MSN Messenger 4.0
On Tuesday, May 4th, Microsoft’s Macinstosh Business Unit unleashed MSN Messenger 4.0. Many hoped this version would bring feature parity between the Windows and Mac versions of Messenger. Unfortunately for Mac users, this is sadly not the case. It may be nice to have an update to MSN Messenger, but 4.0 is decidly lackluster for a 0.49 update.
The download of MSN Messenger clocks in at 4.1MB. Once you have the disk image file downloaded and mounted, you can copy the 11.3 MB application to your hard drive. Opening the application leads you through a Windows style wizard of setting up Messenger for use on your computer the first time.
The new version is laid out almost identically to MSN Messenger 3.5.1 for Mac but with a slightly tweaked look. The list of new features is short, especially when compared to the current version of MSN Messenger available for Windows.
One of the first things you will notice about this new version of Messenger is that the icon has changed. It is darker then the previous one, bringing a newer dull and opaque appearnce. It has a more worn rock-like appearance when compared to the translucent, crystal-like appearance of 3.5.1. It is definitely not as attractive as the previous incarnation, but can grow on you when viewed alone. While it looks it’s best on a light background, there are people who think it is “uglier then sin”.
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The old MSN icon |
The new MSN icon |
Alerts have been updated to mirror the behaviour of their Windows counterparts. In addition to their new look, they also appear in the bottom right of your screen instead of the top right. The icon still bounces in the dock when you receive a new message, and when in the background the conversation window will also flash from appearing non-active to active, though it remains in the background. Along with these new features, MSN will now automatically reconnect when you wake your Mac from sleep, a feature sorely lacking from 3.5.1.
Another new feature is a new Save button in the toolbar of every message window. You can now save your messages manually and attach such messages to an Entourage project showing another keystone change in the application; integration with the rest of the Office 2004 applications.
The updated Conversation History feature, also allows you to choose older conversations for attaching to projects done in Office 2004. Conversation History is brought up under the View menu, or by the command-o key command normally reserved for opening files. The Conversation History feature can now also save conversations as web pages. These pages open by default in Internet Explorer instead of your default browser and are not standards compliant. The web pages also include a plethora of font tags and capitalized tags. (A no-no in current standards compliant web design.)
Overall, this new version of MSN Messenger is a disappointment. All the new features are welcome, and some of the updated look is nice too, but where is the voice and video support? Or what about smaller features like the personal pictures? It is always great to have an update and know that people are still working on the product, even if it is rather lacklustre in comparison to the Windows counterpart.
It would seem that there’s a glass ceiling in instant messenger capabilities. By that I mean that IM programs can
Other than the new icon, I haven’t noticed anything different from 3.5. I say big friggin deal about 4.0. If all my friends didn’t use MSN, I wouldn’t even have it.
If you don’t care about how things look, don’t read further. If you work for Microsoft, don’t read further.
You thought the looks of Messenger 3.5 were lacking? Well, at least in its case, its obsolete 10.1-era UI was compensated for by a greatly designed icon. Messenger 4.0, instead of compenssation for all the hours spent face to face with Messenger 3.5, brings punishment for your having too much aesthetic sense, as while inheriting all of its predecessor’s cons, the new version of Messenger has dropped its only pro – the icon (ironically, being the only part of the application which didn’t get old).
“At least they’re consistent, in a wretched way, but still.” – you think. The bad news is that in case of Messenger 4.0 this is where consistency ends. Not only doesn’t that dull new XP-like icon match the glossy OS X icon style, but it also doesn’t match the remaining icons to be found in Messenger’s toolbars, preferences window or alert windows, which Microsoft didn’t take the trouble to replace. Messenger 3.5 might have not looked as hip as iChat (or even Proteus), but at least its UI was consistent (at least in Microsoft’s standards). If that could have been regarded as a pro in the previous version, it sure is no longer the case in 4.0. Ironically, the only consistency I have spotted is that if you change your status to Away or Busy, the icon in the dock still moves up by 2 pixels, as it used to in 3.5.
On top of that, the graphics in the startup wizard and about window are plain tacky, reminiscent of all the amateur web design companies’ websites to be found throughout the Web.
Normally, instead of crying out loud, I would quietly say to myself “What did you expect? It’s Microsoft. That’s what happens when instead of hiring designers, you pay your developers extra.” But with Office 2004 to come, I fear the suite will display a strikingly high degree of consistency with Messenger 4.0… in that wretched, Microsoft sense.
I just had to point out, that in your recent “World In Review,” where you mentioned that you can now turn off the ads in your contact window in version 4.0 – I haven’t had ads since verison 3.5 – it’s not a new feature.
my msn 4.0 wont word and im very made can u let me download 6.2 or something
Maybe you should all take the time to sign the petition at http://mac.rjt.cjb.net/msnmessenger – The Macintosh Business Unit have said that if demand is shown for the features then they will be imported.
i used tio have msn messenger and i loved it then it told me to upgrade so i did then i lost my msn messenger which sucked bigtime and now i have been tring to get my old msn back but i can not and i would love to have msn messenger back i have a imac os 9.0.4 sp plz can u fix it so that i can have it back ty
Hi Cindy,
Thanks for responding. What you need to do is to upgrade to 9.2.2 (free download from Apple) and then get MSN Messenger 2.5.1
the new msn sucks on mine it dus int wrck fuck teh new msn bring back the old one
HI, im a long time user of MSNIM. I just recently noticed that in the new one 4.7, you cant have your own personal away message… i think microsoft will soon come out with barcodes you can tatoo so we dont need names we are just a number. damn neo-fascist…