This week I finally had the chance to set up my Mac. One of the first applications I installed was Messenger for Mac 8.0.1. Yet I discovered that Messenger for Mac has its own icon set – and old emoticons. All icons except for the buddy icon represent the Wave 3 style still. Have a look yourself:

Why would Messenger for Mac not be up-to-date concerning its emoticons?

Arthur de Haan, Windows Live Test and Service Engineering, summarizes the changes:

• Mail: We fixed a sorting issue in the Sent items folder and improved the upload reliability and instrumentation in Photo mail.
• Messenger: We fixed a couple of stability issues and made various changes for improved voice and video quality. We fixed an issue that was causing sound to be lost after upgrading, and we improved performance when displaying the MSN Today page in the main window.
• Photo Gallery: We implemented various bug fixes for crashes related to launching Photo Gallery through Autoplay and facial recognition.
• And more: We made many other usability, performance, and stability improvements across the suite of Windows Live Essentials apps.

Download Windows Live Essentials 2011 15.4.3538.0513.

The update fixes a problem that causes Messenger to crash on exit. Furthermore, the compatibility with Apple’s next operating system, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion has been enhanced.

The update is available for free download at Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads?pid=Mactopia_Messenger&fid=B1C84F39-517C-4E9B-AF81-9318992710B7#viewer .

For example, you might choose to sign in to Messenger appearing offline. It would be a bad idea to let Facebook reveal that you are online nevertheless. This is how you can sign out of Facebook Chat from Messenger 2011:

1. Open your Messenger main window.
2. Click your display name. A menu appears.
3. Uncheck the Facebook Chat menu item—Done!

I am using Messenger 2011 with multiple endpoints signed in (MPOP). When I sign out on one endpoint or close a chat window there, it gets closed on all other endpoints as well. Is there a switch (registry or so?) to disable this behavior?

Here’s the explanation and answer. I thought I’d share it with you because it is interesting:

From Messenger 2011, you can choose to sign out from only the current location, or all other endpoints. Chat windows on the other hand are closed across all online endpoints. There is no switch to disable this behavior. But there is an option in the “History” category to “show my last conversation in new conversation windows”. This should let you resume a conversation from a new endpoint if it was closed from another.

To prevent Messenger from starting automatically at boot time, follow these steps:

1. Open the Messenger sign-in window.
2. Click the Options link.
3. On the left side, switch to the Sign in section.
4. Make sure to uncheck the Start Messenger when I log on to my computer.
5. Click OK to save your settings.

Today, we are going to take a look at the first half of 2010, that is, from January to June.

• January 2010
  • Details and first photos about Messenger Wave 4 emerge.
  • You can now connect SkyDrive to Windows Explorer — using CloudStorageExplorer.
  • Hotmail Wave 4 will add Conversation view for messages.
• February 2010
  • The cloud system Windows Azure launches officially.
  • The social network Facebook launches its new home page layout.
  • Windows Live ID has an outage, causing that customers cannot sign in anywhere.
  • The Windows Live Messenger extension Messenger Plus! becomes silent at Yuna Software, its new owner, but eventually the silence is broken and we can move on to new pastures.
  • The Chinese website cnbeta.com discovers the design of Windows Live Writer 2011.
• March 2010
  • Google acquires the online image editor startup company Picnik.
  • The IT trade fair CeBIT 2010 takes place in Hanover, Germany.
  • The release roadmap for Windows Live Wave 4 surfaces.

• April 2010
  • Live.com changes to be Windows Live Home.
  • Office 2010 reaches RTM status, its development is finished.
  • Chris Jones talks about the future of Windows Live.
• May 2010
  • The search engine Google overhauls its interface.
  • Angus Logan showcases the Windows Live Messenger App for Apples iPhone smartphone.
  • mynetx.net takes an in-depth look at the new features in Hotmail Wave 4.
  • Messenger 2011 retires the existing “View webcam” feature and instead relies on Video calls, which are easier to maintain. Users’ reactions are overly negative and loud.
  • The complete feature list of Windows Live 2011 is published. Remarkable new features include Messenger’s Facebook Chat module as well as Photo Fuse and facial recognition in Photo Gallery.
  • On May 31, Windows Live Events is closing.
• June 2010
  • Office 2010 and Office Web Apps are released to the public. Office Web Apps allow to edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations right in your web browser.
  • The Windows Live Wave 4 public beta launches in 7 languages.

What was your personal highlight in the first half of 2010? I am curious to know!

My guest for today is Harrison Hoffman. As Evangelism Product Manager at Microsoft, he likes Windows Live a lot. Why not take a seat and listen to his thoughts?

Klaus: Harrison, it is a pleasure for me to have you here talking with me about you and your relation to Windows Live!

