For years, MSN Messenger was a well known and popular chat program a lot of folks used. With the advent of GTalk, Yahoo IM, Meebo, Digsby, Trillian, and so many other chat programs, MSN really started falling by the wayside. In order to rebrand the IM app (along with grouping other social network services under the one umbrella), the app was renamed “Windows Live Messenger” and packaged along with other Windows Live apps.

Last year Jack did an awesome job covering a number of the best features Windows Live Messenger has to offer. In this article, I’d like to cover some some additional features, and ways you can use Live Messenger to quickly transfer photos and other files to your friend’s computer.

Integrating Windows Messenger With Everything

One of the most annoying things about most of the older, original IM applications like Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger is the fact that they are so isolated from other social networks where your friends hang out. This is gradually changing as these older IM apps have to compete with newer IM systems like Meebo or Yoomo that integrate multiple IM accounts into one client.

On Windows Messenger, you can now import contacts from your external social networks by clicking on the “Add Contact” icon and selecting “Add people from other services…”

You can import contacts from all of your top social networks and email systems like Facebook, LinkedIn, Outlook, AOL Mail and even your Gmail account.

MSN Messenger will sort through the email addresses of your contacts and try to determine whether or not these people are already in the Windows Live system. You can select which people you want to connect with inside Windows Live Messenger, and the system will send a mass invite out to those friends.

Sending Files & Photos On MSN Messenger

Once you open up a chat with one of your online contacts, at any point during the chat, you can send over a file by clicking on “Files” and “Send a file or photo…”

The file appears embedded right inside the chat itself. If it’s a photo you’re sending, Windows Messenger will now actually display a thumbnail image of the photo. A request is sent to your friend to accept the file transfer. Once they accept, you’ll see the status bar showing the transfer taking place.

As you can see, sending and receiving files in Live Messenger is pretty straightforward. However there are a few things you should set up before you start receiving files from friends. Click on Tools, Options, File Transfer to access the file transfer properties.

Here you can set up how incoming files you receive from friends are automatically handled. You can save incoming files to a specific folder, enable automatic anti-virus scanning of those files using whatever software you prefer (or install Windows Live OneCare).

Windows Live For Mobile

If you want to send and receive files and photos from your mobile device, you can enable Windows Live for Mobile on your account by clicking on “Phone” and the “Mobile Settings” button.

Once you’ve set up Windows Live for Mobile, you can automatically share pictures that you take on your phone, and you can access the whole range of mobile apps now available on Windows Live Mobile.

Additional Features Available On Live Messenger

There are also a whole range of cool things you can do with Live Messenger – some have been part of the software for a while and others are somewhat new.

If you read my article on the MSN Gaming Zone, then you will know that Microsoft is trying to compete in the online gaming industry. One way it is doing that is by integrating online games into the Live Messenger. All you have to do is click “Games” at the top of the chat window and available games you can play with your chat partner will appear on the left.

Another useful feature that Jack mentioned in his article is the Request Remote Assistance feature. Although I do have to report that when I tested this feature with our writer Dave, we found that the remote access component is flaky at best. It actually sent both of us offline and didn’t work. So, this feature may or may not work for you – but it seems Microsoft has a bit more work to do to get this working for everyone.

Another little feature you might not have realized exists in Live Messenger is the little “record” icon at the bottom of the chat next to the emoticons. You can quickly record yourself and send the clip over the chat session to your friend. This is useful for when you’re not really interested in an audio chat, but you did want to send a clip of yourself doing something like singing.

Whether or not you like Microsoft, it seems that Windows Live Messenger, formerly MSN Messenger, will probably be around for a long time. It does seem that Microsoft is continually improving on the IM software by adding some additional, pretty cool features like those listed above. However, whether it will be able to fully compete in the future with all of the new, jazzy IM clients coming out remains to be seen.

Do you find these features useful? What other things do you think Microsoft should do to improve their IM client? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Here at MUO, we’ve covered Hotmail a number of times. Jack wrote about how to access Hotmail messages from your Gmail account and Tim explained how to make your Hotmail email account more secure.

If you are one of those Hotmail users that has lost track of the MSN Hotmail Member Directory, I’m going to help you find it again, and also show you how to make better use of it to find your long lost friends.

