Messenger Plus! creator Patchou (Cyril Paciullo) has announced that everything concerning the recent move over to Yuna Software has been settled.  Software development is back on track, the plannings for Messenger Plus! Live 5 are running, and Patchou is going to be the leader in Yuna’s new Montreal office.  He explains:

In the last 2 months, I’ve read many posts, many blog entries, many comments and many emails regarding Yuna Software.  As things were being restructured on Yuna Software’s side (the owner), concerns were not addressed and emails were not answered. Development of Messenger Plus! was not properly guided anymore and proper tests and translations were not performed. On behalf of the entire company, let me start by apologizing for these issues. These problems should never have happened.

After everything that was said recently about the company and the direction Messenger Plus! was taking, I had a long chat with some of the top level people in Yuna Software and they confirmed the following: I’m back in charge of things. For now, I’m focusing on the Montreal office, a newly improved relationship with Microsoft (that can only be good right?), and all the main aspects that should make Messenger Plus! 5 a killer add-on for instant messaging software by the end of the year.

After all, the efforts that the members of the Messenger Plus! community have invested were not in vain.  If things happen to come true in the way Cyril talked about, there is much more to come.

“Thanks to all the people who keep on contributing to the success of Messenger Plus!, I’m sure we’ll be able to achieve something that was well worth the wait,” Patchou concludes.

What do you think?

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.

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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: I find it great that you got some minutes to talk with me about Windows Live and You.
Tell me a bit about yourself. Is your life directly or indirectly involved with Windows Live?

Frans-Willem: I’m not as much involved with Windows Live as I used to, mainly because studying and everything around that (yes, drinking and having fun) takes up a lot of time, but Windows Live Messenger is still my primary means of day-to-day communication with friends.

mynetx: How were you involved with Windows Live? What is your history, that is, how did you come to Windows Live Messenger?

Frans-Willem: Well, I don’t quite remember how I got in touch with Windows Live (or at that time MSN) Messenger. I do remember what got me started on developing though. Back in the time of Messenger 5 or 6, Patchou suddenly launched a plug-in architecture for Messenger Plus!. I’d always been interested in writing programs, but I’d never gotten round to serious development with C, mainly because command line was so incredibly boring compared to the forms that you could get with Visual Basic. But then suddenly I *could* make fun things with C. I started out with some simple code to convert text for you, e.g. leet speak, but as I kept finding out more things, I kept adding more and more stuff to my plug-in. That’s mainly how StuffPlug got it’s name: It was a plug-in without a clear goal or feature set, it was just a plug-in with all the stuff I’d written: StuffPlug.

At some point though I got better at C, and that got me into Assembler, and I started adjusting small things in Messenger to make it better fit my wishes. It started out with bigger display pictures, and then time-zone adjustable clocks as I talked with lots of people overseas, and I just “fixed” any annoyance I had with Messenger.

Nowadays however I think WLM 9 is pretty close to perfect. I don’t see an immediate need to adjust stuff, and I’m not even using Plus! anymore as the built-in logging is pretty good.

Anything else you wanted to know on that subject ? I feel I’m just rambling on now.

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

Frans-Willem: Hmmm, good question. I’m not sure. They used to be very open to the community, I remember Leah was very passionate about the blog, but these days I feel the messengersays blog is mostly just marketing. Also I’m not sure I or you still fall in their desired user-group, all they seem to be focusing on is 10 year olds obsessed with nudges, winks, sounds, and emoticons.

Although I must say that somewhere along the line some pretty nifty features snuck in, like built-in polygamy or the word wheel, that makes me feel that there are at least a few developers or Program Managers at Microsoft concerned with the actual usability

mynetx: Yahoo—Microsoft. What did you think last summer?

Frans-Willem: Well, to be honest, I was hoping that it had marked the start for more interoperability between IM networks, but I feel a bit let down. I don’t actually know anyone that uses Yahoo as their primary IM client, but when I tried it I felt like they only did the bare minimum to get people to talk to each other. I’m still waiting for interoperability between WLM and Google Talk, but I’m afraid that’s never going to happen…

mynetx: – what about Windows Live & Facebook?

Frans-Willem: Well, it’s handy that my PSM gets synched up with Facebook, but that’s about it, I guess

mynetx: Within the next five years, where could you picture Windows Live?

Frans-Willem: Hmmm, I’m not sure really. I mean, there’s a lot of things I’d *like* to see, like GTalk and WLM interoperability as I mentioned before, but for some reason Microsoft always seems to surprise me, and never seems to go the obvious routes. I mean come on, they just renamed their search engine after they pumped millions of dollars into getting a global brand name for all their online services. wtf ?

