The transcript (October 19th 2004):
Andy Q (Moderator)
We will begin our Chat "MSN Beta Chat - MSN Messenger " in just a few minutes.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: When can we expect a PUBLIC beta? It's hard to keep this for ourselves.
A: Soon
Andy Q (Moderator)
Please hold your questions until the chat starts, we may not answer questions posed before the chat begins. Thanks!
Andy Q (Moderator)
Welcome to today’s chat. Our topic is MSN Beta Chat - MSN Messenger. Questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome.
Andy Q (Moderator)
Before we begin, I would like to begin by posting the chat rules and instructions:
Andy Q (Moderator)
1. This chat will last for one hour. During this hour, our Experts will respond to as many questions as they can. Please understand that there may be some questions we cannot respond to due to lack of information or because the information is not yet public.
2. We encourage you to submit questions for our Experts. To do so, type your questions in the send box, select the Submit a Question radio button and click SEND. Questions sent directly to the Guest Chat room will not be answered by the Experts, but we encourage other community members to assist.
3. We ask that you stay on topic for the duration of the chat. This helps the Guests and Experts follow the conversation more easily. We invite you to ask off topic questions after this chat is over, but not during.
4. Please only submit your question once. Submitting your question more than once is against the Chat Code of Conduct.
5. Please abide by the Chat Code of Conduct.
Andy Q (Moderator)
We are pleased to welcome our Experts for today’s chat. I will have them introduce themselves now.
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Hello everyone, thanks for joining us tonight. My Name is Jon Beck, and am a MSN Beta Program Manager and am looking forward to you great questions for the MSN Messenger Team.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Hi I am NicoleT. I am a Program Manager on the MSN Messenger Team. I have been on the team for 10 months but I have used Messenger for years.
Roger H (Expert)
I'm Roger, tester for the UI and customer experience
Andy Q (Moderator)
Please do not submit the same question more than once, to do so is a violation of the chat code of conduct.
mcctester (Expert)
Hi I am Sangeeta, QA Manager. Looking forward to hearing from you regarding the bugs & usability/overall experience. Thanks!
DavidMi_MS (Expert)
Hey, I am a dev on the messenger platform team.
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Hi, my name is Nikki and I am the Group Program Manager of MSN Messeger.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Will there be a background feature for the contact lost in MSN Messenger 7? Since the lvback.gif is no longer used.
A: We are considering putting this back, there has been quite a bit of feedback on it.
Jeff_Wilkes_MS (Expert)
Hi, I'm the Support Program Manger for MSN Messenger.
mcctester (Expert)
Q: When can we expect a PUBLIC beta?
A: soon. Stay tuned for a great public beta!
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: why are the winks disabled
A: There were some issues discovered that need more investigation. We are working on it. Stay Tuned!
Roger H (Expert)
Q: RogerH -> the UI related to the Options . Why was it chagned from the regular Tabbed dialog to a horrific almost non-themed nearly linux styled options dialog?
A: We're trying something a little different that will allow us to include additional options without taking too much space from the dialog pages.
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: I tried to get into BetaPlace tonight and could not, is it down are do I have a problem with my Name.. ??? I did get into it Sat. night...
A: We are aware of this issue. We are working on it.
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Q: msn messenger will allow to have more contacts? i work with msn messenger and need more contacts
A: we are evaluating increasing the limit on contacts. what limit do you think would be best?
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: will norton antivirus ever work on scanning items sent to us from other people
A: Virus Scanning can be enabled for files transfered in an IM. You can set it up in Options.File Transfer
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Can we have unlimited contacts on our contact list? Or can we have an extended number?
A: This is a frequent feature request we get, and it's under consideration for the future.
