Hi everyone,

I don't post here often but whenever I do I'm always given good advice
I just upgraded from MSN Messenger 6.2 to MSN Messenger 7 (I know I'm a little slow, but been really busy lately) and am NOT IMPRESSED in the slightest.

Ads Ads Ads.  No, I didn't install this program so that advertisements / Microsoft junk could fill every last corner of the programs' real estate.  Below I'm going to list all the stuff I'm not happy with, along with how unhappy it makes me. If anyone knows anyways to remove / hide it, I'd greatly appreciate it.

PS. Thanks for taking a look - from the tone of my writing you can probably tell I wrote this a few hours after I upgraded.  I held back before posting it to make sure I didn't post in the heat of the moment, but reading over it again I feel I'm being more than fair with my comments.


Contact List

1. 'My Space' button (low annoyance)
No, I don't want to continuously see an ad for getting an MSN space. If I want one (hell no), I'll look into getting one myself.

2. 'MSN Today' button (low annoyance)
There's a reason I disabled this from loading on start-up.  I don't EVER want to see it.  EVER.

3. 'Search the web' (medium annoyance)
I like the idea of this feature, but why should I be forced to use Microsoft's search engine? Last time I checked I can FULLY CUSTOMISE this feature with Mozilla Firefox to use whatever search I desire. It really annoys me that Microsoft sees fit to now tell us what search engine we should be searching with.

4. Banner add at bottom (medium annoyance)
I get enough ads on the Internet - honestly, do they think I'm going to click on that junk? Isn't Microsoft making enough money?  I see no reason why they NEED to put an ad there, therefore I see no reason why I should tolerate it.


Chat Window

5. Buying stuff (low annoyance)
I will never spend a cent on MSN Messenger related content. Why? Because in my opinion it's not worth it.  I don't need fancy emoticons, backgrounds, winks or combined 'packs'.  All I need is to be able to see when people are online, and send them messages.  Up until 6.2 I felt MSN Messenger did this quite well (and fairly stable too), satisfying all my needs.

6. 'Search' button (low annoyance)
I suppose this data is formatted to return a few responses, although again I disagree with it being based solely upon Microsoft's search engine technology (see point 3. ).

7. Hyperlink Ads at the bottom of the window (HIGH annoyance)
This is totally unacceptable / intolerable. Where all the other areas are (for the most part) hidden away, this is CONSTANTLY visible within the windows where you will be spending 90% of your time.  This one is of paramount importance to me.  Either it goes, or I go.


Thanks for reading through all that.  Again if anyone thinks they can help me please do.  Either some of this junk goes, or I go, which is a shame as I've been using MSN for a while and up until this version have been happy with it's features and development.


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You might like the A-Patch: http://apatch.mooodi.net/

It removes a whole lot of stuff, see the page for what exactly

Or mess patch on http://www.mess.be or stuffplug

Many of the problems (3, 4, 6, 7) there can be solved with StuffPlug-NG you can even get it to use a custom search engine.
As you said about MSN Today, you can turn that off.
Regarding Buying Stuff, you can't do anything about that, all the SMS related features require dosh and cash.

And it's easy to ignore 'My Space' and 'MSN Today'.

Which, going by MS's decision to drop 'My', will become a link to 'Space'

Thanks for the replies everyone! 

I have since performed a system restore and regained 6.2's former glory.  I'll hold onto it until its final breath! (I.E. Microsoft makes 7.0 a compulsory download... <sob> it shall be a sad day).  In my experiences with 7.0 I also noticed it's much slower and uses more memory than 6.2.  Has MSN messenger become 'bloat-ware'?  Time will tell what lies ahead...

When I'm forced to upgrade to 7.0 I'll do so before quickly applying some of the solutions you've all suggested.  I still feel that Microsoft is taking 'in-program advertisement' too far.  Looks like many feel as I do (will Microsoft get the hint?  I wouldn't hold my breath) and plus plugins such as Stuffplug have really come of age (this is why I love this community!).