One thing I do hope though is that they’ll come up with something new for once. Instead of constantly following (e.g. Spaces after blogging, social networks just while Facebook was coming up, etc.), I’m hoping they’ll come up with something new and exciting and start leading again

mynetx: Give two positive and negative comments on any Windows Live product.

Frans-Willem: Hmm.
Positive:
- They’re really reaching out to other platforms, Yahoo, Facebook.
- Most of the products are always properly finished and polished, even the beta products just work.

Negative:
- Too much following, not enough leading.

mynetx: 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?

Frans-Willem: Not 24/7, I shut down my PC at nights, but if I’m awake, my PC is on, and WLM is on Not really a routine, although I do make a point of answering all offline messages I get

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

Frans-Willem: Hmmm, well, GTalk and AIM integration for one . Not sure what else I’m missing though :/

mynetx: What about Tabbed Chatting?

Frans-Willem: Hmm, I’m good with the Vista taskbar grouping to be honest.

mynetx: Your guess for the next release, Wave 4—what might be in the oven for Windows Live Messenger 2010?

Frans-Willem: I’m hoping much more integration with other, non Windows Live, services. Seeing as they’ve only just begun with that, I think there’s a fair chance they’ll be expanding that in Wave 4.

mynetx: Services like?

Frans-Willem: Hmmm, I’m not sure if they’ll be expanding to more services. I think it’s more likely the integration they currently have will be expanded. e.g. see Facebook info in WLM instead of the other way round, automatically linking up contacts to their Facebook accounts, etc.

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

Frans-Willem: Hmm, yeah, in general I am

mynetx: Why?

Frans-Willem: Probably not the answer you’re looking for, but they’re all free services. Yes, they might have a few shortcomings (like ads), but it’s free, so what right do you have to complain about those ?

mynetx: Heh, good point though…
What is your favorite feature in Messenger?

Frans-Willem: Hah, that’s easy! The conversations

Seriously though, there’s lots of nice features, but in the end I use it because I can have conversations with my friends using it. If all my friends would be using AIM, I’m pretty sure I’d been using that instead. But if you really want me to pick a feature outside of chatting, I’d go for the word wheel above the contacts. With the number of people in my list that’s pretty essential

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

Frans-Willem: Hmm, yeah, I have Live Mesh installed on both my computers. I’m not really using it though, for file sharing I usually just use a simple off-line USB-key (just bought a nice new one actually, LaCie iAmAKey, totally love it ), and for remote administration I have Remote Desktop enabled. I kind of dislike Live Mesh not being able to use a different resolution than the one I have at home apart from scaling, viewing 3200×1200 on a 15″ laptop screen doesn’t really allow me to read anything.

mynetx: So you would like to see a resolution customization like the one in Remote Desktop?

Frans-Willem: I wasn’t aware you could use it to share files with friends though, I should take a look at that. But I’m not convinced it’ll be a “new diverse method of file sharing among peers” really, I’ve heard that claim one too many times (remember Messenger shared folders?).

Hmmm, not sure I need Live Mesh actually, Remote desktop really does everything I’d want it to :-/ But then again, for people that didn’t set up a subdomain to always link to their home IP might find it more convenient to use Live Mesh

mynetx: Do you wish Messenger would have a feature that a third-party IM software already has? As add-on developer, this question might be especially interesting for you…

Frans-Willem: Hmmm, I haven’t really used any other IM applications recently, so I wouldn’t know. I did hear Pidgin does some nice things like set the window icon to the display picture of the other person

mynetx: Yes, I’ve seen that recently as well.
As Messenger user, I’m sure you’ve got a good tip that not everybody might know about yet.

Frans-Willem: Hmm, yeah. The word wheel, use it It’s so incredibly easy to just Alt-Tab to Messenger, type in whomever you’re looking for, hit Enter, and start typing immediately

mynetx: Are you working on any project related to Windows Live currently?

Frans-Willem: Hmm, yeah, LiveScratcher, but not very actively at the moment, some university deadlines coming up. I hope to be able to get some major work done in July though

mynetx: What’s it about?

Frans-Willem: Well, it’s about putting every technical trick I know about Messenger into a big library. I’m hoping I can write a framework that I can use myself to write another StuffPlug like add-on on, as well as allow other developers to use it to write theirs. It’s like Plus! scripting, but then with all of Plus!’s own features implemented in scripts too.

mynetx: That sounds exciting!

Frans-Willem: For people interested, there are some really early previews on livescratcher.com, and there’s a mailing list you can use to get in touch with me and other interested people. Mind you though, the current stuff is only for developers. So normal users beware, but developers please check it out and let me know what you think. Loads of feedback ensures that it ends up a nice platform to work with

mynetx: Down to what level, do you think, might your library reach?

