Tag Archives: Windows Live Messenger

RIP Windows Live Messenger

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It’s bad news as far as I’m concerned. Microsoft has decided to mothball Windows Live Messenger (WLM) on March 15, 2013. Taking its place will be Skype (which Microsoft acquired for a cool $8.5 billion back in May 2011). I’m not a Skype fan—I hate its dated interface, its inability to support third party emotes, sending of files, tabbed chats, lack of online games, etc. Fortunately, I’ve found a great substitute for WLM, and that’s Yahoo Messenger (current version is 11.5.0.228). You can download it here. Here are some highlights of YM (Yahoo Messenger):

  • Instant messaging with a friend or a group of friends
  • Customize your IM experience with emoticons, avatars, audibles, and IMVironments
  • A built-in media player to watch web videos and view photos with friends
  • Play Yahoo games while chatting
  • Cam with your IM friends
  • Facebook and Twitter integration is available. WLM integration was disabled last year but since WLM is biting the bullet soon, it’s not going to be missed
  • IM on mobile—iPhone, Android, or any Internet enabled phone
  • Tabbed IM windows

So there you have it. WLM might be relegated to being just a memory, but there’s a good substitute for it. That is, until Microsoft has enough sense to port over the fun features of WLM into Skype.

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The WLM Story

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Oh how I wish I had WLM (Windows Live Messenger) while studying in the States in the early eighties. I remember how I used snail mail to correspond with my parents. A letter would take about ten days (count them) to reach me from Malaysia. If I had something urgent I would have to use my land line to call them (no cellphones in those days) or send a cable through Western Union. Ugh, ugh, and ugh. It would have been nice to have WLM then or even email, at least. I’ve been using WLM for almost eight years and there’s absolutely no way I would give up on it now. So what is it that makes me feel at home with WLM? Plenty.

  • It’s free. This is a no-brainer. All you have to do is download and install it in your computer, and it’s yours. Period. And while we’re on this, Hotmail—the wonderful program for email, is free too and so much more user-friendly and fast now. And look what comes with the rest of the Live Essentials suite: Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Live Mesh, Writer, Bing Bar, Mail, Family Safety, Outlook Connector Pack, Messenger Companion, and Microsoft Silverlight. You can customize what you wish to install, or install all of them. The choice is yours!
  • It’s easy to use. Invite your contacts in your Hotmail or any other list to add you to their WLM. Choose your font (or use the default) and type away. If you’re an emoticon lover you’re in for a treat. WLM has a pretty cool bunch of emotes and you can add third-party ones as well.
  • Video capability. All you need is a webcam and away you go. Talk to your friends and loved ones and see them in a flash. I’m using the Logitech C510 webcam which is a great HD webcam with a built-in microphone. If only I had this in the eighties!
  • With WLM you have the best of everything. You can choose either to type, to make a voice call, or make a video call. Needless to say these three options aren’t mutually independent. For instance you can still type stuff in even though you’re having a video conversation with a friend .
  • WLM gives you time to think. In a normal phone call we normally talk. And talk. And talk. Sometimes we do it without collecting our thoughts first. The thing I like about instant messaging is that you can type at your own pace; you don’t have to give an instant reply, and as long as you don’t hit the Enter key your message remains with you (of course once you do hit the Enter key your message is on its way)
  • WLM allows you to put up a display message. Not only that, you can set your status to any one of these—Available, Busy, or Away. There is one great feature too. WLM now allows you to appear offline to all your contacts, or you can choose specific contacts (very handy when you don’t want a certain someone to know you’re online)
  • Busy? On the go? Fear not, because you can do the WLM thing on your cellphones and other devices. Just download the Messenger App for your device and it’s easy as pie to chat on WLM when you’re moving around. You can download the mobile app for Windows Phone, iPhone, Android, Nokia, and Blackberry.
  • What if I encounter problems? Help is just a click away at the Messenger Help Center. There are also plenty of websites that offer help free of charge, like BigBlueBall, of which I’m a staff member. Generally each new version of WLM gets better and more reliable, so much so that you might not require any help at all *wink*
  • What if I get tired of chatting? Game time then. Choose from a plethora of games to play with your friends when you’re online. You can even indulge in a video call at the same time you’re playing games. Great for really getting visual!
  • Get all your social updates in one place.WLM can directly connect to Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Blogger, MySpace, StumbleUpon, Multiply, and a host of other sites. This is so useful if you’re into the social networking thing.

