• Open the Messenger status website at http://status.messenger.msn.com/Status.aspx . If you see a green check there, that means that the Messenger service is running, and you can continue with the next step. If the service is not running properly, check back later, until it is running. Continue with the next step then.
• Delete the Windows Live Messenger proxy settings.
  • Start Messenger.
  • Open the menu next to your display name, and click Options.
  • In the left column, choose Connection.
  • At Connection settings, click the button Advanced settings.
  • Delete the SOCKS entries.
  • Click OK, then again OK.
  • After you have deleted the proxy settings, retry to sign in to Messenger. If it still doesn’t work, continue with the next step.

• If you are using Windows Vista, disable the auto-tuning feature.
  • Click Start, All Programs, Accessories.
  • Right-click the entry Command Prompt, and choose Run as administrator.
  • When Windows prompts for your consent, click Continue.
  • Now enter the following line in the command prompt, and press Enter:
    netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
  • Note: using this command, you are disabling the Windows auto-tuning feature.
  • Now retry to sign in to Messenger.
  • If it still doesn’t work, re-enable the auto-tuning feature by repeating the preceding steps, yet typing this line instead:
    netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal
• If you are using Windows Vista and a router (e.g. made by Linksys, Netgear, D-Link) to connect to the Internet, visit your manufacturer’s website to check for updates to your router’s firmware.

If these steps do not resolve your problem with Windows Live Messenger error code 81000306, please refer to http://support.live.com/ to get further support.

Source: http://messengermaximal.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!40F43EC9BA81D814!5276.entry

Today Microsoft unvealed its new format for the MSN.com homepage in a public preview.
What are the most interesting changes?

• First of all, the new MSN is lighter.  All this stuffed, bloated site is gone.
• A new, simplified MSN butterfly logo has been introduced, trademarked on October 12.

• Easy pastel colors highlight the topic areas of the site.
• A prominent Bing search bar has been embedded on top.
• There is a local version of the site with information around your city/region (see photo below).
• You have a number indicator how many unread mail you got in your Hotmail, right on the top.
• Widgets for Hotmail, Windows Live, Facebook and Twitter give you fast access to your social networks, with a single mouse click.  Of course, Facebook and Twitter are accessed with their respective authentication flows (Facebook Connect and Twitter OAuth).

In my opinion, MSN is now a worthy homepage, with info you want and access to stuff you need.  What do you think?

MSN.com has been a prominent “portico” to Microsoft’s renowned services to the end-user, while Live.com initially redirected to Windows Live Services’ “showroom” (http://ideas.live.com/). Then, when Windows Live Search took off, Live.com became the devoted home of Live Search, which was eventually cancelled due to decline in popularity and usage. As a result of Live.com being solely committed to Windows Live Search, Microsoft prepared a new location for its showroom, available at http://home.live.com/.

As part of Microsoft’s competition with Google, Microsoft made way for a personalisation page, much like iGoogle. However, due to the deprived advertising campaign and the little demand for a “replica” of Google, Live Search eventually declined. Yet, Microsoft did not give up on its Search service, thus, started all over by rebranding Live Search to Bing and working harder on advertising campaign and development of unique features. Therefore, to further publicise Bing, Microsoft decided to redirect Live.com to Bing’s website (www.bing.com). However, later announced that Live.com will be put to good use, perhaps something better than redirecting to another website, yet unfortunately, it is unclear what “good use” will it be put to.

• Will it offer the Windows Live services that Home.Live.com currently offers on its page?
• Or will it offer a new personalized space for Windows Live users?
• What will we see at www.live.com in the future?

Improved network hooking mechanism. For some people, this will improve how Messenger Plus! catches various network events (used for notifications, the event viewer, …). For other people, this will solve a rare problem where Messenger crashes upon sign-in (Messenger Plus! will try to detect the faulty behaviour caused by buggy network software and will switch to an alternate hooking method automatically when Messenger is restarted).

Messenger tends to slow down when improper compatibility settings are set for msnmsgr.exe. The setup of Messenger Plus! now resets the compatibility settings set for Messenger in Windows Vista and above.

Fixed: the “Enhance copy/paste” feature in chat windows inserts an Arabic B character instead of an asterisk at the beginning of new messages.

Download the update now for free: Messenger Plus! 5.0.1.706

We immediately requested that the credentials be removed and launched an investigation to determine the impact to customers. As part of that investigation, we determined that this was not a breach of internal Microsoft data and initiated our standard process of working to help customers regain control of their accounts.

On October 1, data sets of customers whose e-mail addresses start with A or B had been published on pastebin.com, a service storing any kind of text snippets. According to Microsoft, the data are like to have been stolen with a widespread phishing attack. In the meantime, the Windows Live team has locked access to all compromised accounts, whose domains ended in hotmail.com, msn.com and live.com.