Frans-Willem: Well, for now I’ve only done some DirectUI stuff, which allows you to play with Messenger’s user interface. Like remove something here, add something there, change a background or a picture. Like skinning, but then instead of replacing everything, just targeting small bits.

I intend to write a nice wrapper around all the messenger API’s, and add extra functionality like send text and data from scripts. And at the moment I’m doing some research on in-memory patching, to allow for things like removing the nudge limit. I’m hoping to expose everything I used in StuffPlug to scripting.

And as with StuffPlug, it’ll always be a work-in-progress. I do intend to keep adding new stuff I learn. But it’s set up in a very modular way, that allows me (or maybe other developers) to plug in extra parts when needed. And there’s also a way for scripts to communicate with each other, so someone might write a script that doesn’t really add any features for the user, but will expose some new functionality for other scripts to use.

mynetx: And—what about compatibility with the existing Messenger add-ons (Messenger Plus!, MessengerDiscovery, SweetIM and more)?

Frans-Willem: Hah, what kind of question is that Of course it’ll be compatible, I always put a lot of thought into that sorts of things If Patchou and Matt are ok with it, I might even add methods to communicate with Plus! and MD scripts

mynetx: How patient should we be until we see usable bits of all this appear, especially if they’re not developers? Can we get excited?

Frans-Willem: Hmmm, developers can get excited, but I’m afraid it’ll take some time before there’s something user-friendly enough for normal users. Mind you though that it’s a massive project, and I want to think through each and every aspect of it carefully to make sure it turns into a nice API, so it will take some time

mynetx: Okay — “StuffPlug 4”?

Frans-Willem: Yes, hopefully at some point My slogan while developing is
“Hmm, I wonder if I can do this better…”

mynetx: I think that’s a great thing you got in mind. Anyways, I’ve bothered you enough for now!
Thank you for spending these minutes on Windows Live and You.

Frans-Willem: You’re welcome

Bram: Nice that you got some minutes to talk with me about Windows Live and You. To get started, please describe yourself and your connection with Windows Live, in one sentence.

mynetx: “Messenger-addicted” – I think that term matches me and my relation to Windows Live the best.

Bram: “Messenger-addicted”, you say, how many hours per day are you on Messenger?

mynetx: As web developer, my work is nearly 100% web-based, and thus I am usually signed into Messenger all the time that I am on my computer, half of that time even with two accounts simultaneously.

I usually work up to 12-14 hours per day.

Bram: What is your favorite feature in Messenger?

mynetx: My favorite Messenger feature is a very basic one: the ability to set your status. While there were quite many different statuses up to Messenger 8.5, they got reduced to only 4 in Messenger 2009. Many people considered this as a disadvantage in first place, but, to be honest, it’s an advantage. In my opinion this has brought the way the status is being used, back to the originally intended one: Just to show your status. I mean – you can always tell your contacts what you’re doing exactly, in your personal status message…

mynetx: I am glad that most people in my contact list respect the status I set. They won’t disturb me when I am Busy, they won’t try to talk with me when I am Away, they will bother me when I am Available (lol), and they won’t see me at all when I Appear Offline.

Bram: Talking about a status, am I disturbing you now?

mynetx: Well, you are a bit, but I find it interesting to talk with you about my own relation with Windows Live, so that doesn’t matter.

Bram: I know that you are a relatively good script and skin developer with Messenger Plus! Live, what do you most like to create, a script or a skin?

mynetx: Hah, good question. You know, I love creating both. Seeing as skinning brought me into the Messenger Plus! beta tester team, back in late 2007, I like creating skins. Of course I am not able to create as highly-polished skins as people like Will Ingles, but people do like the designs I realize for Messenger.

You might be surprised though, because I only created two skins so far. That is simply due to the fact that creating a skin involves much – really much! – work. You have to edit hundreds of images, arrange them properly, restart Messenger dozens of times (yes Patchou, please remove that painful obligation!), etc. The end result might look simple, but my opinion is: the cleaner, the more simple a skin looks in the end, the more work it has been for the designer to create this awesomeness.

On the other hand, I haven’t counted the dozens of scripts I already finished, like WLMStatus (showing your Messenger status on web images). I have also helped other scripters to add functions to their scripts. Many of these scripts are just small tools, but they enhance your experience and that’s why I find delight in realizing them. Some of the ideas for scripts come directly from the users’ inputs, while others are born out of simple need for having a certain function myself.

Bram: Messenger Plus! Live has an update function for scripts and skins, this was your idea, I heard. How did you came up to this idea?

mynetx: The truth is: it wasn’t my idea. However, I reheated the topic when I saw that many people were using outdated versions of scripts being up-to-date in the Official scripting database.

