First and foremost, I’d like to point out that I’m not a Mac user, and haven’t been for a long time. I won’t be for a long time, thanks to Apple’s ‘generous’ UK pricing scheme. The next thing I’d like to point out, which you are more than likely to know by now, considering you just pressed the link, is that Microsoft has released the latest version of Windows Live Messenger 7.0.

The reason why I am posting this so suddenly is a little attempt at settling the uproar in the ‘Twittersphere’ (lots of Mac users on Twitter, as I’m sure you know).

Right. So, first impressions.

The first thing you’ll notice about the new version of Windows Live Messenger (despite the obvious rebranding that’s taken almost a year to reach all users) is the simpler new look. Being honest, it was beginning to look old, even by Microsoft’s standards, with the UI styling seemingly going way back past OS X Panther (Apple’s native operating system, a few years back).

You’ll also notice a huge development in the corporate semi-big-brother side of Apple, with a huge amount of work going into integrating it with Office Communications Server 2007. Not saying anything for sure but this appears to run on the Windows platform, so I can’t be completely sure of the reasoning behind this.

Acquisition

I have to admit that getting hold of the software just after it’s release wasn’t too easy, as they were still literally updating the site, throwing my around the site with 301s, 302s, 404, 403, and an error 500 (if you aren’t a web developer, just assume that’s bad). Generally when you try to get there to download it quickly, you expect them to have prepared for it, without the normal Microsoft’s last minute ‘they’ll-never-notice’ approach. I’d hate to be the developer responsible for:

We’re sorry, but there is no Microsoft.com Web page that matches your entry. It is possible you typed the address incorrectly, or the page may no longer exist. You may wish to try another entry or choose from the links below, which we hope will help you find what you’re looking for.

Feature changes

Or rather the lack of them. Admittedly, most can argue that Windows Live Messenger was a pretty complete service as it was, but there’s on doubt that they could have at least pushed themselves a bit, and brought us some kind of webcam integration (or at least easy to find and use, webcam integration) that doesn’t require an installation of the costly Office Communications server 2007. All I could see is a pretty, fresh new look (not as nice as Live 8 for Windows, but nice to see they’re trying to make their software fit into the surroundings) and an instant search bar, rather agreeing with the upcoming quote.

What’s the difference?

I have to say, not that much has changed. There are a few good features like the new video communication system, integration with Microsoft Office for Mac 2008, and a couple of better native UI integrations, but it still wouldn’t stop quotes like this:

@lawrencejob huh? on Msn? yeah i just installed the new Msn for Mac. im kinda disappointed, Theres no big changes, just the color, a new… [...] …search bar

… floating around the networks. Either way, I’m planning on uploading this to Digg, in the Apple section, so I’m interested in your (unbiased, I’m sure) opinions. The reason for all the unexplained dots is essentially that darn 140 character limit Twitter loves to tease us with.

The judgement

Overall I’d award this a 3.5 star rating. However, three of those stars were from the existing product. If I were to give an award on improvement, it would most likely be a 1, or 2 if I’m generous. They clearly didn’t push themselves, although it is nice to have a more streamlined interface from the folks at Redmond.

*****

Sidenote: GTA IV. Yay. Oh and no, I haven’t got it.