Shoutbox

Since I have a feeling this question will come up more often until Plus! 5.0 will be released, here are some of the things people might be wondering about.

This post has also been translated in the languages below. Thanks for spreading the word! If you translated this post in another language, or you know someone else did. Contact me and I'll add it to the list (PM will work).

• Italian: Plus 4,9 sul WLM 2011. Quali sono le caratteristiche funzionanti e quali no (by Unico)
  
• Portuguese: Plus! 4.9 no WLM2011. O que funciona e o que não funciona (by blessedguy)
  
• Spanish: Plus! 4.9 en WLM 2011 - ¿Qué funciona y qué no? (by Chrono)

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Does Messenger Plus! work with Windows Live Messenger 2011?
Yes, but only partial and in an experimental way.

To get Plus! working in Messenger 2011 first make sure you installed the latest build of both. You will need Windows Live Messenger 2011 Build 15.4.3502.922 (released September 30, only works on Vista and 7) and Messenger Plus! Live 4.90.392 (released October 20).

Once Plus! 4.9 is installed you will have to disable its safe mode to make Plus! load in Messenger 2011:
In the contacts list press the Alt key to make the menu bar appear. On the menu go to 'Plus!' -> 'Software Not Loaded'. Check the 'Disable safe mode' option and close the window. A warning will show. Press 'OK' ans Messenger will be restarted, this time with Plus! loaded.

   


Experimental??
Using Plus! on Messenger 2011 is officially still un-supported. Just like using beta software, don't expect things to always work. Yuna is aware many features won't work, there is no use in reporting this as a bug for now.
As announced  Messenger Plus! 5.0 is targeted for release in early December of this year and will be completely compatible with Windows Live Messenger 2011. See Q&A: "It's already "end of January", where is Plus! 5?" for the latest news about when Plus! 5.0 is expected to release.


Partial? Which features will work?
The following Plus! features will work when using Messenger Plus! 4.9 in combination with Windows Live Messenger 2011:

• Skinning (with the exception of custom window shapes). Although nobody has created a real WLM 2011 compatible skin yet. Any brave skinners wanting to attempt a full WLM 2011 skin even before MP!L 5 comes out?
  
• Skinning: UIB files can all be properly decoded and re-encoded (windows definitions and styles can be skinned).
  
• Event Viewer
  
• Transparency on the contacts list
  
• Lock Messenger (half working). The lock messenger feature does not actually lock Messenger as new message windows are able to bypass the lock. It does lock Messenger and hide current windows but new windows are not kept hidden.
  
• Contact List Clean-Up. However, don't pay attention to the 'Has You' column. The 'Has You' data has been unreliable for months. This is an issue caused by the data Microsoft's servers send and if a problem on Messenger 2009 too. Unless Microsoft suddenly fixes this the 'Has You' column will probably just disappear in MP!L 5.
  
• Contacts on Desktop
  
• Event Notifications
  
• Sound Library, although you won't be able to send or receive any sounds.

These Plus! features do not work in Live Messenger 2011 yet:

• Colored/formatted nicknames
  
• Chat logging
  
• Connect to several accounts simultaneously (polygamy)
  
• Any commands or tags such as /away or (!VER)
  
• Any features which usually can only be activated from the conversation window. The Plus! menu does does not (yet) hook into WLM 2011 conversation windows.
  
• Transparency on conversation windows
  
• Custom and built-in Plus! sounds
  
• Scripts. Scripts do import fine and are running. But without the scripts menu and without any functionality in the conversation window you won't get much useful out of most scripts.
  
• Tabbed chats. But Messenger 2011 does tabbed chats natively now.
  
• Quick texts
  
• Quick icons
  
• Personalized Status. Although the dialog shows up fine when you change status, it doesn't seem to do very much.
  
• Plus! Extras. When you right-click on a person in the contacts list.

My favorite feature doesn't work, this sucks! Make everything work!
Understandable. Unfortunately though, coding software takes time. Messenger 2011 was released sooner than most people expected. Microsoft suddenly released the final build of Messenger 2011 while Yuna Software was working on other projects (Plus! 5 with new features and style, new website, Project K, internal tools). While from the outside Messenger 2011 may look fairly similar to Messenger 2009, under the hood a lot can change in between versions, making it a challenge to make Plus! features work again. But the good news is: Messenger Plus! 5.0 is targeted for release in early December of this year and will be completely compatible with Windows Live Messenger 2011. See Q&A: "It's already "end of January", where is Plus! 5?" for the latest news about when Plus! 5.0 is expected to release.

Until Messenger Plus! 5 is available there are two things you can do:

• Use Messenger 2011 with partly working Plus! features.
  If Plus! 4.9 is too buggy you can reset safe mode: In Windows' Control Panel -> Uninstall/Change Messenger Plus! Live -> Repair Messenger -> Reset all Messenger Plus! user preferences to their defaults.
  
• Or you can continue using Messenger 2009 with all Plus! features until Plus! 5 comes out.
  If you already installed Messenger 2011 and you want to return to 2009: In Windows' Control Panel -> Uninstall Windows Live Essentials 2011 -> reboot -> download and install the latest Messenger 2009 build.

In all cases, as long as you have Plus! 4.9 installed you will automatically get an update notification when Plus! 5.0 is out.

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...More info and corrections are welcome, I'll update the post accordingly .