First (blurry) Look At Msn Messenger 7.0

[iMartin]

We have informed you earlier that MSN Messenger 7.0 is in development as we speak and we're expecting information about new features soon. But we think that one of our messers, Roy, might have captured a first and exclusive screenshot of Microsoft's next version IM client

The screenshot was taken from a webcast presentation at the Financial Analyst Meeting 2004, in which MSN Messenger 7.0 is described as "a big upgrade". While MSN's Corporate Vice President, Yusuf Mehdi, is demonstrating what he calls "orchestrated advertising" (a combination of rich media and personalization), a screenshot is shown of a Halo banner ad in what looks like an unusual version of MSN Messenger.

We've added our comments and speculations on the curious bits in the layout of, presumably, MSN Messenger 7.0. Our premature conclusions:


- The application's title now pictures the MSN logo with the butterfly, followed by "Messenger".

- Extra icons and links underneath your display name. Possibly for Hotmail, the MSN portal and other MSN services.

- Not one but two icons are positioned in front of a contact's display name (comparable to when you hover your mouse over a contact with Messenger Plus! 3, but then permanent). Not all of them look like the MSN Buddy icon, so this means that either there are new status icons (and/or new statuses) or otherwise a small thumbnail of one's display picture is shown in the contact list. Our third guess is a personal, custom (emot)icon that can be set instead of the default "little green men".

- The image in front of your own display name looks odd too. This could be a thumbnail of your current display picture.

- At the location of the current "I want to..." menu (which in the screenshot is either turned off or completely removed) you'll find a text entry field. We reckon this is an integrated MSN Search box, because with 120 million users of MSN Messenger already that's a brilliant step into getting people to use Microsoft's search engine and nothing else.

Mehdi claims MSN Messenger 7.0 will be released somewhere along 2005. Of course and similar to previous releases, we'll keep you fully informed of all the details we discover until then!

-Mess.be

Screenshot At Mess.be (http://www.mess.be)

[Filliz]

I want animated .gifs :angry:

edit:...and what a crappy screenshot <_<

[iMartin]

Originally posted by Filliz@2 August 2004 - 11:22
edit:...and what a crappy screenshot <_<
Well duh, it&#39;s still in early devolpment, and the screenshot was taking from a webcast presentation. What else do you expect?

[Filliz]

Originally posted by iMartin+2 August 2004 - 18:27--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (iMartin @ 2 August 2004 - 18:27)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Filliz@2 August 2004 - 11:22
edit:...and what a crappy screenshot <_<
Well duh, it&#39;s still in early devolpment, and the screenshot was taking from a webcast presentation. What else do you expect? [/b][/quote]
1024x768 :huh:




:P

[Storm]

Originally posted by Filliz+2 August 2004 - 18:32--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Filliz @ 2 August 2004 - 18:32)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Originally posted by iMartin@2 August 2004 - 18:27
<!--QuoteBegin-Filliz@2 August 2004 - 11:22
edit:...and what a crappy screenshot <_<
Well duh, it&#39;s still in early devolpment, and the screenshot was taking from a webcast presentation. What else do you expect?
1024x768 :huh:




:P [/b][/quote]
lol, yeah, i agree......... this looks like someone just made a screenshot of MSN 6 and blurred it with photoshop........ but with a lil imagination its MSN 7 of course ;)

[iMartin]

Originally posted by Storm@2 August 2004 - 12:07
this looks like someone just made a screenshot of MSN 6 and blurred it with photoshop........ but with a lil imagination its MSN 7 of course ;)
I was thinkin of that myself, but I don&#39;t think Mess.be would report any bullshit.

[Storm]

no, i believe its msn7......... just dont think its that special...... just a lil blurry picture..... tells nothing, but leaves alot to the imagination....

and the whole msn7: a couple of add-ons, and thats it......... more like simple plug-ins like msn+

the change wont be nearly as big as with msn5->msn6

[iMartin]

Originally posted by Storm@2 August 2004 - 12:43
no, i believe its msn7......... just dont think its that special...... just a lil blurry picture..... tells nothing, but leaves alot to the imagination....

and the whole msn7: a couple of add-ons, and thats it......... more like simple plug-ins like msn+

the change wont be nearly as big as with msn5->msn6
Agreed. :smilie4:

[gildan2020]

Originally posted by Filliz@3 August 2004 - 01:22
I want animated .gifs :angry:
yeah, i want that too
why won&#39;t they include that in? :(


gildan2020

[iMartin]

That&#39;s Microsoft for you. Do you actually think they&#39;ll give us something we want, no, instead they give us something completly useless and was a totaly waste of time making, that no one will ever use.

