Shoutbox

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
hu??? Welcome to the internet I'd say.

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Sure, but there's a difference between public forums (where I wouldn't necessarily put my full name) and request-only Messenger contacts.

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
Absolutely not! There is no technical reason at all why people wouldn't be able to still use a display name on Messenger or other Windows Live services. The only reason they did what they did is to make things 'simple'.

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Fair point.

I personally don't mind sharing my full name with my Messenger contacts, but that's just me.

But even if there is a strong argument to keep nicknames, do you really think they'll change it back? I highly doubt they will, hence the "get used to it" approach.

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Originally posted by Chris4
I personally don't mind sharing my full name with my Messenger contacts, but that's just me.

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For most of my contacts, I don't mind either. Though, I still which there was a way so I can talk to other people I'd like to talk to without comprimising my 'privacy' and without the need of another account (with fake real name) and all the hassle it brings with it.

I guess it highly depends on how you use Messenger and for what you use it. If you're only using Messenger to chat with family for example, yeah, then it probably doesn't matter that they can see your real name. But everybody uses Messenger in a different way.

For example, Messenger is also a nice platform to give support. Aka you also talk to strangers (and you keep your profile data private/closed or only accessable to a select list of known contacts). This isn't possible anymore without compromising your real name, etc. In fact, because of the way they implemented the change at the start, all those strangers now know your real name because there was no warning of the change and you hadn't the chance to remove or change your real name.

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Originally posted by Chris4
But even if there is a strong argument to keep nicknames, do you really think they'll change it back? I highly doubt they will, hence the "get used to it" approach.

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I doubt it too, but one can only hope....
I understand your "get used to it" approach, though I refuse to give in with such a catch phrase just like that and will probably always recommend to complain to MS about it.

I'm against this change.

Here in Brazil, that's where I live, Messenger is used in a much more free way - most people are not very picky of who they add or not. So almost everyone uses nickname - or just the first name - when on the internet. WLM is largely used as a way to know strangers a bit better - someone you met one a forum, social network (as Orkut, that is the most used here - Facebook is not that popular yet), chat rooms and so on. So here it's a big security issue: people that are upgrading are opening personal info sometimes to completely strangers. Even in Orkut people usually don't put their full name on it. Not even in Facebook, as a matter of fact.

Some may say that how people use WLM here should change, but I think that's beside the point - you see I'm extremely criterious of who I add, I have almost only people that I know in my real life and yet I use a nickname. Because as I said: ALMOST. There are some 'strangers'. I think that's why most messengers uses nickname system: it's safer. This this way: there are lots of chat groups WLM-based out there. It's very common here to have this tipe of service offered from sites to promote their visitors and members integration. Here Messenger is rarely used as just a  tool to keep in contact with family or for work-related: it's almost a social network on itself.

Worse than that, if any person of my contact list upgrade, they'll see my real name without me knowing that. That's plainly invasive. As now that I upgraded I see from people I have on my contact list. And with a full name if I wanted I could do some really bad things without much effort. It's not that hard to find your ID card number, telephone number or other highly personal information with a full name - and this things we donm't shed that easily here! With name and birthday date I could retrieve almost any information that I want. You why I say that here this IS a security issue really really bad?

I don't know if there is a way of changing that but yes I believe that complaining may be the only chance. I don't care about Facebook: I have it and it's not a WLM feature that I see as essential. Lots of people will simply ignore it - as I said Orkut is popular, not Facebook. They should not compromise security based on that. Things are not just worse because most people here still uses the old WLM - because they heard bad things about the new one, because there is no Msg Plus! for it or because they like Win XP too much to upgrade to Win7.

So that's my humble opinion - as just a normal user. I'm sorry if I made grammar mistakes (as I said, I'm Brazillian, I speak Portuguese, not English XD).

It really wasn't necesary to remove the display names. Look at AIM for example.

AIM 7 has facebook integration and you also can chat with your facebook friends through it. When you talk with your AIM contacts, you and them appear with the AIM name, but if you have a chat with a facebook friend, only on that conversation tab you are displayed with your facebook name aka you real name. Heck even your display image on the facebook chat tab changes to your facebook avatar, while on the AIM chats you retain your AIM buddy icon.

So if AIM could handle it in such smart way then Microsoft has no excuse for have removed the display names.

I'm against this choice too. However, I don't think it's a privacy issue, but only an "aesthetic" one.

Windows Live introduced the real name a while ago, and everyone that updated it on his profile made it visible to every Messenger contact, also in the previous version of Messenger. In addition, even if you don't put your full name on Windows Live, if you use the same mail address on Facebook, everyone of your Messenger contacts using Facebook will be able to find you on Facebook and so discover your real name.
So, if you worry about showing your real name, simply don't put it on Windows Live and don't associate your WL ID with anything that uses your real name!