Andy Q (Moderator)
We ask that you stay on topic for the duration of the chat. This helps the Guests and Experts follow the conversation more easily. We invite you to ask off topic questions after this chat is over, but not during.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Rogerh -> Could you at least make the listview / listbox on the left side "normal" like windows themese . When you select it nd click it it does not have the normal dashed border. it has some rasied border. it looks absolutely horrific - not to metnion how
A: Good suggestion. It could use some cosmetic improvement, we'll see what we can do. Thanks
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Is there going to be a way to disable the nudge? they get annoying sometimes.
A: Yes, there is a bug to disable nudges it will be fixed in the next release.
Andy Q (Moderator)
Do not resubmit a question, it will not be answered and you may be removed from the chat room, thanks!
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: How do I become an Expert?
A: www.microsoft.com/jobs
mcctester (Expert)
A: we are evaluating this nice feature
mcctester (Expert)
Q: WE want offline messages! :p
A: We are evaluating this nice feature for some for our upcoming releases.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Will you be changing the bitmaps for the nudges and other new icons to match those of the emoticons ect, at the moment the nudge is plain colours, no gradients ect, looks out of place.
A: There will be several fit-n-finish issues we will be doing for the final version. We'll keep all the buttons in the conversation window in mind. Thanks
mcctester (Expert)
Q: OFFLINE Messages or I reinstall ICQ ;)
A: We are evaluating this nice feature for some of our upcoming releases
Roger H (Expert)
Q: The scroll bug (in long conversations) from MSN6 still hasnt been fixed in MSGR 7. Can we expect it to be fixed in the final of MSGR7?
A: This bug actually was a bit more difficult to narrow down and fix than we thought. It is still being looked at, but no guarantees for v7.0.
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Q: Are we going to have to pay for webcam conversations?
A: the webcam feature that shipped in version 6 of Messenger will continue to be free in version 7. we are introducing a new feature in version 7 that will allow you to make premium audio/video conversations including full screen video that will be for a subscription fee.
mcctester (Expert)
Q: We want OFFLINE messages :D
A: We are evaluating this nice feature for some for our upcoming releases.
Andy Q (Moderator)
We are getting a ton of questions for our experts, we wont be able to get to all of them. Make sure they are on topic and DO NOT resubmit them. Thanks!
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: With the Frameless version of Messenger, would it be possible to add a tab or the ability to right click the MSN logo to signout?
A: You can sign out through the systray icon. We will look into that suggestion for a future release.
Jeff_Wilkes_MS (Expert)
Q: no, no, you don't understand. I already do work at microsoft on the messenger team. I just want to help answer questions
A: For folks who don't work for Microsoft we do have have the MVP program. If you are active in the MSN Messenger newsgroups it raises the likelyhood of you getting invited to join the MVP program. See
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ for more info on the program.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Devs, do you consider having a tabbed chat window?
A: Dev manager want that feature too!
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Q: any premium service for msn 7 for people that pay a subcription?
A: as I mentioned in my last anwer, we will be introducing a new subscription around premium audio/video conversations
mcctester (Expert)
Q: what are the minimun System Requirements for msn messenger 7?
A: the same system requirements that are published for Messenger v6.2
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Will the GUI change for V7 of Messenger ala V5 - V6 massive GUI change?
A: People who have tried the pre-beta of v7.0 have noticed the main UI has gotten a facelift. However, we aren't doing anything as dramatic as what v6.0 was, but always trying to improve our desktop appearance.
Geeven (Expert)
Q: Everytime i opened up my Msn Messenger, The contacts refresh. Is this a bug?
A: Yes, and we have fixed it. This shouldn't be a problem in the final release. :)
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: waht about the file transfer speed cap?
A: There is a speeed cap for files transfered though our servers, but if we can make a direct connection, the speed is only based on your connection (or your buddies connection speed). We can look at increasing the speed cap, but you'll get much better results by configuring your network so you can connect direct.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Why cannot I not see links when I run as non admin?
A: Not sure, we will look into it.
DavidMi_MS (Expert)
Q: what about the file transfer speed cap?
