The days are numbered for Messenger 2008

In this post:

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

End of Life reached

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

—help.live.com

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

What people think about Messenger 2008

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

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

—Gregory Sampson, Messenger user

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

—Dennis Ziolkowski, Messenger user

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

—Yousef El-Dardiry, BuddyFuse developer

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

—Will Ingles, interface and graphic designer

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

—Max Messenger, Community evangelist

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

—Frank Mänz, Product Manager Windows Live, Microsoft Germany

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

—Zhu Yan, Editor LiveSino.net

Technical reasons to upgrade Messenger

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

Get Messenger 2009

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

In case of problems…

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

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