I asked a Lead Software Design Engineer at Microsoft, responsible for the Messenger Library, about this, and after more than one hour of discussion, he told me: “Thanks for clarifying.  This currently isn’t possible.”  He couldn’t do anything but noting my feedback wish to have this added.

He explained that they have “optimized for a set of scenarios and for those no code is required.  It’s arguable whether we’ve missed certain scenarios.”  In the meantime—if somebody wants to help me with solving this, please talk to me, as I still could not get the display picture URL on the server.

What are your experiences with the Windows Live Messenger Library and the Windows Live Messenger Web Toolkit?

mynetx: Angus, ich freue mich, mit dir über Windows Live zu reden! Erzähl mir doch ein wenig über dich. Wie wirkt sich Windows Live auf dein tägliches Leben aus?

Angus Logan: Wo soll ich anfangen… Ich bin Australier, lebe aber in den USA. Ich bin meistens in Seattle, doch ich reise auch viel. An den meisten Tagen arbeite ich mit den Entwicklern und Programm-Managern, oder unterhalte mich mit Kunden, damit wir auf jeden Fall die richtige Plattform schaffen, mit der Websites sich an Windows Live-Nutzer anschließen können.

mynetx: Als Technischer Produktleiter ermöglichst du es Websites, sich an die 500 Millionen Menschen anzuschließen, die Windows Live nutzen, sagst du. Ist das eine befriedigende Arbeit, noch dazu spannend?

Angus Logan: Mit einigen der weltgrößten Websites zusammenzuarbeiten, um sie mit bis zu 500 Millionen Menschen zu verbinden, ist ziemlich cool. Eine Killerfunktion und – bam! –, 500 Millionen freuen sich ein wenig mehr, das Internet zu benutzen.

mynetx: Viele Leute kennen dich, doch ich denke, das war vor einiger Zeit noch nicht so. Seit wann bist du im Windows Live-Geschäft? Erzähl mir doch ein wenig über deine Vergangenheit.

Angus Logan: In Australien hab ich für einige Microsoft-Partner und ein junges Unternehmen gearbeitet. Ich war ein Microsoft-MVP für Content Management Server, und das hat mir irgendwie eine Arbeitsstelle im technischen Vertrieb bei Microsoft Australien verschafft. Nachdem ich das einige Jahre getan hatte, entschied ich mich, meinen Blick auf Websites weg von der CMS-Infrastruktur, hin zu sozialen Plattformen zu wenden – das war vor ungefähr 2 Jahren.

mynetx: Denkst du, dass das Windows Live-Team, einschließlich dir selbst, sich um die Fragen der Nutzer kümmert? Warum?

Angus Logan: Mir ist noch nicht ein einziges Team bei Microsoft begegnet, das nicht ständig sein Augenmerk auf Kunden richtet (in diesem Fall, auf die 500 Millionen Menschen, die Windows Live nutzen). Wir müssen immer mit den Endbenutzern reden, denn wenn du jeden Tag innerhalb einer Softwarefirma an einem Produkt arbeitest – du hast dann einfach einen bestimmten Blickwinkel. Wir müssen unsere Gedanken immer testen, und Ideen sammeln, um Killerprodukte für „normale Leute“ zu schaffen (nicht nur für Technikbegeisterte).

mynetx: Wo siehst du Windows Live innerhalb der nächsten fünf Jahre?

Angus Logan: Es wird immer einfacher für mehr Menschen, zu kommunizieren, sich mitzuteilen und ihr Leben zu synchronisieren.

mynetx: Läuft Messenger bei dir permanent? Hast du eine Art Routine mit Messenger und den anderen Elementen, die Windows Live ausmachen?

Angus Logan: Das alles ist solch ein Teil meines Lebens, dass ich keine Routine habe – es ist einfach da. Ich nutze Messenger zum Arbeiten, ich nutze ihn zum Spielen, ich nutze ihn, um Leute zu finden mit denen ich mich zum Mittagessen verabrede, ich wache auf und schaue nach, ob ich nachts irgendwelche Nachrichten erhalten habe, ich lese die persönlichen Statusnachrichten meiner Freunde, und während ich mit Leuten chatte, … halte ich nach anderen Leuten Ausschau, mit denen ich chatten könnte.

mynetx: Wie groß ist der Markt für Web-Messenger – und welche Rolle spielt dabei das Messenger Web Toolkit?