A: When a direct connection is possible between two clients, we try and establish one. At that point, you are really only capped by the link between the two. When it is not possible to establish a direct connection, we reflect messages thru our server. We have a rate limit on our server so that we can protect ourselves.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: q:Why can I not enable logging when I am not admin?
A: This will be fixed! Stay Tuned
mcctester (Expert)
Q: Will MSN Messenger 7 have offline messages?
A: We are evaluating this feature.
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: How can I join the MSN Messenger Beta?
A: For those that are not yet a beta tester and enjoying this chat. You can nominate yourself by going to beta.microsoft.com and logging in with your passport. Then type the guestID of MSNBeta (Case sensitive), click on survey and fill out the nomination survey. We will then review it and accept.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Once feature I want is better Address Book/ messenger integration. I.e., the option to show people in the contact list (and MSN Explorer Messenger list) via the first and last name stored in the MSN Address Book
A: This would be cool. We'd have to work with the Hotmail team on this, thanks for the suggestion
DavidMi_MS (Expert)
Q: Is MSN Messenger going to have an option for encryption of messages? SIP/SLP allows it (You use it for P4P), are you going to implent it? A lot of users would like it, i think.
A: We are looking at this feature in a future release :)
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Some of the bitmaps are out of place with the rest of the UI, like the nudge bitmap in the chat window, will these be changed to match?
A: Yes we have updated these images. Stay Tuned.
Jeff_Wilkes_MS (Expert)
Q: I want my 2GB MSN Premium e-mail upgrade!!
A: See
http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/home&pgmarket=en-u...xAPID=1983&DI=1402 for details on the Hotmail 2 GB offer.
Geeven (Expert)
Q: will we still be able to view cams without the subscription?
A: If you're talking about Video Conversation - the subscription video calling service - then yes. Subscribers can start a conversation with whomever they would like.
DavidMi_MS (Expert)
Q: What kind of usage data are you recording from volunteers?
A: http://messenger.msn.com/Help/ceip.aspx
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Will be NAT supported in audio?
A: We have made several improvements in this area, stay tuned for public beta.
mcctester (Expert)
Q: Winks will be avaible?
A: yes, we are working on it
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: one feature in AIM that MSN Messenger seriously needs: custom away messages. that is one feature i hate to say i miss!
A: We are looking into this for a future release.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: You should let the user choose between a slide-in or fade-in notification when a contact comes online or you receive an email.
A: Cool suggestion, thanks. We'll take a look at this for a future version.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Why not adding a View menu like by Contact list, Display Pics, Grid List, etc. ?
A: We are looking into different views for a future release.
mcctester (Expert)
Q: For the offline messages: maybe store them into a Hotmail folder? When MSN Messenger signs in, it can check for messages in said folder, and display those messages. Saves on storage space for ya'll
A: Thanks for your suggestion. We are evaluating this feature for a future release
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Q: Will you be making the UI of msn messenger more customisable?
A: personalization is a key feature of msn messenger. we focused on personalization features like display pictures, emoticons, winks, etc. to give customers the ability to fully express their personality to their friends instead of doing cusomization work around skins/themes that only you see. what type of customization are you looking for?
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Why are file transfers so slow? I mean 2 people on broadband sending a file at 9kbps? Anyway to make it faster?
A: If you are behind routers, this will force the file transfer to go thru our servers...not sure of the port number offhand, but open it and it should allow a direct connection and speed transfer considerably
mcctester (Expert)
Q: How soon can we expect a new pulic version
A: it's coming up soon
Karthik_MS (Expert)
Q: Will there be update only installs of Messenger...
A: We are evaluating this feature for a future release.
NicoleT_MS (Expert) Derek: Will there be an improved text formatting. Bold or underline a certain work in the text instead of the whole message or is there a reason this hasn't already been added?
How important is this to you? and why?
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: Why are file transfers so slow? I mean 2 people on broadband sending a file at 9kbps? Anyway to make it faster?