Bram: Let’s talk a bit about the future, what is the thing you’d love most to be added in Messenger?

mynetx: Tabbed Chatting. I know I know, so many people said that before me. But – if so many people say it: why is it ignored, for ages, by the Windows Live team?

Bram: Why do you want this feature, when it is already available in Messenger Plus! Live?

mynetx: Microsoft has implemented tabs in Internet Explorer – why not in Messenger? Millions of users would shout hurray! I don’t like that a great product only gets usable with a certain third-party add-on. Of course, many features are not added directly in Messenger because the percentage of people who would use this is too low, compared to the total Messenger user base. But tabbed chatting – out of 10 users, how many would want, or at least, like to see this in Messenger? Interesting idea you brought me, I will have a look at the settings statistics of Messenger Plus!: Then we all know how many percent of Plus! users use tabs vs. single conversation windows.

It’s just – the principle. Microsoft should continue their way to listen to their users, and not only when the common opinion matches randomly their company and project road map.

Bram: And do you think tabbed chats will be added in Windows Live Wave 4?

mynetx: Honestly, I don’t know, but I hope it very much. Possible is anything… And as I am interesting in anything that is being added in Wave 4, I will keep my eyes and ears open to get news when they are still fresh.

At least the Windows Live team is currently gathering and sorting ideas. It’s very silent behind the curtain these days – not even Butterflies get fresh info. Who knows what’s going on…

Bram: I find it great that you took the time to talk with me about Windows Live and You. Thanks for your time!

mynetx: No problem – was quite interesting to think about my own relation to Windows Live. Thank you for your time and – you did a good job!

I admit it, at first, it was fun to count the years. But now, like for a kid who has grown older, it seems that Messenger Plus!’s childhood is over as the intervals between its birthdays become less and less significant and noticeable. 8 years now my friends, yep… 8 years. What’s even more surprising, at least to me, is that I still feel the need to do more, much more with this software. Considering the massive amount of people who use it every day, it’s incredible to think about all the possibilities that are still left to tap into. Messenger Plus! has grown way past its original intended life span and version 5 will mark the beginning of something new, different, and more satisfying for everybody.

Speaking of version 5, while I’m still working on the schematics, I thought I could make this step more interactive than I’m used to. The question I want to ask you today is: What do you think of Messenger Plus! ? Do you like it, hate it? I often read articles about the software, or even about myself, but for once, I would like my users to give me their honest, true, unfiltered opinion. It can be a single word as well as two pages of text, in English or in French, and I promise to read it all, positive or negative, whether I get 10 answers or 10,000. Also, if you visit forums or blogs as part of your daily internet routine, don’t hesitate to talk about this and bring more people to this news post. Hopefully, this little exercise will also help make a better software and bring better support to those who need it in the future. Thank you!

mynetx: Nice that you got some minutes to talk with me about Windows Live and You. To get started, please describe yourself and your connection with Windows Live, in one sentence.

Will: Well my name is Will Ingles, I am known in the community for my work in customizing the Messenger user interface with skins.

mynetx: Skins – good word. Is customizing the Messenger interface fun for you? Or a serious business? Or in between?

Will: Well a bit of both really. Originally I started skinning as a hobby so that I could help improve my abilities as a multimedia designer. I was hoping that by working with an established user interface I would be able to gain a deeper understanding as to how the user interprets UI’s.

I never really expected to be doing it for that much mainly because I didn’t think that audience was big enough at the time. But it seems that has changed in recent times so now I do treat it more seriously.

But yeah for the most part there is still the original sense of fun which attracted me to doing it in the first place.

mynetx: To be honest I don’t think you would put that effort into your skins if it was just “work” for you.

What is your favorite feature in Messenger?

Will: My favorite feature in Messenger, and I know a lot of people out there would disagree, would be PhotoShare. Although in its current state it is still a bit tedious to get used to, there is a lot of potential in the feature to make it work more seamlessly with Messenger.

Just the fact that you can have a large preview of an image you want to send is a big step forward. I am looking forward to see what else Microsoft does with this as this is only the first iteration of it.

mynetx: And what could be the next steps in this iteration?

Will: Well, at the moment one of the main complaints of PhotoShare is the fact that you have to have your window maximized to be able to see the larger photos. The next logical step to improving PhotoShare would be adding the ability to zoom into the image, that way you can explore photos with fine detail and not always having to have your window covering the full screen.

Microsoft could also add some integration with some of the social networks where you could select an album you have on your Facebook page and have that display rather than have to load every single image. There are lots of possibilities, that is why I think it’s a feature to keep an eye on in the future.

mynetx: Let’s see what the Windows Live Team improves with PhotoShare in Wave 4! By the way, what is the thing you’d love most to be added in Messenger?