Angus Logan: Das Web Toolkit bietet einen Weg, mit dem Messenger-Nutzer sich auf anderen Websites mit ihren Freunden verbinden können. Die Markt-Gelegenheit ist so groß! Jeder, der Sofortnachrichten nutzt, ist ein potenzieller Nutzer für Web-Messenger. Ich denke, dass Web-Messenger zusätzlich zu einem „normalen“ Messenger-Client genutzt werden müssen, sonst ist das Erlebnis nicht gut genug (z.B. Benachrichtigungen unten rechts).

mynetx: Wenn du deine Fantasie benutzt: wie denkst du, sieht Messenger in den nächsten fünf Jahren aus? Welche neuen Funktionen könne er anbieten?

Angus Logan: Er ist in den letzten 10 Jahren so weit gekommen, wenn ich versuche mir vorzustellen, was in den nächsten 10 Jahren passiert, bekomme ich Kopfschmerzen. Alles was ich weiß ist, dass du dich damit immer noch mit den Menschen in Verbindung setzen kannst, die dir wichtig sind.

mynetx: Wenn man diese Ideen mit den aktuellen Funktionen von Messenger vergleicht, welche könnten in der nächsten Version, Wave 4, eingefügt werden?

Angus Logan: Guter Versuch . Du weißt, ich kann nicht über die Zukunft sprechen.

mynetx: Bist du zufrieden mit den Windows Live-Diensten, die dir zur Verfügung stehen? Warum?

Angus Logan: Obwohl ich mehr als zufrieden bin, denke ich, es gibt immer Bereiche, in denen wir weiterhin wachsen und innovativ sein können.

mynetx: Welches ist deine Lieblingsfunktion in Messenger?

Angus Logan: Dass ich Emoticons eigene Videos von mir zuweisen kann (dynamische Anzeigebilder). Das ist soooo genial (und macht Spaß!).

mynetx: Live Mesh – was war dein erster Eindruck davon? Siehst du darin Wege, wie man diesen Cloud-Dienst mit Messenger und den anderen Essentials verbinden kann?

Angus Logan: Live Mesh hat mich schon immer beeindruckt, und noch mehr hat es die zugrunde liegende Plattform, das Live Framework, das den Erfindungsreichtum von Entwicklern regelrecht beflügelt hat.

mynetx: Ist das Einstellen von Windows Live Events der erste Schritt in Richtung des Mottos von Wave 4, „Einfacher! Verbundener!“?

Angus Logan: Ich arbeite nicht an Events, doch lies bitte auch: http://windowslivewire.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!2F7EB29B42641D59!41244.entry.

mynetx: Wünschst du dir, dass Messenger eine Funktion hätte, die es in einem anderen Sofortnachrichten-Programm schon gibt?

Angus Logan: Ja, das wird sich jetzt etwas hochgeschraubt an, aber… in Office Communicator wird dein Status automatisch aktualisiert, abhängig von den Terminen in deinem Kalender, und er sagt deinen Kontakten, wie lange du noch beschäftigt bist. Das wäre so cool. Vielleicht sollte man es ein wenig mehr auf den Endbenutzer abstimmen, zum Beispiel, wenn du dir gerade eine TV-Serie auf Hulu ansiehst, könnten deine Kontakte darüber informiert werden, dass du in 15 Minuten wieder verfügbar bist (wenn die Folge zuende ist).

mynetx: Ich bin mir sicher, du hast von dem Aprilscherz gehört, den ich dieses Jahr machte, als ich über „mehr Chat-Netzwerke für Windows Live“ sprach. Wie viel von dieser Vision könnte sich bewahrheiten, laut deiner persönlichen Meinung?

