Windows Live Messenger
Posted by Jonathan Ng | Filed under Technical
I’m not about to write a lengthy review that documents every facet of the recently beta-ed Messenger 8 as there’s probably dozens of other review available online. I’m just gonna blog about my thoughts on it. And oh, my first complain: clicking Help -> Send Feedback would bring you to a Microsoft.com page that says that feature is still under construction or something.
First Impressions
Well, it’s not really my “first” impression of it since I’ve tried logging in with a proxy. But as I’ve mentioned earlier, WLM 8 feels heavy and bloated (screenshot). The windows now sport a little rounded, gray background/frame ala Vista style. The catch is, it’s not semi-transparent. I remember that Kam Vedbrat, “lead program manger on the Windows client team” (or in simpler terms, the graphics guy working on Vista) say that the semi-transparent window borders in Vista actually increases the clickable are of the border, and the transparency makes it feel light. So basically what you see in WLM is how Vista looks like without the transparency stuff – heavy.
The bloated-ness continues in the window. Let’s look at the contact list for example. The lower part where the contact list and ads are, feels bloated. There’s just too many different empty spaces and borders. If you look back at Messenger 7.5, the contact list, ad and search form seems fluid. They take less space and seem to be one single element. In WLM 8, the size of the ad and search form takes up so much space it sort of takes the focus away from the main window: the contact list. The same goes to the “add contact” button and “Find a contact of number” bar at the top of the contact list, it’s just so bloated. What’s more, I have yet to understand the purpose of the “The Future of MSN Messenger” text at the bottom.
The funny thing is, the upper part of the main window, the part with your display picture, nickname and message seems otherwise. They were packed like sardine into that tiny area. It’s just lame design – where’s the focus?? The texts are of the same color and size. How can you possibly tell them apart?? For example, the “(Online)” status text and my message could be of a smaller font or lighter color such as light gray.
Going Deeper – Functionality
I’m not really a hardcore IMer, so I won’t have much suggestions when it comes to functionality. But nevertheless, here’s a “short” list:
Expanding contacts
By default, when you move your mouse over contacts, they expand to reveal some options. I didn’t like this as your eye would have to readjust every time I move my mouse over another contact. Besides, I could always right-click the contact for more options. Lucky thing this functionality can be turned off.
The status icons are simplified in WLM 8, combining away and busy statuses. What I would like to see when I mouse over my contacts, the icon changes and shows separate statuses such as away and busy. I also think that the status icons suck as compared to those in Messenger 7.5
Nicknames
A feature long available in other IMs and with MsgPlus, WLM 8 allows you to set a custom nickname on your contacts so you don’t have to recognize contacts by their emails. However, by setting a custom nickname, you won’t be able to see the user’s nickname anymore. Some of my contacts use nicknames as a way of conveying a message, so I’d still like to be able to view their nicknames. A suggestion would be to do nicknames like MsgPlus do, place contact nicknames as part of their message, appearing after my custom assigned nickname. And by the way, I’d also prefer user messages to be displayed in a lighter color compared to their nicknames. Simple things like this vastly improves visibility.
Lastly, here’s a brief note on memory usage: mine use about 16 MB minimized, 24 MB with contact list open. Pretty hefty amount. We can only pray that further optimizations will bring that amount down, though I doubt it.
That’s basically all the feedback I have for now for WLM 8. It’s definitely and improvement over Messenger 7.5 but of course, there’s plenty of stuff to iron out. I bet Daniel (who’s working on the UI) has one hell of a time designing a UI that appeals to all. Anyway, thanks again to Leah for the invite and as promised, your feedback ;-)
Links: Inside Windows Live Messenger (official blog), Official Feature List.
Tags: software
2 Responses to “Windows Live Messenger”
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David Says:
January 1st, 2006 at 10:10 pmHi there,
Could you please invite me to WLM, I have always wanted to try it my email is *snip* . I would really be grateful if you could invite me. Thx -
Jonathan Ng Says:
January 1st, 2006 at 11:27 pmNot that I dont wanna help you, but seriously, I don’t know where the hell are my invitation codes…
