|
|
|
MSN Messenger 7 Beta Preview
24 December 2004With nothing substantial (and relevant to communication) left to innovate on, both are scrambling, with eccentric features in their next-of-kin products, to woo the cosmetic-happy crowd over from each other's user base. Features like display pictures and high quality emoticons are understandably well received and up to a certain extent, also quite useful. But features like Yahoo's Audibles and IMvironments are simply a waste of time and bandwidth. Till version 6.2, MSN Messenger had only the good and useful features - display pictures and high quality emoticons, but now they've gone and done it too.
Let's take a peek at the reasons why I won't be upgrading to the new MSN Messenger 7.0, unless my life depends on it.
Winks
At first there were text-only messages that made people find innovative uses for the symbols and punctuation marks to represent faces: :-). Then we were given emoticons, little icon-sized pictures that displayed the actual picture, which the symbols were trying to represent. What next? Little icon-sized pictures that not only show faces and expressions, but also talk! Those are Yahoo's Audibles for you. Not content with just having little jabbering icons, Microsoft decided to go not just one, but several steps further by giving full window Flash animations called Winks. They pop up, make a loud noise and disappear without actually serving any purpose. Sound familiar?
If you download the new public beta, you may notice that Winks do not work. That's because of the recent security hole in the older release that let script kiddies transfer their own potentially hazardous Flash files in place of the ones that Messenger provides. Of course this will be fixed in the final release and you'll be able to Wink again.
Nudges
What do you do when the person you're talking to seems to have strayed away from the conversation? Call out his name? Wave your hand? Poke him with it? How about holding him with both your arms and shaking him like a coffee shaker? Yes, THAT will get his attention. Yahoo has had this feature for years - the Buzz, which vibrates the entire message window and also gives out a sound just in case the chatter is looking away from the computer.
Microsoft pulled a CTRL+C-CTRL+V on this feature and added Nudges in MSN Messenger 7.0, but sans sound. That’s not the only thing they changed - it gets jiggy only when the conversation window is in focus. If your buddy has the window minimized, it won't nudge till he opens it. So basically, even if you just go away and come back a few hours later, the window will still nudge because the other guy sent it to you a long time ago. Of course if you just leave the room in the middle of the conversation, your buddy has more to worry about than you not receiving his nudge!
Handwriting
Does it seem like natural evolution? Text chatter at first, then graphics, then audio and video and now actual handwriting? Not to me, it doesn't. If you are the Internet generation, you know how strange it feels to hold a pen and write on paper these days. We are so used to typing that it actually hurts when trying to scribble in the old way, even if it's a small paragraph. And what could be stranger than writing using a pen? Writing using a mouse! Messenger 7.0's handwriting feature lets you script your messages in the small window using a mouse and trust me when I say that the mouse was never designed for writing.
The only use I could think of for this feature was drawing driving directions or something similar, however, I'd much rather prefer drawing a bigger, more clear map in MS Paint and sending it instead.
7.0 o'clock and not all is worse!
Thankfully there's more than just flagrant feature duplication happening with the new version 7.0. A few miscellaneous changes here and there do contribute a bit to my good book, like the new borderless contact list window that also shows your own display picture (hey, it's like a mirror - it's useful!). Also contact names that contain graphic emoticons and status icons appearing beside the buddy icons, as opposed to right on top. The preferences window has also been rearranged a little to look spacious, but it does end up looking more empty than roomy. Perhaps it will be tightened a bit before the final release. Your display pictures in a conversation window can be shown at full size and the remote one can be shown at a smaller size, which I think is a fairly functional addition. The emoticons window has had an overhaul as well and this time for the better. In the full view, each and every emoticon supported by MSN Messenger is displayed, along with appropriate shortcuts. Now this, I like!
But just a rounded contact list, in McNealean terms, is not enough to warrant a 10-odd Megabyte "hairball" upgrade to MSN Messenger. I'm not a huge fan of Yahoo's Audibles or IMvironments, so naturally I'll be staying away from Messenger's Winks. Besides, there's such a nice long list of nifty things you can do using plug-ins like oversize display pictures and emoticons and much more informative notifications, for e.g. when the user opens or closes the chat window. These plug-ins are not (yet) compatible with the new Messenger and oversize pictures will never get implemented owing to a technical reason. Still, if you're impatient like I usually am (this article was written using OpenOffice.org 2.0 beta), then go and grab a copy of the new public beta here. But keep in mind that it can get unstable and crash often.
Source: Techtree
All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
Related Internet Articles
|
 | Unlimited Domain Hosting Only $10 a Month
Founded in 2002, Hostgator.com, LLC has quickly grown from its humble beginnings in Boca Raton, Florida into one of the most respected names in the web hosting industry. Renowned for exceptional customer support and unrivaled in terms of customer satisfaction, Host Gator is poised to take the lead in the highly competitive and densely populated world of web hosting providers.
For more information!
Click Here |
|
|
 | Got Root?! 1&1 Dedicated Servers starting at $99 mo.
We guarantee the highest product quality, top security, and unshakeable reliability. 1&1’s advanced Data Centers have been built from the ground up using the most advanced technology available, giving our global network a strength that is beyond doubt. The power and stability of 1&1’s systems allows us to be first to market with web products that are innovative yet dependable.
For more information!
Click Here |
|
|
 | Get a full dedicated server starting at just $29.95!
ServerPronto is a dedicated hosting subsidiary of Infolink, one of a few profitable Data Center Corporations in the world. From it's beginning in January 1999, Infolink served the "Value Orientated" segment of the Internet market. Not by offering a sub-standard product at a low price, but by offering a top-quality, feature rich product at an incredible price. Since the beginning Infolink has enjoyed dramatic growth while other's in the industry have suffered. We operate our own network in the USA and maintain redundant Fiber Optic Rings which allow us to directly peer with Tier 1 Internet Backbones.
For more information!
Click Here |
|
|
|
|