Make your Windows Live Hotmail account safe

If your account has been locked by Microsoft to prevent abuse, follow these simple steps to unlock it:

1. Open the site https://support.live.com/eform.aspx?productKey=wlidvalidation&ct=eformcs&scrx=1.
2. Fill in the form as accurately as possible, then submit it.

What to think about

• Make sure to renew your Hotmail password every 90 days. I will write a step-by-step guide about this shortly.
• You cannot find out whether a contact of yours has blocked you in Windows Live Messenger. Sites and services claiming to be able to tell you this are fake and were only created to steal your Windows Live password.
• Enter your Windows Live password only on websites when the URL starts with “https://login.live.com/” and is marked by a valid security certificate.
• Install and keep your anti-virus software up-to-date, e.g. by using Microsoft Security Essentials.
• If you use the same password for other services, too (not recommended anyways!), change it there.

http://settings.messenger.live.com/applications/WebSettings.aspx

Windows Live Messenger Web Settings

Ad ogni modo, significherà pure che la finestra di chat messa nel tuo sito web non funzionerà più.

Fonte: http://messengermaximal.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!40F43EC9BA81D814!7562.entry

http://settings.messenger.live.com/applications/WebSettings.aspx

Windows Live Messenger Web Settings

However, that means that the chat window on your website won’t work anymore.

Source: http://messengermaximal.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!40F43EC9BA81D814!7562.entry

Ci siamo impegnati di procurare un’esperienza sicura, affidabile e positiva per tutti i nostri 300 milioni di utenti sparsi per il globo che utilizzano Windows Live Messenger ogni mese. Per portare a termine l’impegno, iniziato il 25 Agosto, abbiamo cominciato a chiedere ai nostri utenti di passare dalle versioni 8.1,8.5 e 14.0 di aggiornare all’ultima versione di Messenger.

Questo è ciò che ha annunciato il team di Windows Live Messenger in relazione al ritiro graduale delle vecchie versioni di Messenger nelle prossime settimane. Ecco una roadmap:

• 25 Agosto, 2009: Agli utenti di Messenger 8.1 e 8.5 verrà chiesto di aggiornare il loro client.
• Metà Settembre 2009: Agli utenti di Messenger 8.1 e 8.5 verrà richiesto di aggiornare la loro versione.
• Inizio Ottobre 2009: Agli utenti di Messenger 2009 (esclusa la build 8089) verrà chiesto di aggiornare.
• Fine Ottobre 2009: Agli utenti di Messenger 2009 (esclusa la build 8089) verrà chiesto di aggiornare obbligatoriamente.

Entro fine Ottobre 2009, con le seguenti versioni di Messenger non sarà più possibile connettersi:

• Windows Live Messenger 8.1.0178
• Windows Live Messenger 8.5.1302 (2008)
• Windows Live Messenger 9.0.1107
• Windows Live Messenger 14.0.5027 (2009 Beta)
• Windows Live Messenger 14.0.8050 (2009)
• Windows Live Messenger 14.0.8064 (2009 QFE1)

Nota: ci vorranno diverse settimane per completare il processo di aggiornamento, anche l’aggiornamento verrà lanciato agli utenti dopo diverse settimane.

L’aggiornamento è comunque possibile già da ora. Basta visitare http://download.live.com/ e scaricare l’ultima versione di Messenger.

Tutti i clienti di Windows Live Messenger con le versioni 8.1, 8.5 o 14.0 riceveranno una notifica di aggiornamento. A partire dal 25 Agosto, verrà consigliato di aggiornare il client a tutti gli utenti di Messenger 8.1 o 8.5. Gli utenti che hanno installato Windows Live Messenger (14.0) prima del 19 Agosto, 2009 comincieranno a ricevere la notifica da Settembre 2009. Gli utenti con versioni vecchie di MSN Messenger su Windows 2000, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95, Windows Me o Windows 98 non riceveranno la notifica di aggiornamento.

Vi terremo aggiornati inviandovi una richiesta di aggiornamento quando la data si avvicina. Maggiori informazioni a riguardo sono disponibili sul blog Messenger says.

Fonte: http://messengersays.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!5B410F7FD930829E!82557.entry

Disable compatibility mode for Visual themes

1. Click Start, (My) Computer.
2. Browse to the folder C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Messenger.
3. Right-click the file msnmsgr.exe, and choose Properties.
4. Switch to the Compatibility tab.
5. Uncheck the checkbox at “Disable visual themes”.
6. Click OK.
7. Retry to sign in to Messenger.

Disable Internet Explorer Offline mode

1. Open Internet Explorer (even if Firefox or a different browser is your default browser).
2. Click File, and uncheck the option “Offline mode”.
3. Close Internet Explorer.
4. Retry to sign in to Messenger.

(i) These tips did not resolve your issue? Consider contacting the Windows Live Support.

