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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
Version 6.0.2 of Messenger for Mac was released around the same time as Windows Live Messenger 8.1. The changes in this update include:
It’s mostly an effort to fix sign-in issues, so be sure to update if you experience sign-in difficulty with Messenger for Mac.
ValSpy has also written a review of Messenger for Mac over at Messenger Stuff.
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?