A: I'm guessing that the clients were not able to connect to each other without going through the Messenger server. Most likly it was because of the network settings like having a NAT on both sizes. There's a help topic on the messenger.msn.com on how to optimize your net settings.
Andy Q (Moderator)
For those new to the chat - Our topic is MSN Beta Chat - MSN Messenger. We’re about halfway in
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Will MSN Messenger be skinnable in the future like Windows XP, Windows Media Player etc?
A: This has been a popular suggestion, and considering how much feedback we have gotten, we're seriously considering it for a later version. After three years, I'd like to see this, too :-)
Andy Q (Moderator)
Please only submit a question once; resubmitting a question will not help it be more visible. Thanks!
Geeven (Expert)
Q: Not that I am a Mac user (, but I do deal with a few) but when will the Mac client support some of these advanced features.
A: The mac client is written by and entirely different - and much smaller - team here at MS. They work as fast as they can to interop with us but I wouldn't expect them to have full compatability with the windows client any time soon.
mcctester (Expert)
Q: Being able to access the hotmail calender from Messenger, possible?
A: good idea. We will evaluate it in a future release
Geeven (Expert)
Q: Fix the leaks in your internal team ;)
A: Heh... if wishing made it so. :)
Jeff_Wilkes_MS (Expert)
Q: Jeff, perhaps you misunderstood me. I am currently subscribed to MSN Premium and I have received several e-mails stating that my storage space will be increased to 2GB. But it is still at 25MB. Is there a timeframe as to when this upgrade will be complete?
A: Last I heard was late fall for the US. That will apply to the primary mailbox only, all the secondary mailboxes will have a 250 MB limit.
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Q: Will there wbe a web based version of MSN Messenger 7?
A: the web version of messenger is located at
http://webmessenger.msn.com and the beta is available today
Andy Q (Moderator)
We will make an effort to answer as many questions as he can. There may be times when a question may be asked that we do not have an immediate answer for or cannot get to.
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: A public beta: matter of DAYS, WEEKS or MONTH(s)?
A: Sounds right! :P
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Could we please sign in offline from the systray via right click on MSN Msg Icon?
A: Someone else mentioned just the other day that we were missing this access capability. We're looking into how we can do this. Thanks
DavidMi_MS (Expert)
Q: i have a friend who cant send files to me, but i can send to him, cuz of a firewall. maybe implment a 'push' sending feature?
A: If you are both runnign 6.0 or better, this should work. If one of you is running an older build, it is less llikely to work.
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Q: Do the nudge and/or winks works only with the newer version of MSN Messenger?
A: yes, that is correct
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Nicole, formatting is important to me as well to emphasize and 'customize' my own text in a number of different situations..
A: Thanks for the info. We will look into it in guess what... a future release :)
Geeven (Expert)
Q: the scroll bar within conversation windows randomly goes up and won't come back down, this has been a problem in past versions as well; will this be fixed in v7?
A: Yes, we've fixed several bugs related to this since we've released the beta. I won't promise that it is perfect, but I'll say that I haven't seen the problem anymore.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: currently there is a bug where people still on 6.2 cannot see my display pictures (i am on 7) and only msn messenger 7 users can.
A: Interesting. We need to check this out, I don't think we've seen it. Thanks for the report.
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Q: Would it be possible that you guys at MSN could catch all files I send to a friend on your server :X ?!?
A: the answer is no. file transfer attempts to go peer-to-peer if possible.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: How old is the oldest member of your development team?
A: over 47 years old!
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: Will we have the option to pause and resume file-transfers?
A: This is a great idea and something we've talked about doing. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to do it in a future release.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Custom Away Messages?
A: Guess what we are going to say... looking into for future release.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Can we for the next chat have MVPs as Experts as well so they can help answer some questions they might know or help triage the flood of questions?
A: Jonathan Kay was here last time...I don't think he was able to make it today, but he's always welcome :-)
Karthik_MS (Expert)
Q: I will ask again. Are there plans to make the TABS customisable in this beta?