Source: http://messengermaximal.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!40F43EC9BA81D814!7381.entry

Agradecimentos a Adam Smith por compartilhar conosco essa screenshot.

Thanks to Adam Smith for sharing this screenshot.

Clique nas imagens para baixar os scripts!

5) WLM Safe: o primeiro script antivírus, antispam, antiflood, antiroubo and anti-phishing para o Windows Live Messenger!

O Windows Live Messenger é atualmente a melhor plataforma de comunicação. E os spammers sabem bem disso. Vários sites tentam pegar os dados de sua conta para spamar, vírus miram o Windows Live Messenger e usam suas facilidades de transferência de arquivos para compartilhar mais vírus, e amigos usam outros add-ons como o StuffPlug e o Messenger Discovery para imitar seu apelido, fonte, e imagem de exibição. WLM Safe é o primeiro script no mundo a prevenir esses ataques.

WLM Safe é o primeiro script antivírus para o Windows Live Messenger. Proteja seu Messenger contra vírus, pishing, spam, flood, congelamento, cópia, bots and hackers.

Portanto, um merecido 5º lugar.

4) Screenshot Sender: envie screenshots para seus amigos com extrema facilidade!

Screenshot Sender já está disponível há um bom tempo, mas ainda é bastante popular. É um script que te habilita a enviar screenshots para seus amigos sem nenhuma complicação. Assim como em 2006, esse é o melhor script disponível para enviar screenshots.

Permite o envio fácil e rápido de screenshots para seus contatos.

Por causa de sua utilidade e fácil interface gráfica, o colocamos no 4º lugar.

3) GMail Checker: novo email? Saiba na hora!

Mesmo quando usando o Windows Live Messenger e Windows Live Hotmail, as pessoas tendem a ter outras contas de email. Há apenas um problema: para checar seus emails, você abre o navegador, entra no site do email, checa por emails, e se não tiver nenhuma novidade, repete tudo em 15 minutos. Chega disso! GMail Checker é um script que faz exatamente o que o nome diz: verifica por novas mensagens do GMail, e te informa quando chegam novas mensagens. Útil mas muito fácil de se usar, perfeito para usuários do GMail, mesmo aqueles com múltiplas contas no serviço de emails do Google ou em uma rede GPRS: você pode adicionar múltiplas contas e definir intervalos, definitivamente merece o terceiro lugar.

Gmail Checker permite que você se conecte ao servidor do GMail periodicamente para procurar novos emails. Quando encontrar algum, ele lhe alertará com o nome da conta e a quantidade de emails.

2) WLMStatus: mostre o seu status no Windows Live Messenger por toda a web

Este é um script da casa: WLMStatus é um script que te permite publicar seu status livremente. Você seleciona um estilo (mais de 70 estilos disponíveis), escolhe uma fonte e decide o que mostrar. O script então providenciará códigos tanto para fóruns (BB-code) quando sites (HTML). Fácil de usar e um deve-ter para webmasters e frquentadores de fóruns ao redor do mundo. Disponível em Alemão, Espanhol, Farsi, Finlandês, Francês, Grego, Holandês, Inglês, Italiano, Norueguês, Polonês, Português, e Turco. Além disso, é compatível com o Chinês e outras línguas de caracteres não-regulares.

Você alguma vez já se perguntou como você pode fácil e rapidamente mostrar seu status no MSN/Windows Live Messenger, ou sua imagem de exibição, ou até mesmo a música que você está ouvindo no momento, em qualquer lugar? Deixe todos os seus amigos participarem de sua vida – e ele poderão ver seu status sem precisarem entrar no Messenger antes.

Fácil de usar, útil, e com uma excelente interface, compatível com a esmagadora maioria dos sites: este é um deve-ter.

1) Twitter2PSM: o melhor script para mostrar seu atual estado no Twitter na sua mensagem pessoal

Twitter2PSM, também criado por mynetx Creations,é um excelente script para integrar o serviço de micro-blogs Twitter na sua mensagem pessoal do Windows Live Messenger. Usando o Twitter2PSM, você pode escolher quais tweets vão na sua mensagem pessoal (por ter uma marca [#marca] específica), o quão freqüente ele deve checar por atualizações, se você quer o horário e cliente usado na sua mensagem pessoal, se você prefere um tempo estático (13:21, Sábado, xx de agosto de 2009) ou tempo relativo (há 5 minutos). É fácil de configurar, tem um sistema de atualizações automáticas embutido é é outro deve-ter para pessoas usando o Twitter!

Twitter2PSM é um script de Twitter para o Windows Live Messenger, atualizando sua mensagem pessoal a partir de seus últimos tweets.

Um merecido primeiro lugar!

Se você conhece algum outro script fenomenal, sinta-se meu convidado e poste-o como um comentário nesse post, estou ansioso por suas opiniões!

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.