Main/News >> News Archives > The week of July 10 (2005) (you are here)

 Quick News: MSN Messenger 7.5 (?), Patchou in Wonderland, etc.

dwergs says ( 14 Jul 2005 ):

The rumors are true! I really am Hugh Hefner's personal gardener at the Playboy Mansion in my daily life. (*Wishful thinking!*) OK, but the rumors about a new version of MSN Messenger already being in the works surely are true! Some lucky bastards have already been invited into the upcoming BETA program and have received the following e-mail message: "The MSN Beta Team would like to invite you to sign up for an upcoming MSN Messenger beta program. During this beta program we will be testing a new version of MSN Messenger. We are looking for a group of testers willing to actively participate and provide useful feedback to our development teams. This will be a short beta program lasting only about 5 weeks". Good news: these selected "few" will be able to invite their friends and family to test the software with them. The new version, rumored to be 7.5, is expected to be officially out within two months and, according to a trusted source (*waiting for his permission to credit*) it will come with a new feature similar to Plus!'s Emotion Sounds. [Reported by: )(Rockerboy, XeroCool, TheRebel, mattm591, XxRebelSeanxX, Salem, Damien Ryan, XM4ST3RX, InterfaceX25, Hillier, eXtreme, mwe99, darkip, Armenian Guy] Talking about Plus!: Patchou has been invited to Redmond by the Big M to explore common business opportunities between Microsoft and the popular addon programmer. Big up to Patchou for achieving what might become another milestone in the history of MSN Messenger! And don't forget to send me some Microsoft freebies after your visit. [Reported by: saralk, Cool Rik, ShawnZ and Salem] By the way, since last month you can also access the Messenger Plus! homepage via msgplus.com! The domain was previously owned by an erotic massage salon operated by plus-sized women and called Massage Plus. In exchange for the domain Patchou had to take a lifetime subscription at the place. Ok, I entirely made that up. Rockstar reports that ecko_complex has finished coding an update to his Messenger Discovery X addon and that it is about to enter the beta-testing phase. Expect version 1.1 to be released within 5 to 15 days. Finally, thanks to the dozens of Messers who have reported about their problems loading the Mess.be news page. Some of you have been (or will be) contacted for further voluntary investigation and testing.

 You smell like peanuts!

dwergs says ( 13 Jul 2005 ):

Those who visited my personal blog know that I'm so into Charlie and the Chocolate Factory it's scary. I read the book back when people still used to read books, I've hallucinated to the 70s movie adaptation and tonight I'm gonna watch the pimping remake by Tim Burton. In anticipation thereof, I've added 20 extra Charlie and the Chocolate Factory MSN Display Pictures. >> Browse 56 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory MSN Display Pictures. >> Get Charlie and The Chocolate Factory movie posters and other stuff (TIP: Enter coupon code S2JL5 and get 20% off all your orders before July 17th).

 Happy Birthday, Pure_BY!

dwergs says ( 12 Jul 2005 ):

One of our youngest news posters is currently getting way too drunk to post anything that makes sense for at least one week ;) Congratulations, Pure_BY! >> Related: the Pure_BY Birthday Thread. Note: This morning Pure_BY alerted me that Mess.be wasn't loading properly on his system. The title banner and left menus appeared, but the news in the center didn't. If you're experiencing something similar, please report it to me.

 The new Hotmail, the big Kahuna?

dwergs says ( 12 Jul 2005 ):

MSN is trying to hook customers onto "Kahuna." Kahuna is code name for an upcoming version of Hotmail that will sport a new style of interface, automatic inbox refreshing and a preview pane that will enable Hotmail users to read and respond to e-mail without ever leaving their inbox (sounds similar to the Fast Reply feature on our forum). Microsoft has reason to be testing such additions: many of these features are already out of testing and in production among its competitors. According to sources familiar with the upgrade, Kahuna is a limited beta that is not heavy on features as of yet. Its interface is known internally as "Wave 11" and is designed to be lightweight and "clean" for better performance. Further integration with MSN Spaces and MSN Messenger is said to be forthcoming. [Reported by: )(Rockerboy, Alex P, Hillier, Armenian Guy, Dukeicon & XxRebelSeanxX] [Source: eWeek] Also Hotmail-related: this Summer MSN is taking in account travellers who won't be able to check their Inboxes for over 30 days. A messer from Sweden named Rockstar told us that until September 15th, MSN will not be deleting accounts that are inactive for over 30 days.

 Microsoft Monopoly Case Up for Deliberation at Last

dwergs says ( 10 Jul 2005 ):

The Fair Trade Commission will start deliberating on Wednesday whether Microsoft violated antitrust laws by bundling its Instant Messaging software into the Windows operating system. The deliberations come long after Korean's Daum Communications first filed a lawsuit in April 2004. An FTC official said the question was originally to be put to a meeting last December, after the commission finished reviewing a 1,500-page dossier on the case. However, it took several more months because RealNetworks filed an additional complaint accusing Microsoft of unfairly tying its Media Player software to Windows. Microsoft says this is not "bundling" but a natural sales practice in line with trends toward technology integration, no different from "convergent" mobile phones that combine game player, camera and voice recorder functions in one handset. The FTC says deliberations could take (yes, you guessed it) several months because of the many technically complicated issues involved. [Reported by: Dempsey] [Source: Digital Chosunilbo]

 Mess Patch 7.0.0816 Bugfix

dwergs says ( 10 Jul 2005 ):

Messers ruzair & Datas among others noticed that Mess Patch would sometimes remove the custom emoticon stealing feature built into MSN Messenger 7. After some investigation, Rolando discovered that disabling MSN Music links took down the right-click-and-Add menu with it. So this second edition of the Mess Patch comes with an alert that notifies you of this inevitable change that goes along with the option to remove the MSN Music links. Up to you to decide which feature you like best... And starting this version, you can also download older versions of Mess Patch depending on the current build of MSN Messenger you own. >> Download Mess Patch for MSN Messenger 7.0.0816.

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