A: There are no immediate plans to allow end users to customize the Tab content.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Q: Whats the youngest member of the dev team?
A: 21 years old
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Q: Randomly when i go to click on a contact in my contact list the list resets itself to the top. Sometime this results in a illegal pure virtual function call. Are yougusy aware of this annoying bug whichs ometimes crashes MSN
A: yes we are aware of this bug. i know it is annoying and will be addressed.
Geeven (Expert)
Q: Are there any plans to include features like polygamy, convert links to clickable links, enable/disable autocomplete emoticons, etc.... Those should be easy things to implement (I think) and people wouldn't need all those (illegal) patches...
A: Polygamy is a harder problem then you might imagine. We only allow some links to be clickable for security reasons - too many viruses, worms and trojans have spread from people clicking a link in Messenger. As for enable/disable emoticon autocomplete - that's a good idea. I'll try and do it before the final release. :)
Roger H (Expert)
Q: RogerH -> the "should" honestly doesnt work. I've set my router and my friends routers up and it still does not do direct connect. There needs to be a wizard and more testing and a better guideline. See my earlier question
A: Sorry, I'm not completely familiar with all the different possibilities for what causes this. Our connectivity tester is not in the chat room, so I'll check with him for other scenarios where this happens. Sorry for the lousy answer, I kinda jumped, I suppose...
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: What client are you guys using?
A: MSN Messenger 7.0 Managed Beta!
DavidMi_MS (Expert)
Q: Q: Why is inbuilt logging so random? Why is it so non-deterministic in how it writes to disk? Is the purpose not to provide a logging mechanism for referance to in the future?
A: The logging function is designed to help us diagnose connectivity errors. It writes networking events and other events of interest to us in helping debug problems.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Will there be the option that we can change our display name before we sign in
A: No, sorry. We need to know who you are before you can change your name...this means that you have to logon first.
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: I experience some lag when I first log onto Messenger that makes me wait as long as 5 seconds to load my contact list, and this is an annoyance. Any solution in the future?
A: Peformance should get better before release. The beta was a little slow on logon, and we've been working on improving this. :)
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Will the Music Party feature from 3 Degrees be incorporated into MSN 7.x?
A: Guess what? we are looking into it a future release :)
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: Also, for the next chat, can we please have a chat that is not public in of all places Expert Zone? I like how it's in Microsoft Communities, but there are other rooms. Thanks
A: This wasn't supposed to be quite so Public. We will work on ways to lock this down for the future.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Do you guys use MSN Messenger *after* work too?
A: After work.. we never go home :) Just kidding of course we use it after work - it is almost a requirement for employment on the team.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Why not make MSN messenger an update to replace windows messenger
A: We really wouldn't want to replace Windows Messenger, that client can do things for enterprise customers that MSN Messenger cannot, and vice-versa.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: when can we expect the next future release?!?!? lol
A: In the future!
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: is your TO-DO list bigger than WDZ's ? :P
A: Our to-do list is very large. What is WDZ?
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Q: Why not make MSN messenger an update to replace windows messenger
A: windows messenger ships in windows xp and has basic IM functionality. msn messenger can be downloaded separately and contains more features and has tighter integration with other msn services. as of today msn messenger will not upgrade windows messenger because they are two separate products.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: can we ask a simple msn 6.2 problem that msn support couldnt help with?
A: You can ask :)
DavidMi_MS (Expert)
Q: do you know why even with the ports open on the router file tranfers are still slow?
A: This generally indicates that we are going thru the server for the transfer. There are a number of factors that determine whether we can make a direct connection between two machines, such as NATs and firewalls that sit between the two machines. I also think that our help is currently out of date wrt the ports you need to open. Someone suggested a utility for allowing people to tell whether a connection could be established. That is a good idea that i will look into in the future
Len Z (Expert)
Q: MSN Messenger 7 has "DirectIM". Aren't you afraid this will result in a security risk (IPs being available to everyone upon opening a conversation). I know you can disable them in "Options", but it's turned ON by default.
