O.P. RE: Continuing to use Messenger after April 8
To get to the Connections tab, you have to go into Messenger's options. On the left column, there should be a tab labeled "Connections." That's how it works in Messenger 2009, at least. Don't know about the 2011 or 2012 versions.
Anyway, yeah, I also noticed the Skype update pop-up when you log into an account for the first time. I hadn't thought about the text advertisements, though, since I've always had them blocked with A-Patch...
In regards to hacking the registry and changing the version number, I don't know what good that would do to keep Messenger alive, since Microsoft is actually terminating the MSNP protocol everywhere but in China. If it's true that the Chinese Messenger client still connects to American servers, changing the version number would prove pointless.
The only viable option I see (assuming the Chinese client doesn't magically work after April 8) is somehow configuring Messenger to run under a Chinese SOCKS proxy. Unfortunately, I've already tried attempting to fiddle with Messenger's proxy options to no avail.
I'm hoping someone more tech-savy will come along and shed some light on the subject of preserving Messenger in some way, somehow. Otherwise, all we can do in the meantime is sit tight and wait until April to see what happens.
This post was edited on 03-16-2013 at 09:38 AM by Chattanooga.
|