Hotmail Is Part Of Windows Live

The first thing that the majority of readers will likely already know (so it shouldn’t be news) is that Hotmail is no longer just MSN Hotmail, but instead it’s now Windows Live Hotmail. This means that the MSN Hotmail member directory that people were so accustomed to is now the Windows Live member directory.

The problem with the new Windows Live Hotmail system is that it’s not really apparent how to get to the public member directory. When you’re logged into your Hotmail email account, you can access the member directory by clicking on “Contacts” in the left navigation bar. Most people assume that “Contacts” only means your own personal contacts, but this is in fact the starting point to find the public directory.

Within your Contacts page, you’ll see a link to “Add people” in the left menu. Over the past few years, like many other social networks, Microsoft has been busy cloning the Facebook model. You’ll find that the entire Windows Live social network system looks and feels a lot like Facebook, right down to the public status updates and how you connect with friends. The first step is to choose what privacy level you want to set your Windows Live account.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll find yourself in the Windows Live member directory search page. Here, you can import friends from your other social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, or your Gmail account.  To search through the massive member directory for any long-lost friends, you’ll need to click on “Search for people.”

Now, you’re finally on the Member Directory search page. This is much like doing a Facebook search to find your family or friends on the Internet in that you can search by their name, employer, school or a number of other search methods. If you’ve been looking for lost friends or family and couldn’t find them on Facebook, you could very well find them on Windows Live, since it is currently one of the largest email systems online.

Type in the name of the friend you’re looking for and you’ll get back the results of everyone on Windows Live with the matching name. Just like on Facebook, you’ll see any location, educational or employment information that the person made public. These details should help you better identify whether that person is the friend you’ve been searching for.

Once you find them, the similarity to Facebook really comes out. You can invite the person to become one of your Windows Live “friends”. This allows them to see your updates and details, and lets them see yours. It also adds them to your contact list in Windows Live Messenger and any other Windows Live social apps that you use.

Another similarity to Facebook People search is the ability to dig through the MSN Hotmail member directory using a list of “variables,” including gender, location, education, and even interests. Not only is it a good way to find long lost friends, but it’s also a cool way to discover people that share your interests and potentially make new friends.

The one thing that really surprised me was when I started exploring the personal pages of some of the Windows Live users. Interestingly, the individual Windows Live pages are laid out a lot like Facebook pages. It’s pretty clear that Microsoft is trying to utilize the same layout as Facebook – catering to an online community that clearly prefers a social network where you post status updates and follow your friends’ updates.

It was also shocking to me that, just like on Facebook, people are so willing to offer their very private information. For example, I found one user (the one above) that provided her home and mobile phone numbers and her email address, to  the public Windows Live network!

Such a large member directory that’s publicly accessible to anyone with a Windows Live account makes it an excellent resource to find your friends. It may not be easy to find the member directory search page, but once you sign up for a Windows Live Hotmail account and follow the steps above, you can start searching as much as you like.

Have you used the Hotmail directory to “discover” any lost friends? Do you use the Windows Live social network? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.

It is especially irritating to new computer users. You can delete the folder in Program Files, or delete the desktop shortcuts, but no matter what, it will always come back. Many people assume you can’t uninstall the MSN Gaming Zone links and just decide to leave well enough alone.

In Windows 7, as you did in Windows XP, you still get the games folder and a link to MSN Gaming Zone, but these days more people know how to remove those if you really want to. If you don’t know, I’ll show you how. However, beyond removing the games, I’m actually going to go over some of the useful features of MSN Gaming Zone and try to change your mind about removing those links.

How MSN Games Are Installed On Your Computer

All of the games pre-installed within the “Games” folder are MSN Games and each provide some link to Microsoft’s online Games. Some of these only provide links to MSN Gaming Zone within the Help menu, but the Internet Games directly connect to the Zone. Of course there’s also a direct link entitled “More Games from Microsoft” buried between the games.

If you are dead set against having these Microsoft Games on your computer, it is possible to get rid of them even though they don’t show up under “Uninstall Programs” in the Control Panel.  For older operating systems, look under “Add/Remove Windows Components“, or in Windows 7 you can just click on “Turn Windows features on or off“.

As you can see, Games is right at the top of the list. Just deselect that box and those Games will disappear. However, before you do that, just hear me out. I know everyone is supposed to hate the big and nasty Microsoft beast, but I’m going to show you a few cool things about the MSN Gaming Zone that may make you change your mind and actually start playing around with some of these games.