A: THe signaling for direct IM is done through the Messenger service. This has the same risks as file transfer does with respect to IP exposure. THe benefit of direct IM is that people not located in North America will get much better IM performance with respect to latency.
Geeven (Expert)
Q: Roger H: No offence but, if polygamy is harder then we think, then how come a simple patch will work?
A: I should have been more clear. The /right/ way of doing polygamy is harder then you'd think. Some people think the best feature of Messenger is that you can change your display name and all of your buddies see it. If we let you override your buddy's display name, then Messenger may have gotten better for you, but worse for your buddy. We've seen how these "patches" and "add-in" applications do it, but - personally - I haven't seen a very good implementation of this. When we've got the best design nailed, we'd love to give you this feature.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: I want to send Msn Messenger 7.0 a present. Whats your address? :)
A: One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Why on earth are there two different clients that do the same thing? They allow us to converse instantly over the internet. Why not just MSN Messenger? What makes Windows Messenger usable over MSN Messenger?
A: For sending IM, they are similar...but each has features the other doesn't have. MSN Messenger is primarily for consumers, while Windows Messenger is for enterprise customers.
Geeven (Expert)
Q: A suggestion: Maybe make e-mail addresses and display names copyable in the contact cards for easy access. :)
A: I agree. I've made this suggestion myself. It should be fixed by the time we get to the final release.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Are we going to be able to customize how our little green MSN buddy appears on other people's contact lists? eg. a minimized version of our display picture?
A: I am looking into a crystal ball.... maybe a future release
Geeven (Expert)
Q: Instead of saying "Future release" say "a release within an indefinate time yet to come"
A: heh... no. that's too much for us to type. :p
Andy Q (Moderator)
For those new to the chat - Our topic is MSN Beta Chat - MSN Messenger, we have about 20 minutes left so make those MSN Messenger questions count!
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Which do you prefer better? Msn Messenger Build 7.0 or Windows Messenger?
A: Ummm...we prefer MSN Messenger! Of course, the Windows Messenger team is probably gonna send us a really nasty email when they read this answer...
Andy Q (Moderator)
We have over 400 questions in the queue so please be patient
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Will MSN Messenger ever feature a spell check feature??
A: Futreu rlease
Geeven (Expert)
Q: Will MSN Messenger ever feature a spell check feature??
A: Boy... I hope so. :) Yes, we've considered it. It may be in a future release. But don't dispair, there are many people on the team that want spell checking very much. We'll try and get it in eventually.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: What's your latest number on MSN Messenger users worldwide?
A: Over 100 million
Geeven (Expert)
Q: For mere interests sake, are patches and/or loaders illegal or do they violate the EUA?
A: Yes.
Jeff_Wilkes_MS (Expert)
Q: my cousin has msn 6.2 and windows messenger. the computer is up to date with viruses and spyware things. The weird thing no matter what he does the MSN conversation windows stay minimized. no way to actually see whats being typed. Windows messenger works
A: I haven't seen this problem before. You can open a support incident by going to
http://support.msn.com/contactus.aspx and select MSN Messenger.
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Q: So will Msn become a paid service soon?
A: as you can see we are introducing new features in messenger that will be for pay like cool new content (i.e. emoticons, winks, content packs, some games, etc.) the similarity to draw here is ringtones where customers can pay for great content that they can use. we are now allowing our customers to do the same with messenger content.
Karthik_MS (Expert)
Q: Rename contacts possible?
A: We are evaluating this feature for a future release. Its coming.
DavidMi_MS (Expert)
Q: Will we have a feature that will allow us to physically punch other users in the face when they annoy us?
A: That feature currently exists, and is just undiscovered by our users.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: So will Msn become a paid service soon?
