October 15, 2008, 4:02 pm
There is no good reason this shouldn’t work out of the box, but I run 2K3 Server as my primary machine at work and can’t try out Microsoft’s fruity new Messenger app. The MSI is hardcoded to block server OSes, which is complete and utter shenanigans.
The instructions in this post from Techspot work well for Windows Live Messenger 8.5, but you’ll have to dredge through the comments to find a working version of WLM 9. Since it’s hosted on one of those free file sharing services, I figured I’d mirror the .msi and try and dredge up some search engine hits. I’ve scanned it with Symantec Endpoint Protection and it came up clean. Thanks to Quasim for the original file.
The installer should work on any ‘unsupported’ OS, such as XP x64, Server 2003 and Server 2008.
Download Windows Live Messenger 9 Beta - MSI
June 16, 2008, 2:06 pm
Using MSN/Windows Live Messenger inside a Google Talk session is how I currently connect to the service from my BlackBerry. Following this guide, you can easily have contact transparency.
Recently the transport I was using went down. bgmn.net was a very reliable service in my experience, but it requires a local @bgmn.net identity - which isn’t compatible with Google Talk.
As a replacement, I’ve just registered with the jaim.at transport - following the guide instructions but using jaim.at as the server, you should be up and running in very little time.
I’ve found the following caveats:
- If a Yahoo Messenger contact has added your MSN account to their contact list, some MSN transports can’t deal with the status message and will effectively brick your account from being used.
- Removing a transport involves reauthorizing your contacts again. Make sure you’ve got some time to take care of this.
May 12, 2008, 1:31 pm
From BerryReview.com:
RIM and Microsoft have tied together to bring tighter integration between Hotmail/Messenger and the BlackBerry. Just look at the promised features in the press release.
This is an awesome announcement - up until now, Bell in Canada and T-Mobile in the States have been the only carriers to offer MSN Messenger to their subscribers. Part of my work at RIM involved instant messaging provisioning and testing the Windows Live Messenger component in preproduction, so it’s awesome to hear that the service will be coming out on a wider scale. I expect it’ll be similar to Facebook’s deployment and this is a huge marketing chip for carriers like Rogers and Telus.
(I know a lot of people on Telus from HowardForums have tried to get the MSN Messenger client working, and you can’t do it without getting a Connection Error 65 - RIM has to enable your SIM or device for it. It’s not just a service book issue.)
Congrats to the teams at RIM and Microsoft on getting a deal worked out - MSN/Windows Live Messenger is definitely one of the most popular services here in Canada.
Additionally, this announcement will take Hotmail/Windows Live Mail from a second-class citizen (you had to pay for Hotmail Plus to access it on your device, ordinarily) to a top-tier mail account with push access. In effect, when using BIS, you’ll get the message on your device as soon as it lands in your inbox, and not from 2-15 minutes afterwards. Other providers with push email on the BlackBerry are Yahoo Mail and Gmail, and some GoDaddy hosted accounts.
I’ll post an update here once the release happens and I’ve had a chance to test the consumer software. With the release of the 9000Bold and this news, things are looking good for the future with BlackBerry devices.
February 28, 2008, 2:59 pm
I’ve been getting random IM’s from infrequent contacts on Windows Live Messenger (MSN). These all have a weird domains or “viewprofile.php”-style links, which is usually a good indicator that your system is presently compromised with a trojan or worm. Run a virus scan if you’ve been getting complaints. Stinger will probably even take care of things.
Since I run a MacBook using That Damned Quacking Duck for instant messaging, my own smug sense of superiority is enough to prevent infection.