Angus Logan: Ich möchte über die Zukunft nicht spekulieren.

mynetx: Was denkst du persönlich: werden separate Chat-Netzwerke weiterhin mit eigenständigen Protokollen existieren, oder ist es wahrscheinlich, dass diese ebenfalls standardisiert und verknüpft werden, wie bei so vielen anderen Dingen im Computer?

Angus Logan: Lass uns das von einem anderen Blickpunkt betrachten – des Erlebnisses für den Benutzer. Wenn wir mal die 3 größten Sofortnachrichten-Netzwerke herausgreifen, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM. Sicher, diese 3 nutzen verschiedene Protokolle, doch weißt du was – das interessiert den Endbenutzer überhaupt nicht. Die Leute interessiert nur: „Cool, ich kann von Windows Live Messenger aus mit meinem Freund chatten, der Yahoo! Messenger nutzt“. Also, ja, ich denke, es wird immer unterschiedliche Netzwerke geben. Werden die Protokolle zusammengeführt (zum Beispiel XMPP)? Ich bin mir nicht sicher.

mynetx: Als Messenger-Nutzer hast du bestimmt einen guten Tipp, von dem noch nicht jeder weiß, oder?

Angus Logan: Mein bester Tipp ist, ein IM-Control aufsetzen und dann eine TinyUrl einrichten, zum Beispiel: http://tinyurl.com/talktoangus (das ist nur ein Beispiel) – dann kannst du jemand, ja einfach sagen tinyurl.com/talktoangus.

mynetx: Und schließlich, arbeitest du gerade an irgendeinem Projekt, das mit Windows Live zu tun hat?

Angus Logan: Ich arbeite immer an Projekten in Verbindung mit der Windows Live-Plattform, und unterhalte mich mit vielen Kunden über das, was sie haben möchten, was funktionieren könnte und was nicht.

mynetx: Vielen Dank für deine Zeit, und dass du uns an deiner Meinung teilhaben lässt!

Angus Logan: Gern geschehen!

Mit Angus reden

Du möchtest dich mit Angus unterhalten? Es gibt verschiedene Wege, ihn (auf Englisch) zu erreichen:

• Angus Logans Blog bei MSDN lesen
• Ihm auf Twitter folgen
• Mit Angus direkt vom Web chatten

We are very excited to announce that in total over 40 new languages are available for the UI Controls, as well as greatly improving support for right-to-left languages! Because localization is such a hip new feature, we have also decided to update the version of the library to 3.1.

Sounds interesting—And how can I use these new features?

1. Locate the following HTML code in your website source:
   
2. Replace the 3.0 with 3.1.
3. Now check your HTML document type.
4. Are you using HTML 4? Then add the parameter “lang”, like this:
   
   Using XHTML?
   
5. Remember you should also set the reading direction property “dir”, if you are planning to use a right-to-left language, like Hebrew.

I am sure that localization will help many users to make use of the Messenger Web Toolkit, as English is not the primarily used language of Messenger users.

On a side note, the update to version 3.1 also fixes some minor bugs, like CSS incompatibilities. If you find that some of the translated strings are wrong or difficult to understand, please leave a comment and we will forward it to the Messenger Web Platform team instantly.

MSN Web Messenger was started in August 2004 and never updated to match the Windows Live design. With the redesign of MSN in mind, Microsoft is starting to clean up old services, and MSN Web Messenger is one of them, retiring on Tuesday 30 June 2009. The team states:

Instant messaging from Hotmail makes it easier to communicate and share in new ways in comparison to MSN Web Messenger. For example, our integration with the suite of other Windows Live services allows you to see when your Messenger friends are online while reading an e-mail and immediately start a chat to clarify something in your friend’s e-mail message.

Get started with Messenger in Hotmail/People

1. Just browse your Messenger contacts.
2. At the top right, you see an entry “ Messenger”.
3. Click it, and choose “Sign in to Messenger (Web)”.
4. Then click any of your contact’s display pictures and choose “Send an instant message”.
5. A popup window opens, and you can start your conversation.
   