6 Cool Features Of The MSN Gaming Zone

Within your Games folder go ahead and click on that “More Games” link. It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone – it’ll be our little secret. Once you connect to the MSN Game Zone, click on “More Free Games“.

Now you’re inside the new and improved MSN Gaming Zone. The appearance of the site has changed significantly from the old classic version, but everything is still here. Let me show you around.

Win Cash & Prizes

It’s true, you can enter the Sweepstakes every day and earn some real world prizes. I’m not saying it’s easy to win, but it is possible and some of the prizes are pretty cool.

This area is known as the “Prize Corner,” where Microsoft gives away about $10,000 a month in total cash and prizes to winners. You don’t really have to do a whole lot to win, just remember to log in and spin the wheel to enter daily.

Winning here means that you won an entry. The more often you enter, the greater your chances are to win a prize, it’s as simple as that.

Compete In MSN Messenger

With some games, you can even integrate them with your Messenger chat and play games with friends while you’re chatting. This is actually a lot of fun, especially with things like card games or puzzles. If you can’t visit someone in person to play games and chat, this really is the next best thing. Just start at the listing page and choose the game.

Click Start Game and you can play the game with one of your Live Messenger contacts.

Other Cool Features

Aside from playing the thousands of free games that you’ll find throughout the MSN Gaming Zone, there are also a few other features that will get you addicted to this game site in no time. Click on the Trophy icon, and you’ll see the Leaderboards.

While it’ll take a bit of work (or play) to get to the top of the overall MSN leaderboard, once you have a few friends playing the same games, you’ll be able to see their scores and try to beat them! If you connect to the Gaming Zone through your Facebook account, the Zone displays your friend’s status updates right on the main page.

If you scroll about halfway down the main page, you’ll see some quick-links to the major categories of games. One of the best links if you always like access to the latest, recently released online games is “The Latest.” Here, you’ll discover the newest games available that you can play right away and share with your friends.

Now, I’m not saying that the MSN Gaming Zone is better than any other online game site, but I am saying that it really doesn’t get its due. The new site is well integrated with Facebook and Live Messenger, and you’ll find real cash prizes and some of the coolest free games – this site really deserves a second look.

Do you play the MSN Gaming Zone, or do you have other online game sites that you like better? Share your opinion in the comments section below.

One of the less pleasant discoveries upon migrating to Mac OS X is that Microsoft’s Messenger client (for Mac) is as bad as they come. Or, as others might put it, complete crap.

Of course, there are alternative IM applications for our beloved Mac. I’m thinking about aMSN, an expendable but oftentimes messy MSN clone; Trillian, multi-protocol minimalism; and, most famously, Adium.

The latter is the leading Mac IM client, with great expandability, looks, and support for most popular protocols. The downside of this multi-protocolism is the lack of support for some MSN features that are now deemed essential, most notably the ability to use custom emoticons.

Below is an Adium fix, so you can hang out with the cool guys once again.

1. Receiving Custom Emoticons

Later versions of Adium already allow you to receive and display custom emoticons while talking with MSN correspondents. However, a bug has kept some Adium installs from putting this, otherwise default, feature to use.

Double-checking doesn’t hurt. Open Adium -> Preferences… -> Advanced -> MSN and make sure the checkbox next to ‘Display custom emoticons‘ is ticked. If you can’t find this setting, and you’re using at least Adium v.1.4, you needn’t worry about this bug; it’s already taken care of in some later releases.

2. Sending Custom Emoticons (Unofficial Fix)

Sending custom emoticons is not a default feature (yet), but Fabio Gallonetto made his own alterations to Adium’s (open) source code. Read more about it on his blog. The essence of the matter is that after appending said changes and recompiling the application, the preferences pane shows an option to add custom smileys with nothing more than a shortcut and the path to an image file.

Once we’re done, you’ll be able to find this option under Adium -> Preferences… -> Appearance by clicking on the Customize… button next to your default emoticon pack.

Adium can sometimes be stubborn about the shortcut you’re trying to specify. To avoid this, click outside of the text field to deselect it, before pressing Close.

2.a – Download An Already Fixed Adium v.1.4 (Beta)

Compiling an application (i.e. creating an executable file from the source code), although considered rudimentary among programmers, can be quite daunting for us regular folks. In consideration, Fabio Gallonetto (the developer of this fix) put online a precompiled copy of the fixed Adium.