Will: Well seeing as though I am skinner, it would no doubt have to be skins. While Microsoft did kind of ease the need with scenes, it still isn’t really enough. Every person is different and they have different tastes when it comes to how they want a product to look. You can see this when you ask people whether or not they like the look of the new Windows Live Messenger, you will get people who like it and people who hate it. It is impossible to cater for everyone’s tastes, but it would be good if the ability was there for people to make their interface from their own experiences.

Scenes can only offer so much, while skins offer a more rich and immersive user experience. The best example would be with some of the advanced shaped skins which are offered by the Messenger Plus! community, there is no way that scenes could ever take the user experience that far.

What I would love to see would be a community for like what already exists for Windows Media Player, where people are free to make their own plugins and skins without any real restrictions. That would really be great.

mynetx: And do you think this will be added in Windows Live Wave 4?

Will: Sadly its highly unlikely, Microsoft does not really add any high levels of customization in their products because the market for it is really small. People who customize their user interfaces are generally enthusiasts who form a small percentage of their user base. While the demand is starting to increase, it still isn’t enough for Microsoft to make any real effort to add something like this in. Which is sad I think because generally it is the enthusiasts who recommend products to the general public so it isn’t really a good move to ignore them entirely. I suppose the best way to get this feature to become a reality would be to get as many people you know interested in customizing their Messenger and continuously nag Microsoft. Who knows they might give in one day. Until people will just have to settle for what us skinners make.

mynetx: Skins with Messenger Plus!. Or what?

Will: Yes, skins with Messenger Plus! There are the old DLL patching skins but those are becoming more and more rare these days. This is mainly to do with the fact the Patchou has made the skin developing process much much easier with Messenger Plus! and also due to the changes Microsoft made with Messenger 2009 which nearly gave customizers a heart attack.

mynetx: Well, we don’t know the reason for Microsoft switching over to the binary interface format (known as UIB). Mind having a guess nevertheless?

Will: We will never know the real reasoning behind the change, but I like to think it was a performance thing. Messenger 2009 does have a few new visual effects and those would have probably caused the old system some trouble. There were only so many effects you could have happening with the old UI system before you got weird graphical glitches occurring on screen. With Messenger 2009 there isn’t any of these weird glitches happening – at least that I have noticed anyway.

mynetx: Moving away from our focus on Messenger, which feature of other programs / web services do you like most?

Will: One of the things that has caught my attention was the ability to create fan pages on Facebook. I think this is pretty cool because it gives people such as independent artists, designer or even customizers like my self the ability to have a spot on a site with millions of users and be able to grow an audience from it.

It also allows you to interact with the people you want to please the most, your users. Also just how all the web services are beginning to integrate with one another is good to see as well. We are moving away from how things were a few years ago where networks were isolated.

mynetx: And what about the other Windows Live services?

Will: Windows Live Mail is one of the other products that I enjoy using. It’s simple and I can have all my mail accounts in the one place, the integration with the other Windows Live products is a bonus as well.

I haven’t really toyed with things like Movie Maker and Writer but I have seen some of my younger relatives playing with some of these and they seem to enjoy themselves so Microsoft is doing their job.

mynetx: Heh. So if you’re focusing, besides Mail, only on Messenger, are you running it 24/7? Maybe you’ve got kind of a daily routine.

Will: I have Messenger running the majority of the time, even if I am busy doing work. Because of the nature of work I do, there are a lot of times where I ask the opinion of my friends on the particular thing I am working on.

It is always good to see things from someone else’s point of view, it makes you a better designer if you consider as many aspects of a project as possible.

It has gotten to the point where Messenger is part of my daily routine. Just because of the convenience of being able to access anywhere I am. It’s really one of the best forms of communication there is today.

mynetx: I’m sure you’ve got a breaking tip for an “aha” effect. Give me a Messenger tip you consider precious.

Will: The best tip I can offer is to go through the options menu and file menus in Messenger. There is a lot of functionality there that a lot of people miss. Often I get skin requests to add certain things and what people don’t realize is that it is already all there. You just have to look for it. That, and: ignore any URLs with your email in it.

Seems to be a common trap these days.

mynetx: Or nickname as subdomain, hmm?

Will: Yes hehe, just follow that rule and you should be fine!

mynetx: And finally, what’s the Live-related project you’re currently working on?

Will: At the moment I am currently working a few skin projects. The main one I am working on is a skin called Phunk’n. I created it last year and the response I received from it was really great. I get numerous emails and messages asking me to update it so I finally gave in and decided to update it.

It is probably one of my best designs and I am extremely proud of it. I am also playing with a few ideas here and there for a new original skin design but that won’t come for a while.

mynetx: I’m sure people will like what you create. Do you think?

