Windows Live?
• Vistaheads.com: New IM networks for Windows Live Messenger?
• Charged.co.za: New IM networks for Windows Live?
• Recursosvoip.com: New IM networks for Windows Live

If you’re interested in using Theme “Codename H” as well, just have a go – it’s free!

Update: Expect special day themes to come up now and then. The first one is the “Love” theme, available on Valentine’s Day, Feb 14.

Stay tuned…

Thanks to Picturepan2 from LiveSino.net for the hint!