Shoutbox

Hello everyone,

as you may already know, a new version of Messenger Plus! will be released in about ten days from now. As always, bug fixes, improvements and new features will be present. However, there is one new thing tat you need to be aware of.

Messenger Plus! already brings many, many features to MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger. It has become very hard for me to decide what feature I should improve in each release. I currently have almost no idea about what features are really used and what features are dead-weight. In order to know where to concentrate my efforts, I've decided to add anonymous usage statistics into Messenger Plus!.

Once a week, when Messenger Plus! will check for updates, anonymous statistics will be sent to the server. These statistics are very simple one and consist of true/false information only such as "quicktext was used", "Plus! contact list icon was pressed", ... of course, nothing personal such as chat logs or your contact's emails will be sent. Again, only anonymous numerical data will be sent in a simple http request of less than 1Kb. This featurewill be on bydefaultand you'll easily beable to deactivate it permanently in the first window of the preferences panel (General Options\Local Settings).

Feel free to post comments about this new addition. I hope all of you will understand the necessity of such statistics. This way is the less intrusive way I found to send me the few data I need to continue to improve Messenger Plus! the right way.

Patchou

its an excelent idea to know which features should be removed so u can focus on most used features

Yah I think its a very good idea. I'm sure most features would get used , since none of them are really useless as such, but then again thats where third party plug ins come in.

I support the idea also. However when it comes out that a certain feature isn't use very often/much, I wouldn't remove it though, like Chrono suggested! Only scrap it from the further developing/improving-list. In that way, nobody will be dissapointed and you still can focus on the important (and new) features...

Sounds like a good idea Patchou. I can't wait till 10 days so I can get it .

quote:

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
I support the idea also. However when it comes out that a certain feature isn't use very often/much, I wouldn't remove it though, like Chrono suggested! Only scrap it from the further developing/improving-list. In that way, nobody will be dissapointed and you still can focus on the important (and new) features...

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Disagreed. Obviously all unpopular features should be removed in order to tidy up the preferences menu. Even despite the nice Plus! 3 update of the preferences window, it's still rather difficult to find your way around.

That is realy not "obvious"...... What you suggest is downgrading, aka ripping features from a product. That is a major step and not to be taken lightly! There is a very big difference between taking them of, and stop "improving"/"developing" them....

So, because I use the import/export feature only once in x months, instead of the custom names-feature I use every day, the import/export should be taken off???

I can tell you right now that when this is done with any feature, we will get many questions and complaints on the forum and on IRC...

I'm for this idea, but only if you ask the user to do that at first startup. Like trillian does.

And I agree with cookie, don't remove the feature, make it a hidden reg setting

yes I agree with cookie too.. some features may only be used not much or by a few users but why remove it ?? no reason for it.

when there comes a new version you expect to see the old features + more 

I'm all for this I don't mind letting programs that I like colleting info , i dont agree with ME and ZrednaZ why remove the fetures im sure some one out there has a use for every feture of plus and making it a reg setting would probly only confuse them and like cookie said people will just rush in and start asking where x gone and how do i get it back?