Windows Live Messenger 9 has been leaked to net to numerous websites around the globe, sporting new features;
- Messenger Sounds – Configure a signature sound when you come online to your buddies.
- Multiple Sign Ins – For example; Allows you to sign into messenger on the pc as well as your Xbox Live account. Note that it’s only working for registered Beta participants. It should also coincide with the expected Xbox Dashboard Update.
- Contact Spam – You can now block and report a suspected spammer(relating to advertising etc.)
- Animated Display Pictures – Such as an animated gif, Dynamic Display Pictures(DDP’s) which currently can only be made by companies with a Digital License are still around.
Links can be found all over the place and we won’t be linking it to front page. Try Google perhaps ? We suggest you keep using the current version 8.5 till this is publicly released by the Messenger Team. You can also head to mess.be for screenshots.
The final version of Windows Live Messenger 8.5 is now officially available to download. It was leaked ahead of schedule but I thought we’d wait till it was official. The english version can be found here and for other versions heres another 20 languages which Mess have provided. Also the only thing noticeable is the fact there is finally Vista x64 support(Yay!)
Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese-Simplified, Chinese-Traditional, Croatian, Czech , Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese-Brazil, Portuguese-Portugal, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian
If you haven’t already noticed, The Messenger Team posted about the new updates that users of Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta 1 will be prompted to update to Beta 2. While the updates will be optional for Windows XP/XP 64 bit/Server 2003, Windows Vista 32/64 bit will be forced to update to Beta 2, which ironically cannot be installed from the current beta installer that is available.
So for those that want to use the new beta and are using Windows Vista 32/64bit, install the Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Beta 1 and logging in will prompt you to update and accept.
As Liveside reported, Messenger Presence or Windows Live Messenger IM Control as its described in Angus Logan’s Blog will allow people to chat with your without them seeing your email address which is similar to Web2Messenger already provides. So when do you expect to be able to use it? Theres no release date so you’ll just have to wait like the rest of us. Of course, you’ll have to enable the option to allow anyone to chat with you if you don’t have them on your list. There could be the risk of getting spammed using this feature but I’m sure Microsoft will put in some sort of safeguard.
Regarding the Webcam Flaw , the Messenger Team have posted about the new upgrades and here is the key parts below:
Do users have to upgrade?
Yes, once a user has been given a mandatory upgrade notice, they will have to install Windows Live Messenger 8.1. Most users have been given an optional upgrade notice since January 2007.
I am not seeing a mandatory upgrade right now and I am running a bad version of the client, why?
The Messenger network uses a rolling upgrade mechanism across the network. It will take several days to get a mandatory upgrade and new bits to all users.
What can users do now to protect themselves sooner?
Users running Windows Live Messenger 8.1 do not need to take action. Users running earlier versions of Messenger should visit http://messenger.live.com and install Windows Live Messenger 8.1.
I use Windows 2000. How can I protect myself?
Because Windows 2000 isn’t supported by Windows Live Messenger 8.1, we will provide an updated version of MSN Messenger 7.0. We will upgrade Windows 2000 users to the updated version of MSN Messenger 7.0 after the Windows Live Messenger upgrades.
Till then, as a precautionary measure, don’t accept a webcam or a video call invitation from a contact that you don’t trust.
If I’m running the new Windows Live Messenger 8.5 beta, am I protected?
Yes. Messenger 8.5 beta users are not affected by this vulnerability.