So there you have it. Windows Live Messenger is a godsend to me because it really is a jack of all trades. I can’t wait to see what they’re going to include in the next version!

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The mysterious case of the muting computer

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sick computerI’ve been having audio headaches with my desktop since upgrading my motherboard and processor a year ago. In a nutshell, my PC would suddenly turn deathly quiet. Raising or lowering the volume control in the taskbar would create no sound (I’m using Windows 7). If I went to Windows Media Player a message would pop up saying that the audio service was not running. Other audio programs also stopped working. The only remedy was to go to Services.msc to restart the Windows Audio service, but as you can guess this was quickly becoming a real pain in the buttocks. At that time I was using an older version of WLM (Windows Live Messenger) Build 14.x.xxxx.xxxx.

One glorious day I found out by accident that WLM was causing this audio anomaly in my system. During one session when my computer was in its quiet mode, I happened to sign off from WLM and move the volume mixer. Eureka! I heard sound! However, my happiness was short-lived because as long as I was signed on to WLM, my computer would be repossessed by the audio glitch and resign itself to reticence whenever it felt like doing so. This was beginning to irritate me mucho!

When the new Windows Live Messenger appeared together with the Windows Live Essentials suite, I hoped my audio problems would be solved. Guess what—nope. The audio problem continued to plague my desktop system. Ugh, what did I do to deserve this? My Dell lappy was running the newest WLM build together with Windows 7, and it never had this predicament.

Time for a little brainstorming. The next suspect was my VIA audio drivers. OK, let me grab the latest ones from the VIA website. I did the uninstallation of the old drivers and installed the newest drivers. I was crossing all my fingers and toes. My system behaved itself for a while—and then it went mute again.

If you’re wondering why I’m making such a big fuss out of this, here’s the reason. When I’m away from my desktop and someone IMs me, the new instant message sound is the only way I’d know. Sometimes I would miss messages because of this annoying problem. When I signed off from WLM the problem would go away, only to return at whim whenever I signed back on.

Ugh! It couldn’t be the newest VIA drivers. But—I also had the VIA HD Audio Deck running on Windows startup (I use this applet mainly to adjust the equalizer for my speakers) Hmmm, could this guy be the culprit? Only one way to find out. I disabled the said applet from starting up using Mike Lin’s excellent Startup CPL program. Guess what—it worked!!

Now I’m not faulting VIA’s HD Audio Deck, neither am I blaming WLM. However, there was obviously some audio issues when both these programs were on at the same time. I can live without the equalizer, but I can’t live without WLM—muahaha!!

Epilogue: I did search the web when I was tearing my hair out but couldn’t find any solutions online. Hope this will help anyone having similar issues.

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Deja vu

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MVP logo

I was excitedly waiting for news about whether I would be awarded the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award exactly one year ago (it’s all here) This year I wasn’t as optimistic, seeing that I had been going through a lot of stuff and before I knew it, my MVP award was up for renewal at the end of December 2010. One thing about the big M—they are very punctual when it comes to informing recipients about this.

So I came home from work last night, turned on the lappy as I’ve always done, and went to brush my teeth. I went into my room after that and checked my emails and oopsie, there was an email from Microsoft HQ—and the subject said it all: “Congratulations, 2011 Microsoft MVP!” Whoa, I was really taken by surprise. Anyway I am speechless—thanks again, Microsoft!

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The new WLM (Windows Live Messenger) is coming soon!

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Microsoft boss, Steve Ballmer, just gave a fantastic preview of the new Windows Live Messenger as part of a discussion with students at the Universidade de Sao Paulo. This marks the first official look at Windows Live Wave 4, with additional disclosure moments happening around Hotmail and Essentials in the coming months.

At the event, Steve highlighted some of cool features of the new Messenger. Some of my favorites include:

  • World’s best IM.  Letting you enjoy rich, beautiful chat experiences that enhance your conversations with photos, videos and your webcam.  Our goal is to improve those personal interactions with your close friends, so that you continue to connect in even richer ways with the people you care about most.
  • Best way to stay in touch with close friends and what they’re doing across the web. The new Messenger is the most complete view of what your friends are doing across the web with a specific focus on prioritizing and helping you stay in touch with the people that matter most and delivering this in a rich and enjoyable fashion.