For me it's not a problem to show my real name, I used to do it on ICQ, ten years ago, well before Facebook! However, the real name on ICQ was part of the (optional) personal information, but in the contact list and chat window only the nicknames were displayed.
It should be the same on WLM! Or, at least, it should be an option: I should be able to choose my own "nickname" (the display name), and the contacts should be able to choose to see me in the contact list with my real name, my display name or to override it with another nickname.

I have many contacts that use simply their first name as display name, and many have the same names! So, if they don't have a photo, I have to check their mail address to understand who they are... so I think that showing the full name somewhere in a tip or in the conversation window is useful. But I want to be able to show me as "Johnny" instead of "John" keeping "John" in my profile!

I personally didn't like the change too. Also what I cannot understand is why Windows Live tries that hard to connect with Facebook, to adopt its Real Name strategy etc. I still refuse to connect my Windows Live and Facebook because I like to use them only on their sites seperately. I think Windows Live and many other services try to survive against huge Facebook popularism. But what they must do to survive is to keep their originality.

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Originally posted by Yugo
Windows Live introduced the real name a while ago, and everyone that updated it on his profile made it visible to every Messenger contact, also in the previous version of Messenger.

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Not entirly true though.

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Originally posted by Yugo
In addition, even if you don't put your full name on Windows Live, if you use the same mail address on Facebook, everyone of your Messenger contacts using Facebook will be able to find you on Facebook and so discover your real name.

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Very true, but not everyone uses/links with facebook. Hence, the Facebook argument hasn't that much of a weight here imo.

Also, there is something like giving people everything on a platter or spoon feeding them. I mean, I don't care if people put some effort in it and try to find out my real name. I know there are ways to do it. But giving them everything on a platter is taking it a step further. In that case they don't need to search for anything, they don't need to connect the dots themselfs. In some ways this is a good thing of course, but it is also taking it a step closer to some privacy issues. Making it 'harder' for people to find such personal info (but not impossible) is quite often enough to protect yourself from basic abuse/bullying/etc.

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Originally posted by Yugo
So, if you worry about showing your real name, simply don't put it on Windows Live and don't associate your WL ID with anything that uses your real name!

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True... for new accounts or newly added contacts. But here comes that privacy issue into play. There was no warning when MS made the change to how it currently is. Hence, everyone could see your real name after that change, without giving you the chance to change it to something fake. Also, you still can not select who will be able to see your last name or not, despite the instructions given on your Profile page.

But regardless of all of this, it would indeed be very nice if they at least add the ability again to have a display name again.

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Originally posted by Yugo
I have many contacts that use simply their first name as display name, and many have the same names! So, if they don't have a photo, I have to check their mail address to understand who they are... so I think that showing the full name somewhere in a tip or in the conversation window is useful. But I want to be able to show me as "Johnny" instead of "John" keeping "John" in my profile!

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Aye! I too have a very hard time now recognizing my contacts because quite frankly I do not know their real names (I always knew them by their online handle/display name) nor do I know the emails they use for some of them (who would think that you need to remember it). And thus I don't know anymore who is who. So, even now that everything is linked and real names are shown, I actually need to put serious effort into finding out who is who again and in some cases I actually can not identify some contacts anymore at all (other than sending an embarrassing message asking them who they are), lol!
Thank god you can still set a nickname in your own contactlist for your contacts.

If MS kills WLM2009 protocol support as they did with v8.5, it will be the last day I use WLM. They will force me switch to something else, like skipe...

For these who "accidentally" installed 2011 crap and wants go back to 2009 version, you can downgrade it from here

I've downgraded again.  Not that I think it's going to make much difference.  The way I see it, if you are on someone else's msn and they have upgraded they will still see your full name.

What gets me is that when I was younger, say when I was 15-17 I was constantly in chat rooms and making new 'friends', they were strangers that I could enjoy a chat with.  Once getting to know them a little you might have added them to your msn so you might have a number of contacts that you know only online.

When you're a young impressionable person you might tell them you're real name, but it was drummed into me from a very young age there are scary people out there and you should never use your real name.  Hell I don't even use my real name on Facebook, just because.

What about all these younger people (my neices that are only 12 spring to mind)?? They have over 100 contacts on their lists, half of them they have no idea who they are.  Any one of these people could be the wrong kind of people, and telling them information like your real name is a no no, and it should be up to you to choose who you want to tell your real name to.

Now most of us on here are adults and we all know the risks of talking to random strangers online.  But so many young kids out there don't know the dangers.  I was extreamly techy savvy, but lots of kids are not.  They are young and naive and might not realise what they are doing.  Surely Microsoft have missed an important parental setting with this????

I was shocked when i first installed 2011, If nothing happens I will definitely consider switching to an alternative application.

For anyone who's interested, i've just created a FB group and would like share it here.

As a disclaimer i'd like to say that i am NOT affiliated with microsoft in any way and the group will probably have no effect on them at all.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_141853819195746

if any of the mods consider this as spam or advertising, please remove my post, i'm here in peace ^^

anyways, let's just hope MS comes to their senses