Will: Well I hope so hehe so far it looks like I have been doing things right.

mynetx: Wonderful!

I find it great that you took the time to talk with me about Windows Live and You. Thanks for your time!

Will: Thanks, it was my pleasure.

mynetx: It’s great that you got some minutes to talk with me about Windows Live and You. To start over, please describe yourself and your connection with Windows Live, in one sentence.

Gregory: Hello, I am Gregory Sampson, an ex-Beta tester for Windows Live Messenger 8.0 through 9.0. It has been an honor testing and using Windows Live Services, as a whole.

mynetx: What is your favorite feature in Messenger?

Gregory: Everything, I use about every feature in Windows Live Messenger. The best of them all is being able to connect with everyone on my Contact List smoothly and easily.

mynetx: And what do you like most in Windows Live at all?

Gregory: SkyDrive and Photo Gallery, utterly amazing innovations by Microsoft. Oh, and Live Mesh.

Gregory: I do certainly use SkyDrive to make online backup of my current data, indeed the web space is insufficient, but is efficient enough for a free solution.

I use Photo Gallery to organize my photos and images in an orderly manner.

mynetx: Wow, an all-round user . What is the thing you’d love most to be added to Messenger?

Gregory: Tabbed chatting, an enormously useful feature. I would love to send a massive shoutout to Patchou for making an amazing add-on, Messenger Plus! Live, for Windows Live Messenger, to add many of the extra amazing features to Messenger, as well as tabbed chatting. Would be neat if Microsoft added it in it’s core code, as then people will not see the need to install external software to achieve what they would want to have, with all due respect to all the software developers, especially Patchou and Matt.

mynetx: Do you think this feature will be added in Windows Live Wave 4?

Gregory: I do certainly hope, let’s see what the people in charge have got to say. Angus, hear me?

mynetx: Heh .
Running Messenger 24/7? Maybe you’ve got kind of a daily routine with Windows Live.

Gregory: Well, close to 24/7, but it is pretty much a daily routine. I cannot imagine myself living without internet, let alone all the Windows Live services that are put forward to be used by everyone.

mynetx: Seamless online presence, hmm?

Gregory: Yep.

mynetx: Since when are you in the Live business? Tell me a bit about your history.

Gregory: Back in 2006, I got a “Troubleshooting” message from Messenger 7.5 while attempting to sign in. Therefore, I went to the help section on their website and checked for the given error code, it mentioned something about WLM 8.0. I was in complete astonishment and hype for a new Messenger version. Since then, I started Googling around and trying to find some more information, until I stumbled upon http://ideas.live.com/ and http://connect.microsoft.com. I signed up for both sites. I was a Closed Beta tester for WLM 8.0 and was a Managed Beta tester for WLM 8.5 and 9.0.

Gregory: This is how I got to know about all the Windows Live products, starting from WLM 8.0, then spreading my wings and sight to the other products at hand.

mynetx: Back in 2006? Pretty long…

Gregory: Yes, sir. But it was worth it after all.

mynetx: Nice to hear!

When you’re using Messenger intensively, I’m sure you’ve got a breaking tip for an “aha” effect. Give me a tip you consider precious

Gregory: :-O! Utterly interesting question. I get that effect when three people sign in: Pamela, my best friend; Lance Manasse, a WL Butterfly known since 2006–a very dear friend, he is–; and yourself, mynetx, my second best friend. This is when I most get excited to use Messenger excessively, to talk to y’all.

mynetx: Heh. Any suggestion for average Messenger users on doing something that not everybody knows?

Gregory: Try out Windows Live People, similar to Facebook, but has a neater UI. Avoid the scam links that are sent, and be utterly careful when entering your credentials in random sites that you do not know much about.

mynetx: (Y). And finally, why do you do beta testing and engage in the Windows Live Community nowadays?

Gregory: See, in reality, people usually think less of me because I have physical discomfort. Therefore, I tend to prove the opposite and show them that I can do more, I can make a difference, I can be successful, thus I do happily enjoy helping Microsoft with the improvement of their software.

mynetx: Wonderful! I appreciate it very much that you took your time to talk with me about Windows Live and You. Thanks!

Gregory: You’re most welcome, sir.

The adware altercation

Software developer Patchou provokes fierce opinions in cyberspace. His army of fans think he’s a genius; critics say he has sold his soul for profit.

Cyril Paciullo (aka Patchou), who created Messenger Plus! Live

To some in the downtrodden kingdom of the geek, he is a messiah. To others, he is the devil incarnate. No one, it seems, divides opinion among the tribes of of cyberspace quite like Patchou. The software creator, real name Cyril Paciullo, is the man behind Messenger Plus! Live – which, he claims, has been downloaded 60m times and is particularly popular among teen­agers. An updated version is due out at the end of this month; the forum on his site boasts 80,000 members.