Harrison: Hi Klaus, I’m excited to have the opportunity!

Klaus: Let’s start right away with the first question.
Which sentence would describe you best?

Harrison: In terms of my job at Microsoft, I would say that I am focused on helping people discover all of the amazing things that you can do with Windows Live, as well as trying to make sure that our products reflect what people want. Outside of my job, I would say that I am a recent college grad, living in Seattle, who loves music, traveling, and Chicago sports.

Klaus: You were one of the co-founders of LiveSide.net, a news site talking about Windows Live. What motivated you to engage in this, back in January 2006?

Harrison: Prior to January, 2006, I was involved with beta testing for a variety of Microsoft products, which included various MSN products. I got to know a few other beta testers pretty well, so when we saw Microsoft starting to roll out this rebranding and new set of products called Windows Live, we saw a great opportunity to get out in front of it and provide information on it. So, in January, myself, Chris Overd, and Matthew Weyer started LiveSide, with Kip Kniskern (the current Managing Editor) joining just a few days after we launched.

Klaus: Would you have imagined Windows Live to become one of the main Microsoft products for Windows? Why so?

Harrison: I definitely knew that Microsoft had something special on their hands with Windows Live and that’s why I decided to do LiveSide at that time. From the outside, it was really obvious that there was a lot of momentum building internally around the new set of products, so I had a lot of faith in it. Even back then, when we were seeing some of the concepts for what we now call PC + Cloud services, you could tell that there was a lot of potential there.

Klaus: When you first got the chance to use Windows Live Messenger, what did you think?

Harrison: The first time that I used Messenger was back when it was still called MSN Messenger (version 6 I think). Since it wasn’t really popular in the U.S. then, my initial impression was, “Why don’t more of my friends use this? This product is clearly better than what AIM is bringing to the table.” My impression was that it was a really solid product, with a very useful feature set.

Klaus: Now, after moving your viewpoint from outside to inside MS, how did this affect your relation to Windows Live? Does it make you feel differently?

Harrison: It’s obviously different being on the inside than the outside, when looking at Windows Live, but I can’t say that my opinions have changed greatly. I still stand by what I have always thought about the set of products. When you use all of the Windows Live products together, they provide a value that is greater than what any other company offers. This is truly a case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Klaus: Most folks are starting to accommodate with Windows Live 2011 (Wave 4). What do you like most in it?

Harrison: I think that we have a really strong set of products across the board, but if I had to pick one thing, it would probably be Facial Recognition/People Tags in Photo Gallery, combined with the Upload to Facebook feature. The fact that you can take your photos off of your camera after a party, have Photo Gallery import and organize them, as well as recognize your friends for batch tagging, and then upload them to Facebook with the tags is amazing. I think that it is a hugely powerful scenario and one that I personally find very useful. This process is so simple, especially in contrast to the painful experience of tagging photos one by one, person by person on Facebook’s site.

Klaus: Over the past 2 years, focus has drifted away from Instant Messaging, towards Social Networking. How might this trend continue? Will Messenger eventually become super fluent?

Harrison: I wouldn’t really say that we have drifted away from Instant Messaging because we still think that IM is hugely important and that a lot of people love chatting with their friends, but we have definitely placed an additional focus on social content in Messenger 2011. It’s really about completing the idea of staying in touch with the people that you care about and today, sites like Facebook are a big part of that. I’m not sure that I see Messenger becoming superfluous in the near future, but I think that it is safe to say that it will continue to evolve, as every product does.

Klaus: What is your biggest wish for Windows Live Wave 5—and will it come true?

Harrison: As far as the future goes, I am a big fan of the web, especially the social aspects of it. It’s a very fast moving space with a lot of exciting possibilities, so I would like to see Windows Live continue to work with more web services to build in deep integration, like we’ve done with Active Views in Hotmail or Facebook in Photo Gallery/Movie Maker and Messenger. That’s the kind of stuff that really shines for me. As for whether that will come true, I guess we’re going to have to wait and see!

Klaus: We’re looking forward to it! I appreciate you took the time to talk with me about what you think about Windows Live. =)

Harrison: Thanks for having me Klaus!

If you’re interested in checking out what Harrison is doing with Windows Live, you can follow him on Twitter: @harrisonhoffman.

1. Open any conversation window.
2. Maximize the window.
3. Messenger 2009:
   At the bottom, click the icon.
   - or -
   Messenger 2011:
4. At the right end of the toolbar, click the More commands button.
5. Now choose the entry.
6. Select your favorite font on the left.
7. Choose a great color that you like on the left bottom.
8. Click OK.
9. Start writing chat messages in your new shiny font!

