bloody hell...

MSN just cant work on any contacts that i try to send messages to. fucked up. ALL THAT I REALLY NEED NOW IS SENDING IM, NOT SMILEYS NOR WINKS NOR NUDGES OR ANY FORM OF TRASH! DOWN MSN. DOWN MICROSOFT. AND I JUST WANT A SIMPLE MSN VERSION 1.0 BACK!

Back in to 1.0 Days, MSN Messenger was small and sweet. A 300MHz computer could run it like it was notepad. It was very simplistic. As the months went on, it got better. Integrated audio, web cam conversations, etc. So, every new version made MSN better. I don't think I found any negative things in the new versions. But, soon MSN starts go to down.

In 2002, People got a bit confused. Microsoft has released "Windows Messenger" and "MSN Messenger". What could the difference be? Easy, Windows Messenger came with Windows XP. MSN Messenger was a different version of MSN. Simple enough. But, Windows Messenger later became a "bitch". With Windows Messenger, it would run in the background, without even you knowing. You could disable it at start-up, but it still was there. If you weren't an advanced computer user, you wouldn't not be able to solve the problem.

I remember I had to use Windows Messenger, because I wanted to have two accounts running at the same time. At this time, I did not know about Polygamy. I made it so when I launched Windows Messenger, it would automatically sign me in. Big mistake. If I were to restart the computer, Windows Messenger would run. It would pop-up and load, no, thats too easy. It would run in the background. Unless you viewed all the processes your computer was running, you wouldn't know. The worse thing is, it was running, and you were SIGNED IN. So, you would see contacts signing in, and you wouldn't have any clue what was going on. I consider Windows Messenger a vulnerability in Windows XP. Of course this is my opinion, but I know very few people who use Windows Messenger. Mostly because it opens up many ports on your computer, leaving you open for hackers. Is this what Microsoft wanted? Of course not. Their just too concerned about other projects to worry about an IM program. The final release of Windows Messenger was 4.7, and Microsoft has yet to release a new version in two years....

Now we go back to MSN Messenger. The original IM client from Microsoft. After Windows Messenger 4.7, Microsoft released MSN Messenger 5.0. A new version, now with web cam capabilities. This was its major marketing plan. A few small extras were released, but the main factor was web cam, which over 100,000 people use everyday on MSN Messenger. A few more small updates were made, then MSN Messenger 6.0 came along. This was the first version to offer the most new features. Handwriting capabilities, and most of all, display pictures. Yes, and you thought you could only have them on AIM. Well, MSN allowed you to have a 96x96 Picture for your online account. MSN 6 also allowed you to import custom emoticons, which was also a big thing. All this positive stuff about MSN, what could be so bad? Simple.

Once MSN 6 was released, MSN networks started receiving more downtime. A LOT more downtime. MSN Messenger servers were down for a total of 200 hours in one year. It might now seem like a lot, but users were not happy. Also, people noticed that MSN 6 ran a bit slower on older computers. Not many people noticed it, but the slowness was there.

MSN then reached its biggest downfall....MSN Messenger 7.0. Of course, For MSN 6 and 7, Microsoft allowed you to download their BETA's form their website. (BETA = an incomplete version of a program, but complete enough for it to run, with a few bugs). So if anyone was having problems with MSN, Microsoft's defence was "its a BETA, it will have problems". But the average user has no idea what a BETA is, they think its just an extra word on it. It has no meaning to them. The released of BETA's showed the weakness of Microsoft. It knew MSN would have problems, and they were afraid of releasing a final version, with bugs in it. With the BETA's, it would solve the problem.

So, in 2004, the MSN 7 BETA is released. This is where everything went DOWN. As you noticed, MSN introduced the ability to see everyones display pictures on the contact list, as well as the pop-up when they sign in. Guess what this means. Someones eating your bandwidth. Thats right, if your a dial-up user with 60 contacts online, MSN Messenger says "Give me ALL the bandwidth, so I can download 60 200KB Display pictures for me to view". This meant it left your download speeds low. Very low. This wasn't the worse part. Displaying all these pictures on the contact list, and having the ability to have your song name as your personal message would take some CPU power. Of course it doesn't take much. But to the users with around a 900MHz computer, it mattered. Even when I close a contact window, it takes at least five seconds for it to close, so the other ones can come up. I have MSN 7, and a 900MHz computer. I will be signing into MSN, and then MSN just stops. You know its signing in, because you can see the icon on the task bar change. But, I have had waiting times for up to TWENTY seconds for MSN to load. Once it finally loads, it will show that 8 contacts signed in at the same time, eve though they didn't. Great, just what I want to see. There's a noticeable flaw.

All Microsoft did was add new features, but with more features, requires more CPU power. But your thinking "How can an IM program take up a lot of CPU power?". Heh, you would be surprised. Of course, the rich twelve year old flamers with girl hair wouldn't notice, cause the spoiled n00bs would have a good computer.

So, how great is MSN really? Of course its a good IM program, but the only thing Microsoft did for it was make it require for resources. A few extra features, and make the teenagers happy. But, its not how it works. MSN will only continue to get more powerful, with more useless features. The only thing I cant wait for is to read the "New Features" and the system requirements for MSN 7.0 are...

# Pentium 233-MHz processor or better (500MHz recommended)
# Microsoft Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Millennium, or Windows XP operating system
# Minimum 64MB of RAM (128MB recommended)
# Up to 50MB of hard disk space needed to install — after install, up to 15MB may be needed

And with the introduction of Live Messenger, Microsoft is screwing things up more. I cant EVEN IM ANYONE USING MSN. It has really defeated the purpose of msn. Damn buggy and hopeless. Let's have a look at the system requirements..
Computer and processor Multimedia PC Pentium 233 MHz process (500 MHz recommended)
Operating system Microsoft® Windows® XP
Memory Minimum 128 MB of RAM (256 MB recommended)
Hard disk Up to 50 MB of hard disk space for installation, 15 MB to run the program
Display Minimum 800 x 600 screen resolution
Browser Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 SP1 or later must be installed on your computer, though it does not need to be your default.
Internet connection Internet functionality requires dial-up or broadband Internet access (provided separately). Local or long-distance charges may apply.

Now, Microsoft lowers its system requirements, so more people wont think their computer is too crappy. Lets just say, when the system requirements say 500mhz, and it takes TWENTY seconds for MSN to finally load on a 900MHz computer, someones wrong, and its not me. # Up to 50MB of hard disk space needed to install — after install, up to 15MB may be needed It MAY be needed? If Microsoft isn't even sure, what ARE they sure of?

So, new versions will just contain new features, and will result in more users, and more LAG. Who knows, Microsoft might even release ALPHA's of MSN Messenger, just to make sure they "clear up the bugs". Yeah, right.

If MSN 7 and above just doesn't work for you, whats left? Windows Messenger? Sure it runs well, but we don't need random ports open, and get hacked, now do we? Plus, to stop it from booting up, you need to go into the registry to disable it. If you don't, it runs in the background, with you signed in! Plus, its not even on the task bar!

MSN 7 and above = Useless features, slow program, and overall crappiness.
Windows Messenger = Oh please, its annoying as it is.
Any other Version = Cant use it. If you try to sign in with MSN 1,2,3,4, or 5, It will tell you to download the new version, in order to sign in.

I WANT MSN 1.0! FUCK!