Patchou’s creation is an add-on to Microsoft’s hugely popular Windows Live Messenger, or MSN, the instant messaging and social networking program used by 17.5 million people in Britain alone. Patchou’s software adds dozens of extra features, such as custom sounds, colours, clever ways to manage contacts and, for the uber-geeky, the ability to program your own tweaks.

And for that Patchou’s grateful young disciples sing his praises in thousands of web forums and chatrooms. “You rock,” they gush. Such is their adulation that one admirer boasts of making a 100mph dash to Disneyland just to spend a few minutes in Patchou’s company. The acolyte proclaims: “It was really cool to meet Patchou, he’s awesome.”

But this is a man who has also outraged millions. His sin? A Faustian pact with dark forces responsible for distributing adware, those pop-up windows that torture PC users the world over. Messenger Plus! Live comes bundled with a “sponsor’s program”, which the unwary install unwittingly on their machines. They are then subjected to messages urging them to buy insurance, take out credit cards, play poker or download ringtones. To his opponents this breaks a sacred code of geek ethics and the two sides engage in furious online debates. Supporters say Patchou has provided a brilliant piece of software free to millions of people and the adware is harmless; critics call him “a scam artist making money off gullible young Live Messenger users”.

Devil in the detail

In the middle of this maelstrom sits Microsoft, which appears to have been impressed by Patchou’s work. In 2006, the software giant was moved to honour him with a Most Valuable Professional award – but the howls of protest about his links to adware led the company to withdraw it. Although the dust has settled and the adware is easier to spot and remove, online forums remain littered with the pitiful pleas of the infected driven to distraction by the unslayable sponsor program.

So who is this demi-god/devil? In fact, he is a French-born, self-confessed geek and Star Trek aficionado living in Montreal, Canada. Even his harshest critics admire his skill and industry. After all, he’s been at it since he was 14, when he first got a computer and started dabbling with programming. “I’ve always been passionate about computers,” he says.

Messenger Plus! Live started eight years ago; it’s now a full-time job.

“Back then, I was working on it part-time, during the night, while working as a software developer for a company during the day. The popularity of the software was growing so I decided it was time to do the jump.”

Much of the success is down to attention to detail, the 27-year-old insists.

“Thousands of programs are created and put online every day. Unfortunately, a majority of them are never ‘finished’, never polished. If you do something, do it well,” he says. “I now have around 60 million active users and a lot of people working for me, directly or not. About 50 people are working to translate each new version of the software into 21 different languages and 100 more give a hand for the beta tests. You have the official helpers on the main forums and people on various websites doing the promotion of the add-on.

In a given month I may be working only 20 hours a week and the following month, I’ll get up only to put myself in front of my computer screens until I go to sleep 16 hours later. The good news is I have a very nice and forgiving girlfriend.”

And he doesn’t find it easy coping with the worldwide adulation.

“Software developers tend to be geeks and, yes, geeks tend to be shy,” he says. “Still, I’ve always enjoyed our gatherings, what we call Plus! Meetings, quite a lot. It’s a nice feeling to see many people coming from many different countries and who have never met before have some fun together, speak in real life. The software is just a pretext to socialise. It’s good to see people from time to time when you spend your days and nights in front of a screen.”

The devotion surprises his critics. Another Microsoft MVP award holder, the internet security campaigner Chris Boyd, who spoke out against Patchou in 2006, says he was taken aback by the amount of vitriol poured in his direction by the software designer’s youthful army of fans. Boyd acknowledges some of Patchou’s changes have helped soothe some, if not all, of the critics, but adds: “It’s a very peculiar business model.”

There are perhaps a dozen other Live Messenger add-ons available, although none of them have Patchou’s audience. MessengerDiscovery, started four years ago by the New Zealand-based software developer Matt Holwood, adds 150 features to Live Messenger, has racked up millions of users and has a forum with more than 8,000 members. Like Patchou, it started as a part-time project but has also become a full-time job, paid for by more traditional ads on his website.

But Holwood, 21, is scathing about Patchou’s use of adware. He says:

“Personally, I think it’s wrong and greedy. You have a moral obligation not to get greedy and infect such a large amount of unsuspecting people with malware. I’m sure he lives a very luxurious lifestyle but you have to look at the big picture. Developers should fight against that sort of trash rather than distribute it. He could live very well simply from the advertising on the website. I do, and he has seven times the visitors.”

Not into temptation

In Holland, another 21-year-old, Frans-Willem Hardijzer, known as The Blasphemer, has been running StuffPlug for the past five years. He also uses ads on his site to to fund his program, which has about 250,000 users. Although he has had to fit his project around his school and university studies, and now a full-time job, he also refuses to be tempted by adware.

