It cuts a part of the version number out when I type (!VER) in a conversation.

WLM version:
Windows Live Messenger 8.5.1302.1018

When I type (!VER):
Windows Live Messenger 8.5.1018

It should say the whole version number, right?

This is by design, not a bug.

This comes from the fact that Plus! Scripting only uses a 3 number scheme. The (!VER) command outputs the same thing as what you would see when you use Plus! Scripting and what you would see being used in the wild.

Microsoft started to use 4 numbers (major.minor.revision.build*) after Windows Live Messenger 8.1. Before that, the last number was always 0; they did not used a revision number, and thus used the major.minor.build scheme (X.Y.Z).

Actually they made the transition in a rather clumsy way. With MSN Messenger, they used a X.Y.Z scheme. Then came Windows Live Messenger and they kept on using this same scheme (major.minor.build), but showed it as a four(!) number scheme, thus with the last number being 0. After that, they corrected it and started to use the four number scheme properly. All this can be nicely seen if you check out some of the DLL names of older versions.

So the revision number when converted to the X.Y.Z scheme is dropped to keep in canon with previous version numbers. The X.Y.Z scheme is also generally accepted and still being used in the wild.

Of course, it would be more 'accurate' if Plus! also showed the full four number scheme with the (!VER) command, but this isn't a bug.

eg: it would show the difference between 8.5.1302.1018 and 8.5.1302.1019.

8.1.0178.00, Plus! Scripting Messenger.VersionBuild outputs 178, not 0!
8.5.1235.0517, Plus! Scripting Messenger.VersionBuild outputs 517
8.5.1238.0601, Plus! Scripting Messenger.VersionBuild outputs 601
8.5.1302.1018, Plus! Scripting Messenger.VersionBuild outputs 1018

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Also notice that the Plus! version also uses the very same 4 number scheme!

The actual full version number of the latest Plus! is: 4.60.0.326 (thus revision = 0).

But everybody still uses 4.60.326 when they talk about a specific version. This is the very same thing as with the Messenger version.

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* In a few sources they speak of major.minor.build.revision. And some Windows components use that too. However, in general, and accepted more widely, the build comes last.

All this again shows that an internal version number is not (and should never be) a decimal number, but a concatenation of individual integer numbers delimited by a point. There is also a major difference between the internal version number and the version number (if you can call it that) used for marketing stuff.

Ah right, I understand now.

Thanks for the explanation!