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

Kip: I’ve been writing for LiveSide for almost 3 ½ years, since it started in Jan. 2006. Before that I was a beta tester for MSN and Microsoft products, was an original “MSN Butterfly”, and a 3 time MVP for MSN and Windows Live.

I use Windows Live products daily, mostly mail and messenger, and of course Windows Live Writer.

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

Kip: I think they are as responsive as you can be when your customer base is in the hundreds of millions of users. In some respects that many users makes it more difficult to make changes, as they affect so many people in so many different ways. I do think that Windows Live could do more to be a more agile team. Both the structure of Microsoft and the sheer numbers of users contribute to… make it very difficult to react quickly to market trends.

mynetx: Like a big vehicle is slow in turning around, unlike a small car?

Kip: yes exactly. Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President for Windows and Windows Live Engineering, is often said to “make the trains run on time”. Problem is, when everyone has cars and has already left, waiting for the next train, even if it is on schedule, might not matter.

mynetx: Though I think that Microsoft has had its big awakening sometime 2 years ago.

Suddenly Internet Explorer development was “restarted”, and the overall Corporate Identity was renewed, and I think this has also had consequences on Windows Live.

Kip: Yes. Ray Ozzie is working hard to change the culture, but Windows Live is still to slow to react sometimes. That being said, I use Windows Live products every day, and generally like them a lot.

mynetx: If Microsoft took over Facebook, would you be using it then?

Kip: I don’t see why not. I have no problem using Microsoft products.

mynetx: How do you think Yahoo!’s future would have been affected, if the Big Deal would have happened last summer?

Kip: If anything, Yahoo! had an even worse culture for quick reaction than did Microsoft. I think the combined market share would have shaken up the market a bit, but just getting the two companies to work together as one would have been a monumental task, and I think it would have caused a lot of problems.

The new CEO at Yahoo!, Carol Bartz, is working to change their culture too.

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

Kip: Windows Live is going to benefit from its relationship to Windows 7. But in 5 years I doubt that there will be so much emphasis on which platform you use: are you in the MSFT camp, the Apple camp, the Google camp, etc. Within 5 years the barriers to communicating with some one because you don’t have the same Messenger client should be gone.

mynetx: How?

Kip: Mobile will be much more prevalent; smartphones, data access on phones, etc. Just like now how ridiculous it would be if a Nokia phone couldn’t call an iPhone, it will be much easier to communicate between devices than it is now.

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

Kip: Windows Live Mail is a great product, I think. I currently have 9 email accounts loaded, including non-Hotmail accounts and even a Gmail account. It loads them all quickly, presents them handsomely, and handles calendar, contacts, and newsgroups. I struggled before with trying to get Outlook to handle multiple Hotmail accounts (although the new Outlook Connector is better), but now I don’t worry about it.

As for a negative, while I understand the thinking behind Windows Live Essentials, I think tying the updates of all the Windows Live products together was a big mistake. In the last Messenger upgrade, in order to fix a small but somewhat important bug, users had to go through the whole Essentials installer “experience”. It sucked, and it’s stopping some Windows Live products from getting updates they need because of having to update everything at once.

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?

Kip: Messenger is on when my computer is on, yes. I have the main messenger window open all the time, positioned as a right hand sidebar (where the Vista sidebar would be, which is the first thing I turn off when I set up a computer). Messenger auto loads when the computer is turned on.

mynetx: You don’t like Sidebar?

Kip: no

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

Kip: Well hopefully a much better interface for multiple conversations (tabs!). Also I would like to see the user interface around contacts improve: a better interface than a contact list that you have to scroll down to find someone, click on it, open a window to start a conversation, etc. And you should be able to start conversations with people not in your contact list, in some public areas… similar to what you can do in Twitter now, or even in the new Messenger web toolkit.

I expect that Messenger in general will get to be more phone-like, and phones will get to be more Messenger-like.

mynetx: Comparing these ideas with Messenger’s current features, which of these might be added in the next release, Wave 4?