This file uses Adium version 1.4 (beta), so know that even though it performs admirably at the moment, at some point in time it’s going to be outdated. But, for now, it’s everything you could wish for.

Download fixed Adium-1.4 [alternative link]

This ZIP file contains the (fixed) Adium application. Head over to your Applications folder, put your current Adium installation somewhere safe, and replace it with the unpacked file you just downloaded. This Adium replacement should retain all your current preferences!

2.b – Fix & Compile A Different Version Of Adium Yourself

You might be enticed to fix and compile a different version of the Adium source code. Before you do, note these concerns. Appending this fix, and recompiling Adium is only advised for advanced computer users; (amateur) developers that know their way around applications like Xcode. Xcode alone is a 2GB download, and although a relatively user-friendly application, still a mighty impressive suite.

Rather than a how-to guide, this part is for reference. To build Adium, you’ll need Xcode, which can be obtained here after registering for the free Apple Developer program. Where to get the source-code is specified on the Adium Wiki. The patch can be downloaded from here (as a diff file).

Do you have anything to add to this subject? Perhaps you feel like Mac users are missing out on a wholly different IM client that doesn’t even require a fix. We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below!

This will be a two part post with the first part covering cool Windows Live tips and tricks that you can do without installing any add-ons, and the second part explains how you can make your Windows Live Messenger experience much more fun.

1. Remove Those Annoying Ads

You may noticed at the very bottom of the Windows Live Messenger main window, they show ads to you. However, if they slightly annoy you from time to time, here is a trick on how to block them.

On your Windows computer, open up Internet Explorer. Click on Tools, then select Internet Options. Click on the Security tab, click on Restricted sites, then click on the Sites button.

Then simply add the URL http://rad.msn.com. This serves as the Microsoft ad server and once you restrict this site, Windows Live Messenger will go from this:

to this:

2. See Which Contacts Haven’t Added You To Their Contact List

One of the most searched for keywords on my website is “how do I find out who blocked or deleted me on MSN”. It is really simple to find the answer and you don’t have to install any software on your computer or spy on your friends.

In Windows Live Messenger just go to Tools ““> Options, go to the Privacy section, and under Contact List, click on View. The list that is presented to you are all your contacts that have got you on their contact list. If a contact of yours is not on that list, they have either not added you or have deleted you because they don’t want to talk to you anymore ““ yes I know the feeling.

If going through that list will take a while, you can also download aMSN (which is a excellent portable MSN program for your USB drive). When you view your contacts, the contacts that do not have you on their list will have a red cross next to them.

Another good thing is that you can send unlimited nudges to your friends.

3. Remote Assistance

MakeUseOf has covered many remote assistant applications such as Crossloop, Instant HouseCall, LogMeIn, uVNC, and Foldershare, but did you know Windows Live Messenger is another one? Just simply start a chat, select activities and click request remote assistance.

Accept all the prompts, then the other person will be able to view your screen, and they can control your computer if you wish for them too.

If it doesn’t work, make sure “Allow Remote Assistance“ is enabled by right clicking on My Computer, select properties, Remote, and tick the box.

4. Changing Your Display Name

Want to impress your friends and have a cool name and spell your name like Ĝмдїι.©Ç¾Ðœ? Well, if you open up Microsoft Word for example, find some symbols that look like characters, or even change the font, you can then paste that text into your display name field on MSN. If you want, you can also draw images like these ones.

5. View Contacts By Email Address

You may notice that in the new version of Windows Live Messenger, there is no option to view contacts by email address. I for one, view all my contacts by email address as I know contacts cannot change it (unlike display names which some contacts change all the time). By viewing contacts by email address, I know I am talking to who I want to talk to.

If you are in the same situation as me, here is a workaround to view your contacts by email address. However, it may be a bit time consuming.

What you have to do is give all your contacts nicknames when they are online. Just right-click on the contact, select edit contact, and copy and paste their email address into the Nickname box.

Unfortunately it may take some time to do this for all your contacts, but this is the only and easiest way I have found to view contacts by email. If you know of another better way, please let me know.

Remember to keep an eye out for my next post. You will be having fun with audio, and keeping up with what your friends have been doing.  In the meantime, if you have any cool Windows Live tips and tricks of your own, let us know in the comments.