“Apart from the server to host the website, there isn’t that much cost to keep it running,” says Hardijzer. “In the past I’ve made enough money through the Google AdSense program to live pretty comfortably as a student. I’ve considered selling out but I simply don’t like the idea of bundling mal/spy/adware with my program like [Patchou] does. People trust me to give them quality software and I don’t like abusing that trust.”

Adware is undoubtedly profitable. Because it inhabits a murky corner of the internet linked to more malevolent forms of computer infection, no one knows exactly how much money it generates, although estimates of up to $2bn (£1.4bn) a year are bandied about. Distributors pay those who help get their software on to them a few cents each time their adware is installed or, more rarely, each time a pop-up ad is clicked.

One notorious US adware company netted a reported $149 million in four years. Another, which was eventually brought to book by US regulators, raked in a reported $80million in three years.

Messenger Plus! is connected to a little-­known company called Circle Development Ltd – which appears to be based in the Ukraine – also known as C2Media or CiD, and linked to the website Lop.com.

Installing belief

For people like Patchou there is plenty of potential to get rich. Challenged in forums by claims that at 6 cents an install, with 800,000 downloads a month, he could potentially net $48,000 (£34,000) a month, he responded:

“In case there would be some doubts, I’m still not paid by install. And so you know, C2Media doesn’t give 6 cents per install for the kind of package I have. For the record: I’m being paid by searches (and only for some of them), so I wouldn’t win a cent even if a billion users installed my sponsor tomorrow. C2Media (lop.com) is probably one of the best adware companies on the market today and that’s exactly why I continue to do my business with them: because they can be trusted.”

Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos, says adware is a “huge business” and some “very well-known companies” were trying to exploit the fact no one really considers what they are installing on their PCs .

“If you are a youngster, then you just press the button until the thing you want is installed,” he says. “You agree to the terms and conditions, so it’s legal. It’s human nature not to read the terms and conditions.” At best, he adds, adware is a nuisance. At worst, it can be bad for online business. “It’s not the way you want to behave on the internet. It does inflame the internet community.”

For all that, Paciullo is unrepentant.

“People who accuse me generally do not understand – or accept – that software development is not something you can finance easily these days. People don’t tend to buy software, they just download it. The idea behind an optional sponsor program is to offer a way to support the work while offering at the same time a product that’s completely free of any obligation.”

He says he may adopt the same approach for future software launches.

“It’s a win-win situation that works out pretty well.”

—Ian Pickering, The Guardian

What do you think? Adware? Malware? Software? Cool-ware? Curious to read your opinion .

Free Download: Messenger Plus! Live 4.79.353 Beta (4.7 MB)
This download is no longer available.
Be sure to have read the Change log as well.

Your favorite add-on is back…

…with all its functions!

This version is entirely compatible with the final version of Windows Live Messenger 2009 (build 1202). Yes, that includes chat logging, emotion sounds, skins, scripts and so on .

Maybe you heard some rumors about UIB, the new binary resource format in Messenger. Well, Patchou has created a full-transparent en-/decoder for that, so just don’t worry.

Messenger Plus! will decode the files automatically when extracting the resources and will re-encode them automatically when added in a skin. For everybody else, this means Messenger Plus! will still rock in 2009!

Please note that this Build 353 of Messenger Plus! is still a beta. Expect the final Messenger Plus! 4.80 around (!) end of January 2009.

The more happy I was when I got my hands on the latest Beta of Messenger Plus!. Patchou did a good job and worked on compatibility things so you might be surprised what the result is. I may not disclose the current features but you may look forward to it.

We are also gathering a lot of fresh suggestions and you can also bring suggestions in! What would you like to see in Plus?

They are:

Deformity Category
- 1st Place: Crystal Lab by ZOiD, winner of a Cintiq 12WX.
- 2nd Place: SilverGlazz by LuckyMe, winner of an Intuos3 6*8.

Originality Category
- 1st Place: stormless Messenger by mynetx, winner of a Cintiq 12WX.
- 2nd Place: Beaver and Steve by aNILEator, winner of an Intuos3 6*8.

Functionality Category
- 1st Place: Wii Messenger by Ethan Li, winner of a Cintiq 12WX.
- 2nd Place: Windows Live Messenger 2009 by roflmao456, winner of an Intuos3 6*8.

Top Place: Oil Slick by Volv who wins the Cintiq 20WSX!

Now what do we see? stormless Messenger has won – it’s unique and original enough to convince Patchou and the other judges! Maybe it also convinces you? Try it out for free…

By the way, if you wonder the compatibility to the newest Messenger Beta: It’s not yet compatible but … I do my very best to get it done.