The close notifier is no longer accurate, same as the open notifier. Users who use msn7 will download your DP automatically, which makes it says that they open a conversation. The close thing is also inaccurate since they changed the protocol. Everytime someone minimizes the con, the connesction closes. This makes it looks like they closed the con.
Also, MSN7 has handwrite, nudge, personal message, and DP in the contact list.
I also like MSN7's interface more. Yes, the ads are annoying, but we can reshack msn using patches. I think excuses for people not to use msn7 is ads and other bloats, because they do not know of patches, which is lame. I recommend you to get msn7 and use a patch to reshack msn. A-patch is a good one.
Get A-Patch