Does that work for you?

You wonder why no emoticons are showing up in chats with your friends? Here’s a solution.

1. Open Messenger, and sign in with your Windows Live ID.
2. In Messenger’s main window, click your profile name, then More options. (In Messenger 2009, click your display name, then Options…)
3. Switch to the Messages tab.
4. Check that both “Show emoticons” and “Show custom emoticons” checkboxes are checked.
5. Click OK.
6. Now open a chat window with one of your friends, and send an emoticon.
7. Does it show up? I bet! =))

You got another question regarding Messenger or Windows Live?
Feel free to post it on the Facebook wall of Buddy-Scouts!

Starting from Windows Live Messenger 2011, your friends will always see your real name when talking with you. In order to unify the experience, the development team says, the display name feature has been removed from Messenger.

The name shown to your friends now originates from your Windows Live Profile. Thus, this is the place to look at when you want to change your display name in Messenger.

1. Open http://profile.live.com/details/Edit/Name.
2. Sign in with your Windows Live ID and the corresponding password.
3. Enter the name you want to show into the boxes for First name and Last name.
4. Click Save.

Sign out and back in — and you will have changed your name displayed in Messenger.
Did this work well for you?

Did you know that you can switch languages in Windows Live without having to reinstall the Essentials suite? In this tip, let’s take a look how this works:

1. Exit any running programs of Windows Live Essentials (e.g., Messenger, Mail, etc).
2. Click Start, Computer. (Windows XP: Start, My Computer.)
3. Open Local Disk (C:), Program Files, Windows Live, Installer.
4. Double click the LangSelector.exe file.
5. In the appearing window, choose your favorite language.
6. Now click OK to confirm your change. If the language pack is not yet installed, it gets downloaded automatically.
7. As soon as the progress dialog has closed, you’re ready to use Windows Live Essentials in the changed language!

You may change languages as often as you want to, without rebooting your computer. To follow the steps above, you need to have Windows Live Essentials 2011 (15.4) installed. This version is available for free download at Windows Live Essentials 2011 15.4.3538.0513 and runs on Windows 7 and Vista.

Did this work for you?

Stay tuned for weekly tips about Windows Live!

Since Windows Live Messenger 2011 (code name “Wave 4”) was released last Thursday, I received some questions as to when Messenger Plus! will be updated to work with the new Messenger version. Here are some details.

Messenger Plus! 4.9 will be released around the next week-end (Sunday 10 October 2010, plus-minus two days). Note that this minor update will provide only basic support, similar to the support with Plus! 4.85 for the last Messenger Wave 4 beta. It is still the next major version, Messenger Plus! 5, that is targeted at full support for Messenger 2011.

By the way, removing advertisements in Messenger 2011 is also possible:
Ahmed has updated his patching software A-Patch for Messenger 2011 1.43.10.

Ye Gu, Group Program Manager, Windows Live mobile services, explains:

On June 21st, we released the Windows Live Messenger app for iPhone. Since then, the Messenger app has reached #1 in the iTunes app marketplace at some point in time in over 50 countries, and we’ve had nearly 7 million downloads worldwide. Thank you for the great support you’ve given us!

For example, you can now resort your contact list, like sorting it by online/offline contacts, by Favorites or by status. More new features include:

• Support for iOS 4
• Facebook Chat integration
• Friends List Filters
• Blocking/unblocking contacts
• Faster sign-in
• 31 languages supported

Still missing: feature-complete iPad support. It is unknown when this will get added.

Long awaited, now available: The Windows Live team has released the latest version of its application suite Windows Live Essentials, code-named Wave 4. Essentials extend your Windows computer with photo, video and blog editing and enable you to communicate with your friends.

Essentials 2011 was designed to make full use of the new interface features introduced in Windows 7. For example, task bar jumplists are now supported. All Essentials applications have been updated with the Ribbon interface. And finally, Messenger is getting tabbed conversations.

Chris Jones, Vice president, Windows Live engineering, declares:

I want to offer a special thank you to the millions of people who installed the beta! Our beta users helped us identify and address issues, with over two thousand forum posts and comments. In today’s release, we’ve addressed 95% of all bugs reported by beta users, leading to improvements that you’ll see across the suite.

Windows Live Essentials 2011 includes the following programs:

• Windows Live Photo Gallery
• Windows Live Movie Maker
• Windows Live Mail
• Windows Live Messenger
• Windows Live Family Safety
• Windows Live Mesh
• Windows Live Writer
• Messenger Companion Internet Explorer add-on
• Bing bar

For installing Essentials 2011, your computer should run Windows Vista SP1 or higher.

Free download: Windows Live Essentials 2011 15.4.3538.0513 (48 languages)