Kip: I think we’ll see some improvements in Contacts. Somehow I doubt we’ll see tabs, although I could be wrong. Msgr users have been calling for tabs for years without success. Mostly I think you’ll see Messenger and the other Windows Live desktop apps continue to work toward sharing a common interface, and to share common parts.

mynetx: Why is the Windows Live team just ignoring the loud shout for tabs that tons of Messenger users shout since years?

Kip: I wish I knew, but I don’t.

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

Kip: Yes. I use multiple Live ID accounts (to separate the work I do on LiveSide from my personal stuff), and it is very easy to manage now. We use Custom Domains for our LiveSide accounts, and it’s great. I really like Windows Live Mail, and Live Writer. Of course I think there could be improvements, but overall I’m happy.

mynetx: What is your favorite feature in Messenger?

Kip: I will tell you about one feature I really miss, and that is the Live Maps activity. It was very useful to be able to share maps, to plan meetings etc. MSN China has recently re-released a version of it in China, so hopefully we’ll see it again.

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?

Kip: I use Live Mesh daily also. I think you will see Live Mesh integrated into Windows Live, and the plan is to introduce some of that in Wave 4. Could Live Mesh become a sort of torrent? I don’t know about that, I think that architecturally maybe it could, but I doubt that Microsoft would allow it to be used as a free form file share.

mynetx: Do you wish Messenger would have a feature that a third-party IM software already has? Besides tabs, that is.

Kip: I don’t use other clients much if at all, so I’m not one to comment.

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

Kip: Lol, to me Messenger is like the phone, I don’t think about it much, I just use it. I sure hope photo sharing is improved in Wave 4 though, I find the new way to share photos very cumbersome.

mynetx: And finally, are you working on any project related to Windows Live currently?

Kip: Well we are hoping to be able to integrate the Messenger toolkit into LiveSide. I am not a developer, but we have someone working on it for his site (also Community Server), and we will be working together to see if we can make it happen. Unfortunately Community Server is kind of complicated, and we want the experience for our readers to be a good one, so it’s going kind of slow at the moment.

mynetx: Who works at LiveSide?

Kip: LiveSide is run by myself, Chris Overd, and Harrison Hoffman. We get regular contributions from Sunshine (Cornelia Koopmans), and have a few other contributors as well.

mynetx: LiveSide is a very good news source when you want to be on top of the latest developments and Windows Live news. I want to thank you and the other contributors for the great amount of time, knowledge and research that you put into the site each day, regardless of vacations, making LiveSide what it is today—a must-read!

Is it the same fun for you people running the site as it is for us reading it?

Kip: Yes we have a lot of fun with it

mynetx: I hope the site will continue to do its best to inform us about anything interesting in the Windows Live world. Great that you took your time to discuss “Windows Live and You” with me!

Kip: Happy to do it!

mynetx: Nice that I may talk with you a bit about Windows Live and You. Would you mind introducing yourself and your Windows Live relation in one sentence?

Siebe: I’m Siebe Tolsma, and I work as a Software Development Engineer at Microsoft in Canada. I’m with the Windows Live Platform team, who ship the Windows Live Messenger Web Toolkit

mynetx: What’s that?

Siebe: It’s a toolkit which helps developers add Messenger functionality to their own websites. It consists of two parts — The first is a set of fully skinnable UI controls. The second is a javascript library that can be used to build similar functionality from the ground up.

mynetx: Ah – like custom Messengers running from the Web?

Siebe: Yes, exactly. Developers can add Messenger to their website, so their visitors can now interact with their buddies right from the web… and of course bring new visitors to your website that way.

mynetx: Competition to traditional Web Messengers, like eBuddy or Meebo, in your opinion?

Siebe: No, I think of it more of a way to provide additional functionality to developers, whereas Meebo and eBuddy only have the core web messenger functionality. For example, with our toolkit, you can very quickly and easily set up some controls and code to enable sharing of content between the visitors of your website and their buddies. I like to think of our toolkit as web messenger plus the cool and exciting features of your own website.

mynetx: Your job in the Windows Live Platform team must be a great one, true?

