Last week sometime, I decided to sign up for the new Windows Live beta program so I could play with the new messenger client. I've never really been a fan of MSN Messenger, but that's what my co-workers used when I came to work at RightNow. I've always been a fan of Yahoo! Messenger. Over the past year and a half, I've seen MSN slowly improve things with their messenger client, and some ways becoming a better client then Yahoo! Messenger.

Anyways, over the weekend, I apparently received my invitation because it was waiting in my Inbox this morning for me. Initially, I was slightly disappointed with how the contact list looks and feels, since it's had in my opinion some fairly big changes (well, as big as they can be considering it's a contact list).

So, what is wrong with it? Well, nothing I guess, it's just different. I don't like the fact that the display pic isn't always visible. You have to click on their name or if you have the option enabled you can mouse over their name to "expand" the contact. Another thing I don't like is that for people with long display names or long personal messages, you can't read the entire thing. In 7.5.x releases, you could mouse over the contacts name and the entire name/message would appear in a tooltip. This is no longer the case, and something I hope they change before the final build. This functionality is however available if you click on the contacts name to bring up their contact card, then mouse over the top where their name is displayed. That's too much clicking however, I want my simple mouse over back!!

While I'm kind of partial about this, they have also removed MSN Today. I have NEVER liked it to automatically open when I sign in, but if I'm killing time, I would occasionally click on the MSN Today icon at the top of the contact list to check it out. It was also a nice way of seeing any emails I've received in my Hotmail account, since I don't use it. Well, that's gone and I'm guessing it won't be re-added for the final build.

One thing that I do like however is that the contacts are grouped in each group by whether or not they are available, or busy/away. As opposed to displaying the status after their display name however, it's now indicated by an icon. This of course, co-incides with my prior complaint about not having the display pic always available. This functionality wouldn't be available if they still were. Another thing I really like a lot is the ability to find a contact or number. There is a search box at the top of the contact list that allows you to do partial searching. This is great if you have those kind of friends who never use their name in their display name and are always changing what it says.

Of course there are the telephony and game features, and the improved video chat functionality. I did use the video chat today, and the only complain I have is do NOT (yes, I repeat, DO NOT) go full screen. If you charish the sizes and placement of your other windows, just don't do it. It will resize them and place them in the top left corner. I'm pretty sure this is because it's changing the Windows Desktop resolution, then restoring it when leaving full screen mode. Anyways, it's lame and should be fixed before final in my opinion.

Since I don't know anyone else currently using the beta, I haven't had a chance to test out the game functionality. I have seen some screenshots of it, and it looks just like the video conferencing with the expanded chat window.

I have to say though, that the hands down best feature so far is offline messaging. Why oh why has it taking Microsoft so long to implement this feature? It is something I have always loved about Yahoo! Messenger, and one thing that has always pissed me off about MSN. If a friend signs off, and I just wanted to tell them a very short simple thing, I can't. I mean, something so simple I wouldn't waste sending an email over. Anyways, Microsoft apparently has finally gotten the clue and have added it to the list (thank you!!). Not only can I receive offline messages now, but I can also be in "Appear Offline" status and send messages to my contacts; something that has never been available. I was pleasantly suprised to see that I could use this funcionality with contacts that are still using older version of the client.

Another cool feature they have added is Shared Folders. Shared Folders allow you to share files with contacts. Each contact has a different folder and although I haven't had the opportunity to test it out, the folders are available even when you are offline (at least that's the rumor).

So, overall I think this is the most improvement and amount of changes that I've seen for an upgrade to this particular client. I was sketched about upgrading initially, mostly because of Secway Simp, which is a requirement as far as I'm concerned. Fortunately, Secway has released an open beta for their product, which is why I went for it; so far I'm glad I did.