A: This has been constantly speculated all over the 'net. The answer is that MSN Messenger has no plans to charge our customers simply to use the client. You will still be able to logon, send IM, start an audio conversation, etc.
Paul (Expert)
Q: do we get anything free for helping beta test msn messenger?
A: You get to test the product before it's publically available... :-)
Andy Q (Moderator)
Please do not resubmit questions, doing so is a violation of the chat code of conduct. Thank you.
Karthik_MS (Expert)
Q: Any option to send IM's to people that are offline coming?
A: We are evaluating offline messaging for a future release.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: I am still confused about the 'differences' between MSN Messenger 'aka General Consumer Messenger' and Windows Messenger? I mean what additional features in a corporate environment are available in Windows Messenger that are not in MSN Messenger?
A: One example: you can logon to a SIP server with Windows Messenger. There are several other differences, too many to list here at this time.
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: are you evaluating bio-mod enhancements such as direct brain wave links to your buddies in a future version of MSN Messenger?
A: Are you signing up to be a beta tester if we do? :-0
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: I actually love msn messenger! I am always finding bugs, but my problem is that I cannot tell you guys! Is there a way?
A: Yes click on Help -> Send Feedback
Karthik_MS (Expert)
Q: will messenger 7 work in longhorn
A: There will be a version of Messenger that integrates with Longhorn.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: How do I uninstalled Windows Messenger instead of going to Add/Remove programs as it is not there?
A: There are a couple of different ways to do this...however, we HIGHLY recommend that you do not do this. There are several features (such as app sharing, remote desktop, etc) that MUST have Windows Messenger installed in order to work correctly.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: What is the ETA for when you guys go mental with all these questions?
A: 6:31pm
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Q: What is the limit of video conferencing users, and does geography play any role in being able to effectively use this features?
A: we don't support muitlparty video conferencing today so you can only be in a video confernce with one other person. this is not impacted by geography.
Jeff_Wilkes_MS (Expert)
Q: is there going to be an option to NOT have MSN messenger load in my tray when I opin IE 6..I like messenger and all and I may be shot for this but I dont want it on ALL the time
A: You might want to try unchecking the "Allow automatic sign in when connected to the internet" option.
Paul (Expert)
Q: why are some feature different (ie games, menu is not the same) in the US and Canada?
A: Many features in MSN Messenger vary from market to market, such as games.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: can you send me Bill Gates' bank account number and PIN plz?
A: NO.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Roger H: oh... hmmm... maybe I misread the answer but, with polygamy we mean allowing multiple instances of MSN Messenger (with different logins of course), not changing our budies names (custom names)...
A: Whoops...did I accidentally answer the wrong question?
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: why did the chicken cross the road?
A: to get to the other side and check out the future release
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Hi I just logged in, Im running Media Center Edition 2005, and messenger keeps crashing on me, can you help me on resolving this issue?
A: We have received another report similar to this. We are currently investigating.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: [ Nicole => This is weird, I don't have the"Help >> Send Feedback" in my MSN Messenger =\ ]
A: What build are you running?
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Q: Option to choose from a variety of skins for MSN Messenger?
A: msn messenger does not currently support skins. you can download backgrounds in an IM conversation to change the look of individual conversations.
Mike-Beta X (Expert)
Q: Andy, Send me that Display Pic that you and Mike use :)
A: Wait until it is on neowin ;-)
Andy Q (Moderator)
We are going to have to wrap up this chat in about 10 minutes. We’re going to answer a few more questions, though.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Will you try to make Msn messenger 7 use less ram (ICQ 4 newest build uses 2megs :O)
A: We are always balancing features against memory usage and such, we are currently looking into areas where we can improve performance.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: what is your favorite soft drink?
A: Whichever is easiest to reach in the company fridge, I suppose...
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Canadian English in UI?
A: I am Canadian eh?
Jeff_Wilkes_MS (Expert)
Q: why don't things as simple as clicking email links work in MSN Messenger
A: Do you have more details?