Siebe: Absolutely, I get to work with some very smart people and develop great new products for Windows Live. Being on top of the latest and greatest web stuff is a great way to spend my day It’s a dream come true, haha.

mynetx: . By the way, since when are you in the Live business? Tell me a bit about your history and how you came to that job.

Siebe: Ah, it’s a bit of a long story, but interesting nevertheless. Back in 2003 (I think it was), I started a new bot (or Windows Live Agent, as they are called now) called BOT2K3. For those who don’t remember or don’t know it, it was a bot you could add to your contact list and play games with and so on.

From there I got to know a lot of people from the Windows Live (and MSN) community, and eventually a few people from Microsoft. After a few informal meet-ups with them and a few others from the community, I was invited to submit my resumé to do an internship in Redmond. Eventually I did two internships and ended up here in Canada as a full-time employee.

mynetx: I start understanding your dream came true, lol. When I first got to know you a bit, that was when I read some news on mess.be and noticed that they had been brought to them by “Inky”

Siebe: Yes! During those days I was known under the nickname Inky. I got to know Dwergs and I did some news posts for his popular news website Mess.be.

mynetx: As an MS worker in the Live team, are you running Messenger 24/7? Maybe you’ve got kind of a daily routine with Windows Live.

Siebe: Yeah, my life pretty much revolves around Messenger. I love the new MPOP feature (signing on at work and at home). I talk to my friends and parents back home on Messenger, as well as the rest of my team. Being up in Canada away from my manager and the rest of my team is a bit of a challenge, but using Messenger all day to communicate makes things a lot easier

The first thing I do every day is check any IMs I got overnight, and last thing is usually saying good night to all the rest of my friends across the globe.

mynetx: What is your favorite feature in Messenger?

Siebe: There’s so many to chose from! But if I had to pick, it would be the categories and groups in the contact list and MPOP as a close second.

mynetx: Why?

Siebe: Being able to sort and categories all my contacts is very important to me, even when there is a search feature. I have gotten so many contacts over the years. Being able to sort them out helps me remember where I know them from

As for MPOP, it is very useful to be able to read back things I said during the day when I get home in the evening.. And now I can just leave my computer signed in all day

mynetx: May I ask how many categories you have?

Siebe: I have about 12 categories with about 150 online contacts (plus a similar amount of offline contacts).

mynetx: Hmhmm. Not many for a Softie, hm?

Siebe: Haha, perhaps not. But I think it’s more than enough

mynetx: And how many Live IDs do you run?

Siebe: I currently only actively use two Live IDs — One for Messenger, and one for my XBOX and Zune (which is tied to a single country).

mynetx: Ahh. Looking at the rest of the Windows Live bubble, what do you like most in Windows Live at all?

Siebe: Well, Messenger obviously, haha. But aside from that, I think Writer and Mail are great products. I also use Spaces, but I feel that it could use some work

mynetx: 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

Siebe: I really like being able to drag new pictures onto the “me area” to update my display picture. It saves a lot of time rummaging around in the various dialogs.

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

Siebe: A few minor things at this point. First would be “inline chat”, quickly sending messages from the contact list itself. Second is better mark-up support (similar to what Messenger Plus! already does) and finally the ability to disable Photo Sharing without regedit hacks

mynetx: Are you using Messenger Plus!, by the way?

Siebe: No, I don’t.

mynetx: Do you think the features you mentioned, will be added in Windows Live Wave 4?

Siebe: I can’t really say. Planning is underway, but I think we’ll all have to be patient and see what cool stuff the client team comes up with this time around

mynetx: Are we going to see any interesting changes or additions to the Web Toolkit? I can’t wait to see…

Siebe: Definitely! We will be releasing an update very shortly with a bunch of fixes and support for IE6. [Editor's Note: This update has been released on 30 April 2009.] In the near future we’re going to add localization, and for our next major release we plan on adding a bunch of new and exciting features!

mynetx: Like?

Siebe: Haha, I don’t want to spoil the surprise

mynetx: Not even a small hint? (A)

Siebe: Okay, but a really small one: Flexibility. Make of it what you want (-;

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

Siebe: Outside of work you mean, or?

mynetx: Yes!