[Filliz]

Originally posted by iMartin@3 August 2004 - 17:20
That&#39;s Microsoft for you. Do you actually think they&#39;ll give us something we want, no, instead they give us something completly useless and was a totaly waste of time making, that no one will ever use.
They were planning on adding this feature in one of the previous releases,but they cancelled/postponed it <_<

[Storm]

Originally posted by iMartin@3 August 2004 - 17:20
That&#39;s Microsoft for you. Do you actually think they&#39;ll give us something we want, no, instead they give us something completly useless and was a totaly waste of time making, that no one will ever use.
why would they??? as long as they can make more money NOT giving us what we want, theyre not gonna give us what we want......... (honestly, what would you do?)

[iMartin]

Originally posted by Storm+3 August 2004 - 20:09--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Storm @ 3 August 2004 - 20:09)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-iMartin@3 August 2004 - 17:20
That&#39;s Microsoft for you. Do you actually think they&#39;ll give us something we want, no, instead they give us something completly useless and was a totaly waste of time making, that no one will ever use.
why would they??? as long as they can make more money NOT giving us what we want, theyre not gonna give us what we want......... (honestly, what would you do?) [/b][/quote]
Greedy bastards. They&#39;ll probably charge for animated display pics in later versions.

[iMartin]

Update

True Messers are being very alert these days. Starting last week with our MSN Web Messenger find (now officially released), details on new versions of Microsoft&#39;s instant messenger are slowly emerging. One of our visitors, the andyman, noticed "MSN Messenger 7.0" already being mentioned in an official Knowledge Base article. While this is an obvious typo, many disinformation is being given elsewhere --even by respected sources and journalists. Some online outings, however, are real and authentic. I&#39;d like to take a moment and discuss a few of the frequently asked questions I received as of late:

#1. Was the MSN Messenger 7 screenshot posted on Monday fake?

A couple of people claim it pictured MSN Web Messenger instead, but we used the web-based service last week already and it didn&#39;t look similar to the newly found screenshot at all (check the tabs, just to name one thing). Another possibility is that it was just a demo client used by Mehdi to illustrate "orchestrated advertising". But surely that demo would have to be based on *something*, right?

Even Windows & .NET Magazine&#39;s Paul Thurott agreed with us and wrote "Mehdi demonstrated a prototype of MSN Messenger 7" in one of his articles. Then again, Mr. Thurott has based an article on Mess.be news before, blindly claiming accuracy. The same WinInfo article even states "[MSN Messenger] often peaks at 120 million simultaneous online chats" while it&#39;s in fact 12, so don&#39;t just believe anything you read.

In the meantime we can&#39;t confirm nor decline the authenticity of the MSN Messenger 7 screenshot. All we can do is hope for spectacular improvements in our favorite IM software, and maybe, just maybe, it&#39;ll look something like this (courtesy of Timothy based on the blurry screenshot earlier).


#2. Will we have to pay for MSN Messenger 7?

This question&#39;s definitely not new (see one of our FAQs), but with articles published and subheaded with "Avatars, skins, more games and custom options are in the works--for a fee" people come to think their entire MSN Messenger experience will get a pricetag. Once and for all, using MSN Messenger will be cost-free for a long, long time. These articles actually refer to subscription-based Fun & Games and paid custom avatar services similar to those already around, so in fact there&#39;s nothing new...

#3. Is MSN Messenger Concept real?

Frankly, it&#39;s nothing but a user interface suggestion designed by MSN Messenger fanatic, Jose Francisco. You can now view a clearer image here (thanks StevenAFC & Trevor Robinson for notifying me) but keep in mind that it&#39;s not an existing application. If you want to, you can share your comments on MSN Messenger Concept here.

#4. When will MSN Messenger 7.0 be released?

While it&#39;s safe to assume version 7.0 will be released mid-2005, Timothy has come across a quote from Bruce Jaffe, Corporate Vice President and CFO of MSN:

We have a new messenger coming out this year. I can&#39;t talk too much about those features other than to say the messenger and your buddy list and your community represent a really powerful ecosystem that goes beyond just who you instant message with. If you think about taking this community and saying, "well, I can go hit the Web and find out what the general population thinks about, say, Harry Potter.” But what I really want to know is what my qualified friends and friends of friends in my circle who happen to be my buddies, what they think about Harry Potter because they are all in that same social circle. The power of taking community along with the address book and the calendar and all those functionalities that we have with messenger and the related products and bringing them together into some social network is really powerful. We&#39;re just at the tip of that because that&#39;s a little bit more visionary than what&#39;s all going to come out next year. But certainly some innovations on messenger. [June 8th, 2004, Read More...]

You may think what you want but I&#39;m not changing my bets...

-Mess.be (http://mess.be)