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It seems Microsoft has caved in and quickly made the latest beta available to the public. According to the Windows Live Messenger blog, you can now download Windows Live Messenger 8.5 beta from the Windows Live Messenger beta page.
The emoticon bug posted about by David has seemingly been resolved in this latest build.
Today an internal build of Windows Live Messenger 8.5 was leaked by Messenger Addictos, a Spanish site about Windows Live Messenger and related products.
The new build includes a completely new installer system (though it appears it might need some more work). Messenger itself also got a complete visual overhaul, featuring a new UI that combines the best of Windows Live and Vista. It also includes several minor new features, some of which are still undisclosed. Unfortunately support for Plug-Ins (or “Add-Ins”) has been dropped (the plugins feature never seemed to make progress in any releases).
Click on the links below to view some screenshots of the new Messenger (thanks to mess.be):
- Sign in window
- Windows Live Messenger 8.5
- Sign-in Toast
- Conversation Window
- New typing indicator (above text input)
- About window
The leaked build is only available in Spanish at the moment, but if you managed to download it somewhere, you can copy the old language file (”msglang.dll”) of Windows Live Messenger 8.1.0178 over the new one (”msglang.8.5.1235.0517.dll”). Note that the installation directory has also been changed to “C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Messenger\” making the transition from MSN Messenger to Windows Live Messenger more complete.
via mess.be
A new version of Windows Live Messenger 8.1 beta is now available at the usual download location. The build number for this release is 168.
I can’t find any official announcement regarding this update, but I imagine the changes are bug fixes. Nicole has blogged about it at the Windows Live Messenger team Space saying they’ve made changes based on user feedback. Can anyone spot anything different?
Mess forum visitors are reporting that a new build of Windows Live Messenger has been released on the get.live.com Messenger site.
So far there seems to be no major differences between build 812 and the last release, build 792. I am guessing it is just some bug fixes that didn’t make it into the final release. The previously reported password weakness remains the same.
The installer is dated July 29th and is only about 90kB larger, TheSteve tells me the following files have changed:
Regarding lack of updates here, things are a bit slow in the community and I’m a little busy, although I am getting some things together for a site refresh is the coming months.
Although we thought Microsoft released the final of Windows Live Messenger to the public two days ago, they are very far from the final copy. As of this morning, all users were unable to login to Yahoo!’s services, except to view the main page. A few hours later and with the release of Yahoo! Messenger 8 Beta, all services were back to normal.
That wasn’t the end though. The .NET Messenger Service suddenly refused any connection attempt I sent to it. So, I jumped to the forums and I found out that there was a new WLM (now version 8.0.0792) and that contained one major update that would bring us closer to the WLM-Yahoo! interop - MSNP14, thanks Mario for the discovery.
According to Mario, upon the client signing in it supports MSNP14, but the server still only supports MSNP13. Also, many more things have been added to the text library, such as:
33008, “Two accounts were found for %1, so two separate contacts were added for this person.”
33013, “Yahoo! Messenger with Voice”
33014, “To add {33013} contacts, sign up for the {61143} Beta”
33005, “Example: example@live.com, example@yahoo.com”
33007, “A friend on the {33013} network has added you to their Messenger List. To send instant messages to {33013} contacts, sign up for the {61143} Beta.”
So maybe the WLM team has fully prepared us with the tools we need to support the interop when the time comes. Until that time comes, you can find out more about MSNP14 and the upcoming interop on the forum. Also, get the updated build in English or visit Mess with MSN Messenger for links to other languages!