Siebe: Haha, um, currently I (unfortunately) don’t really have a project going on.. But I hope to come up with some crazy new cool idea soon

mynetx: Okay, be sure to ping me then…

Siebe: Certainly will do.

mynetx: Anyways, thanks that you took these minutes to discuss Windows Live and You with me!

Siebe: No problem, I’m looking forward to the remaining interviews you have in store for us

With this update,

• The Messenger Web Toolkit UI Controls should work better in IE6
• We have changed the sign in text from “IM Here” to “Sign In” to make it more clear what it does
• Performance should be better when going from page to page

We are also working on more exciting updates for the future.

Last days, I talked with somebody from the Web Toolkit team; you can look forward to read the interview here soon. Stay tuned!

We’re happy to announce that Windows Live Hotmail is integrating instant messaging capabilities within its web interface. With this functionality, you can get your email and IM all in one place! This feature lets you IM your Windows Live Messenger contacts from within your Hotmail inbox or People page without having to switch over to the Messenger client. […]

Send an instant message from anywhere – With this new feature, you’ll now have instant messaging capabilities when you use a public or otherwise shared computer, without having to download a client program. Already logged in to Messenger elsewhere? Not a problem – you have the option to sign-in (or sign-out) from Hotmail through the “Messenger” drop down menu even if you are signed into the client elsewhere.

You are wondering if your country is not supported? Windows Live Wire comments:

Customers in Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and USA will see this feature for the first time today (as usual, rollout to different individuals is gradual, so if you don’t see it yet, please be patient). This feature rolled out to users in France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and the UK last month. Not in your area yet? We will be rolling out web-based Messenger to more locations in the coming months.

Getting started with Messenger in Hotmail

1. Just browse your Messenger contacts.
2. At the top right, you see an entry “ Messenger”.
3. Click it, and choose “Sign in to Messenger (Web)”.
4. Then click any of your contact’s display pictures and choose “Send an instant message”.
   
5. A popup window opens, and you can start your conversation.

Some thoughts about the new service

It is a bit strange to see that Messenger in Hotmail is not realized with the new Windows Live Messenger Web Toolkit, which seems to be predestined for such an implementation. You might also notice that the Web Messenger does not support all of Messenger’s core features. Here’s a list of what might be interesting to have:

• Send and receive Offline messages.
• Set your display picture easily.
  (I know, you can set it via your Windows Live profile, but that’s a bit complicated.)
• Change your display name and your personal message easily.
  (Same applies here.)
• See your contact’s Messenger scenes, and set your own.
  They might get integrated with the Windows Live headers?
• Send and receive files.
• Access chat logs.

What do you think of Messenger in Hotmail? Is there anything you miss or would like to have changed?

Wir freuen uns anzukündigen, dass Windows Live Hotmail Sofortnachrichten-Funktionalität in seine Weboberfläche integriert. Mit dieser Funktionalität kannst du deine E-Mails und Sofortnachrichten alle an einem Ort empfangen! Mit dieser Funktion kannst du deinen Windows Live Messenger-Kontakten Nachrichten senden direkt aus deinem Hotmail-Posteingang oder der Seite ‘Menschen’, ohne zuerst zum Messenger-Client wechseln zu müssen. […]

Sofortnachrichten von überall senden – Mit dieser neuen Funktion hast du nun SofortnachrichtenFunktionalität, wenn du einen öffentlichen oder sonstwie geteilten Computer verwendest, ohne ein Clientprogramm herunterladen zu müssen. Schon irgendwo bei Messenger angemeldet? Kein Problem – du kannst dich mithilfe des Auswahlmenüs “Messenger” in Hotmail an- und abmelden, selbst wenn du schon woanders beim Messenger-Client angemeldet bist.