For more information, check out the links below:

Tweet: Ballmer just previewed the new Windows Live Messenger. Check it out! http://bit.ly/9sszG7

WLM logo

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A nice way to start the New Year

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MVP logo New Year’s Day saw me planted in front of my computer as usual—it’s a public holiday anyway, but I was also feeling a little nervous and excited at the same time. Why? Because about two months earlier I received a surprise email from Miss Lilian Quek (MVP Lead from Microsoft Singapore) informing me that I had been nominated for Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional (aka MVP) award. Shortly thereafter, I was informed by Lilian that based upon my contributions to the BigBlueBall forums, she had decided to push for my MVP nomination for Windows Live Messenger. My nomination would now be evaluated by Microsoft in Redmond, Washington and the results would be out on January 1, 2010.

I didn’t expect the email to come so soon—after all due to different time zones it was still New Year’s Eve in the States. But there it was, in my Hotmail inbox. The subject header gave away the good news: “Congratulations 2010 Microsoft MVP!” I was totally ecstatic (I almost fell out of my chair) I’ve been helping BBB members with Windows Live Messenger (if you’ve been living under a shell, WLM is one of the most popular Instant Messaging clients available today and it’s free of course) ever since I joined BigBlueBall way back in 2006. I’d like to thank Jeff Hester (the boss of BBB) for taking me on as a staff member and believing in me. See, kindness is like a butterfly, it may not return to you instantly, but after a while it will. I still participate in BBB, always lurking and looking out for anyone who needs help in the WLM department; of course my good friend and fellow MVP Doris mans the helm too (and she’s been such a great help) We assist because we love helping people with their WLM problems and queries. Besides, the staff are great, and there’s much more than just IM there, go ahead and check the site out. Registering is free!

So what exactly is an MVP? Glad you asked. According to the MVP website, Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals are…

…individuals who are recognized by peers as well as by Microsoft for past credible participation, highest quality answers and a demonstrated willingness to share their Microsoft technical expertise with others while providing guidance and assistance in peer-to-peer technical communities worldwide.

While these individuals represent a wide variety of backgrounds and professions, MVPs share the basic characteristics of possessing very strong technical skills in one or more Microsoft products or technology areas. Microsoft MVPs also possess the willingness to share that knowledge with others.

Selected contributors earn their MVP status by being nominated by their peers in the community, Microsoft Support Professionals, or Microsoft Product Group members who have seen consistent, professional and accurate technical answers or guidance in response to customer questions.

Here’s my profile on the MVP website. It’s nice to be acknowledged by the great M like this. Now I can add one more bunch of letters to the end of my name, LOL. Thanks, Microsoft!

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Coffee Bean for me!

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In contrast to my blogging episode at Starbucks a few weeks ago (the latte was watered down, Internet connectivity was poor, and lots of children were running around) I decided tonight to cross over to the Coffee Bean for some web surfing away from home. And what a difference! I ordered a nice Ice Blended Hazelnut coffee with cream (very nice aroma and thick), I was alone in the air-conditioned section and the wireless connectivity’s excellent. And LOL, they’re already playing Christmas tunes in the background.

Speaking of Christmas, I can hardly believe that 2009 will be drawing to a close in a month or so. I’ll be accompanying the E & O Nightingales when they sing Christmas carols for the lighting of the Christmas Tree in the hotel lobby on December 1. This will be my 5th time doing it—I still get an adrenaline rush on the actual day…will post some pictures if I can remember.

Awww, Bing Crosby’s singing “White Christmas” as I’m typing this—that song always gets to me when I hear him sing it (yeah I’m such a softie) No more Christmas presents for me, since I’ve already acquired my Dell Studio 15 laptop and my Canon PowerShot SX120IS digital camera. And dang someone’s singing “The Christmas Song” over the speakers—I like these tunes when they’re done in a mellow style.

Right now a close friend of mine is celebrating her birthday, while another friend should be expecting her baby daughter anytime now (edit: she has given birth to a healthy baby girl). It’s so nice to have Windows Live Messenger to keep in touch with my close friends—I feel as if the miles don’t matter any more. I’m sitting back and chuckling at how difficult it was to keep in touch with my parents, for example, when I was studying in Arizona in the early ‘80’s. Snail mail (aka air mail) used to take roughly 10 days, and the only other forms of communication were the Western Union telegram and/or calling them on IDD. If only we had email and instant messaging then!

Okies, time to pack it up and head back home. And if you’re a Starbucks fan, I apologize…each to his/her own tastes, right?

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