Nadia-MSN Beta (Expert)
Q: i would love to be a beta tester for that project :P
A: Anyone interested in beta testing can apply at beta.microsoft.com and enter the guest ID: MSNBeta (case sensitive). Fill out the nomination form and we will review it.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Why do you humor people asking stupid questions (like this one for instance)
A: Gives us some time to hang with our most-rabid Messenger customers...
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: What's your favorite MSN Messenger fansite: I LOVE MESSENGER or Mess.be ? :p
A: I love Messenger, do you?
Roger H (Expert)
Q: A while back MSN had a feature from Net2Phone for making phone calls online. Will MSN ever team up with another company again for this?
A: There are no plans to do something like this in the foreseeable future, but anything is possible.
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: Is there a specific area to direct feedback regarding the BlueMountain Stuff
A: Please use the Bug form on Betaplace to submit Blue Mountain specific feedback.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: how can i help in translation UI to other language ?
A: We have our own internal localization team. Goto www.microsoft.com/jobs
Andy Q (Moderator)
We are going to have to wrap up this chat in about 5 min. We’re working on the final answers for today.
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: I think he's talking about using a mailto: feature when Messenger recognies a e-mail address.
A: We disabled on http and https links from the IM window as a security feature. This was related to the shell: exploit.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: last timne i will ask am pulling my hair out -- why can i not save history with a conyact on my list it only happens with one contact?? Help PLEASE ????
A: Sorry about that...please contact us at BetaPlace with the issue, including reproduction steps. We'd like to investigate this, cuz we are unaware of this.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: will there be an option to remove the msn search bar from the contact list? with that and tabs and the ad it looks very cluttered.
A: No there isn't an option in the managed beta for that
Nikki -- MSN (Expert)
Q: I've heard lots and lots of rummers that we are goign to have to start maying for Msn Messenger. Is this true? And if so Why? I mean you will lose millions of downloads
A: msn messenger will continue to provide a free service for basic messaging. we are introducing new features like premium content, premium audio/video conversations, and some premium games.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Do you ph43r AIM?
A: We ph43r no1
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Great chatting with you guys! May i have one of your emails so we can chat ;)?
A: sure nicoleT_MS@hotmail.com
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Nicole: Is that your MSN passport? :)
A: Yes. Add me as contact.
DavidMi_MS (Expert)
Q: Last try: Is there any known conflicts between the MSN beta and Adobe Reader?
A: Not that we are aware of.
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: Where and when will the transcript of this chat be?
A: We will post this chat transcript to the Beta website.
Roger H (Expert)
Q: will wm6 be based on msn6?
A: We don't know...Windows Messenger is a different client, owned by a different team.
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Are u online now?
A: Not yet busy chatting with you
Roger H (Expert)
Q: Roger H: Well, it doesn't look like you will be answering my question re: port to open for fast file transfer when behind NAT, but if you could post in the NG when you have it I would appreciate it.
A: I'll see what I can do...
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Q: is there any eddtion for the Messenger on the Linux !
A: You can use webmessenger on Linux.
http://webmessenger.msn.com
Andy - MSN (Expert)
Q: beta.microsoft.com doesnt work? :P
A: We're working on it.
Jon_MSN (Expert)
2 Last questions we woul dlike to hear back from you on.
1. What are the top 3 issues you would like to see in a future release
2. What are the top 3 bugs you would like to see fixed.
Jon_MSN (Expert)
Thank you all for taking the time to chat with us. We look forward to getting more of your feedback.
Andy Q (Moderator)
Thanks all!
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: gjoseph: security concerns.
A: Nice chatting with all of you :) It was fun!
NicoleT_MS (Expert)
Q: Nicole, Ok Thanks very much for this lovely chat, and thank you for all the answered question! I love MSN Messenger! (K) (L)
A: YaY! this is fun :)
And the actual guest chat (plain text without emoticons though):
/ 
Attachment: 