Du fragst dich, warum dein Land nicht unterstützt wird? Windows Live Wire kommentiert:

Kunden in Brasilien, Kanada, China, Deutschland, denNiederlanden, Norwegen, und USA werden diese Funktion heute zum ersten Mal sehen (wie immer ist das Ankommen der Funktion bei Einzelpersonen graduell, wenn du somit noch nichts siehst, hab bitte Geduld). Diese Funktion steht Nutzern in Frankreich, Italien, Japan, Mexiko, Spanien, und Großbritannien seit letzten Monat zur Verfügung. Noch nicht in deiner Nähe? In den kommenden Monaten werden wir webbasiertes Messaging an weiteren Orten einführen.

Messenger in Hotmail: Erste Schritte

1. Durchsuche einfach deine Messenger-Kontakte.
2. Oben rechts siehst du einen Eintrag “ Messenger”.
3. Klicke ihn an, und wähle “Bei Messenger (Web) anmelden”.
4. Dann klicke auf ein Anzeigebild eines deiner Kontakte, und auf “Sofortnachricht senden”.
   
5. Ein Popup-Fenster öffnet sich, und du kannst mit deiner Unterhaltung beginnen.

Einige Gedanken über den neuen Dienst

Es ist ein wenig eigenartig zu sehen, dass Messenger in Hotmail nicht mit dem neuen Windows Live Messenger Web Toolkit realisiert wurde, das für eine solche Implementierung prädestiniert zu sein scheint. Du stellst vielleicht auch fest, dass Messenger in Hotmail nicht alle Grundfunktionen von Messenger unterstützt. Hier ist eine Liste mit dem, was noch nützlich wäre:

• Offline-Sofortnachrichten senden und empfangen.
• Einfaches Ändern deines Anzeigebildes.
  (Ich weiß, du kannst es in deinem Windows Live-Profil ändern, doch das ist ein wenig kompliziert.)
• Einfaches Ändern deines Anzeigenamens und deiner Statusnachricht.
  (Hier gilt dasselbe.)
• Betrachten der Szenen deiner Messenger-Kontakte, und Einstellen deiner eigenen Szene.
  Sie könnten mit den Windows Live-Kopfbildern vereint werden?
• Dateien senden und empfangen.
• Auf Chat-Aufzeichnungen zugreifen.

Was denkst du über Messenger in Hotmail? Gibt es Dinge, die du vermisst oder lieber anders haben möchtest?

Recently, Robert Hess from MSDN Channel 9′s Knowledge Chamber discussed advantages and details of the new toolkit with Keiji Kanazawa, Program Manager for Windows Live Messenger, and I thought you might be interested in the video. Have fun watching!

Source: Keiji Kanazawa – Windows Live Messenger Web Toolkit

You can access the Windows Live Messenger Web Toolkit at http://messenger.mslivelabs.com/.

Let us have a look at the similarities in detail.

Facebook Chat bar and Messenger Web Bar – some similarities

1. We see the main icon, giving access to all your personal details, in the right bottom corner.
2. Inside the window opening when you click that icon, you can change your status message.
3. You can also decide whether to come online or to appear offline, or even set a more detailed status like Busy or Away.
4. On the left of the main icon, you have the contact counter. Clicking it will show your contact list.
5. Again, on the left, there is space for conversation buttons. When a new message arrives, a new tab opens or an existing starts to flash.
6. Each conversation tab has the contact’s display picture as well as their name and status next to it.

More similarities include:

• The Chat bar is positioned at the bottom of the browser window and stays at its position, regardless where you scroll.
• The Chat status stays the same and you stay signed in, even when you click a link to a different page within the same website.

Is it just pure coincidence?

Are the similarities just a pure coincidence, or was it wise planning and inspiration?
Did the Windows Live team just steal the whole chat bar idea from Facebook?

If you’re already signed in to Messenger on your PC client, don’t worry: The Web Bar supports MPOP (Multiple Points of Presence). That means that your conversations and your status details will roam to all clients that are signed in. Thus, you can start a conversation in Messenger, and continue it in the Web Bar and vice-versa!

Expect a series on the new Windows Live Messenger Web Toolkit within the next few weeks – on how to use it, as well as on how to add it to your own website or blog… stay tuned.

Tell me what you think of this new feature.