To raceprouk:
I understand it's easy to ignore these things. The heart of the matter is I SHOULD NOT have to, no matter what they are! (I did mark both items you highlighted as a 'low annoyance' compared to other things).  I feel Microsoft is stepping over the mark, and I will not tolerate it.
As per their naming conventions, that will be interesting to watch! (I'd still like some actual space there rather than a link to 'space'! )  I've never seen the purpose of appending 'special' Windows folders with the word 'My' (after all, it's in YOUR account... if it's not yours, whose is it?!)  Still, Longhorn isn't looking all that impressive so far, especially considering that Microsofts' competitors (<cough>Apple<cough>) are doing some innovative things in the OS sector.  I'm sure we're not getting the full picture though, and perhaps the late June / early July beta will reveal more. (this is a whole new discussion - let's not go off topic)

So thanks again everyone!  If anyone else has any suggestions feel free to add them

quote:

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Originally posted by Unknown...
I understand it's easy to ignore these things. The heart of the matter is I SHOULD NOT have to, no matter what they are! (I did mark both items you highlighted as a 'low annoyance' compared to other things).  I feel Microsoft is stepping over the mark, and I will not tolerate it.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Unknown...
I've never seen the purpose of appending 'special' Windows folders with the word 'My' (after all, it's in YOUR account... if it's not yours, whose is it?!)

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Get 6.2 from here http://www.msgstuff.com/downloads/ i host it just in case people hate 7.0 also speddy msn you may fins helpful http://www.speedymessenger.net/

You dont need to do system rssore

quote:

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Originally posted by Absorbation
Get 6.2 from here http://www.msgstuff.com/downloads/ i host it just in case people hate 7.0 also speddy msn you may fins helpful http://www.speedymessenger.net/

You dont need to do system rssore

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um if all you want to do is see if people are online and send them messages why not use Windows messenger 5 it can do that plus a lot of other stuff and no advertising. i dont get the problem
ps: longhorn is going to be very good, i wouldnt base any assumptions on a alpha release of an OS. im not saying it will be as good as mac osx because it wont be but it doesnt need to be and cant really because Microsoft need to make it support more things making it harder for them to do what ever they want want with the OS but it will be a huge step up from XP.

Look the fact is that Microsoft does have to make money out of it some how. Now i would prefer ads over having to buy messenger in some box at a store for $500......

Its a business, money must be made to fund development etc......nothing comes free.

Woah, an explosion of action!

quote:

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Originally posted by mad_onion
um if all you want to do is see if people are online and send them messages why not use Windows messenger 5 it can do that plus a lot of other stuff and no advertising. i dont get the problem
ps: longhorn is going to be very good, i wouldnt base any assumptions on a alpha release of an OS. im not saying it will be as good as mac osx because it wont be but it doesnt need to be and cant really because Microsoft need to make it support more things making it harder for them to do what ever they want want with the OS but it will be a huge step up from XP.

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quote:

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Originally posted by -rafy-
Its a business, money must be made to fund development etc......nothing comes free.

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you still havent given a reponse to my solution to the actually probel mthat the thread poses. why cant you just use windows messenger 5 it is very good.
but as this thread seems to have gone completly off topic i may as well continue it.
ie needs to be built into the OS because it makes developement for Windows much easier for all developers including microsoft. you see instead of a company having to make its own browsing protocols it can just use the ie ones whichs make developing easier so that is why you cant remove ie from the os (although you can remove it from being opened by the user through add remove programs).
longhorn has been delayed several times yes but the only thing that has been removed is winfs which will come out about 6 months later. microsoft would never release an os every year like Apple does because they wouldnt make money from it. it costs microsoft billions of dollars to produce windows and normal pc users just upgrade when they need a new pc and they dont really care that a new version of windows is out. apple on the other hand has a user base that wants the latest and greatest thing so apple will make money.
if you are under the crazy impression that microsoft cant make a new os every year then your wrong obviously with the resources they have they could make a new version each year, they just dont want to cause it would be financial suicide.

quote:

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Originally posted by mad_onion
you still havent given a reponse to my solution to the actually probel mthat the thread poses. why cant you just use windows messenger 5 it is very good.

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quote:

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Originally posted by mad_onion
ie needs to be built into the OS because it makes developement for Windows much easier for all developers including microsoft. you see instead of a company having to make its own browsing protocols it can just use the ie ones whichs make developing easier so that is why you cant remove ie from the os (although you can remove it from being opened by the user through add remove programs).

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quote:

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Originally posted by mad_onion
if you are under the crazy impression that microsoft cant make a new os every year then your wrong obviously with the resources they have they could make a new version each year, they just dont want to cause it would be financial suicide.

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I've given him some information by PM his getting wave11 with stuffplug and he just wants that his not really complaining about it His just after a soultion