Below you will find all the answers to questions asked during the MSN Beta Chat on Web MSN Messenger held on August 11th at 5:30 PM PST.

Introduction

Jon_MSN says: Hey everyone, welcome to another exciting MSN Beta chat.
Jon_MSN says: For those that do not know who I am, My name is Jon Beck and I am the MSN Beta Program Manager.  I look forward to seeing your questions!
wendy_MSN says: Hi All, This is Wendy, PM, Beta Coordination
wendy_MSN says: Sitting next to me is Jacob who is developer on WebIM.
Jay_MSN says: Hi, I'm Jay F, Lead Program Manager for Web Messenger.  I've got Jacob, Charlie, John, and Petch from the development team
Jon_MSN says: Nobody is sitting next to me, because I am scary looking!, or smelly!
Moderator says: We're ready for your questions.
Jon_MSN says: Jay brought Pizza

General questions

dwergs_www-mess-be in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Are you the same people working on MSN Messenger? Or are there just a few on both projects?
Jay_MSN says: We work really closely with the MSN Messenger client team, but we are a small team focused on Web IM

NoahMSNButterfly in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: is there any kind of time frame you want to be able to roll this out for final? What are your goals to get that done?
Jay_MSN says: Our goal is to be out of beta by the end of the year, but it will depend on the quality level and the feedback we're getting.

Townsend in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Is anyone here keeping track of all of the suggestions in the newsgroups and if so, can ms post the ideas currently being considered and theose ideas that have been rejected already?
wendy_MSN says: Your feedback is invaluable and all suggestions are reviewed by the product team, so please keep up the posts in the suggestion NGL.

Krista in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: When is the WM beta expected to end and how many other builds might we test?
Jon_MSN says: This depends on how many bugs you find Krista

ben_b in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: What will happen after beta? Any future plans?
Jon_MSN says: another beta!

CWHTammie2 in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: I just got here, but never received new software to test.  What is it and how do I get it?
wendy_MSN says: The link for Web Messenger may be found at http://beta.microsoft.com

JeffCentimano in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: What ports are being used for web messenger?
wendy_MSN says: Port 80

NoahMSNButterfly in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: I find it hard to notice when a messege is coming through.  there is not flashing task bar or anythign to alret me.  in the NG"s you stated this was a security issue tied to IE.  Is there any ideas on how to resolve this?
Jon_MSN says: We are thinking about making the conversation list entry flash, do you think that would be good enough?

Jpierce in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Hi Jon - How soon will Web Messenger be supported in 9.1?
Jon_MSN says: This is something we are looking into thanks

Bugs

prev_man in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: When I add contact by pasting an address, OK does not activate.  Is this a bug?
Jay_MSN says: Yes, this is a known bug that we will be fixing soon

hackersoft in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Q. Is there going to be a workaround/fix for the SP2/Windows 2003 taskbar naming issue? It's really annoying
Jay_MSN says: This is a security fix. It happens whenever the address bar has been turned off in a window.

Jon in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Why can we only unblock a person on our buddy list when they are online I have not been able to unblock them if they arent logged on
Jon_MSN says: Great bug that we are looking into.

prev_man in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: I filed a bug in the MSN bug section.  Will your team still get it?
Jon_MSN says: Yes, we are still triaging.

ben_b in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Where are we suppossed to file bugs? If on beta place do we do it under MSN Beta?
wendy_MSN says: Yes, please file bugs on BetaPlace.

Personalization

Nate_B in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Are there any plans to add user selectable stylesheets for future versions of Web IM?
Jon_MSN says: Great suggestion.. We can look in to it.  Our dev's said that if alot of you would like it to please state it so on the suggestion newsgroup.  Thanks

AceWeb3 in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Are there plans to have user's display image in web IM ?
Jay_MSN says: We are looking into the feasibility of doing this in the future.

dwergs_www-mess-be in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Will Web MSN Messenger get more personalization options? (I'm thinking emoticons, background colors...)
Jay_MSN says: We'll be looking at more personalization options in future releases

StarFerretWard in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Please take the "bloop" sound out of Web IM, or at least make it optional.
wendy_MSN says: This is a known issue and will be fixed in a future release.

Security & Privacy

Townsend in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: will passport/web im be upgraded to esnure the expiration of web im cookies are less than a minute after being closed for security reasons?
wendy_MSN says: The cookie information is a session cookie, which means that when you exit out of browser, your session cookie will be cleared.

hackersoft in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Does WebIM leave any sort of files on the host system, e.g. cookies etc?
wendy_MSN says: we request browsers to cache image files and javascript files.  we don't leave any information on cookie.

AceWeb3 in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Any plans to add privacy optoins/controls to Web IM like there isnow in regular IM?
Jon_MSN says: Not at this time

Ted_Burns in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: As an infrequent IM user what advantages do you see with WebMessenger and since I am most likely to use it on a computer other tham my own what additional security precautions should I take?
wendy_MSN says: Please ensure that you sign out of all browsers and ensure that you do not select the "Remember my Password" when signing into .net passport.  The greatest advantage is WebIM is that you do not need to install any software in order to use it.

Patrick in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: In reference to Ted's question, will they put a "I'm using a public computer" option on the sign in screen?
wendy_MSN says: Great suggestion, please file this in the suggestion newsgroups.

Features

Ernie_Hornak_II in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Is there a chance that this will become a more full featured product and replace messenger?
Jon_MSN says: Would you rather use Web Messenger?

Townsend in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Will a future release of web im include conversation logging as an option?
Jon_MSN says: Would this be a feature you would like to have?

prev_man in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Will we be able to send files via web messenger?
wendy_MSN says: Good suggestion, please submit this via the suggestion newsgroup.

StarFerretWard in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Why can't we have invisible logon with MSN and MSN Messenger? Please?
Jon_MSN says: Great idea,..

Todd in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: will a Right Click be added to WebMessenger for tasks like send IM Send E-mail and Delete?
Jay_MSN says: That's a great idea.  We'll look into that for a future release

dwergs_www-mess-be in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Will Tabs be added to Web MSN Messenger?
Jay_MSN says: We will be looking at this in a future release

PaulBrittonJr in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Can MSN Alert toasts be triggered w/ WebIM?
Jay_MSN says: We'll be looking at this for a future release.
wendy_MSN says: Great suggestion, please make this suggestion in the suggestion NG.

P_C_Jen in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Will mobile status/access be integrated into Web Messenger?
Jon_MSN says: For future releases

Townsend in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Why doesn't microsoft incorporate VOIP into both messengers? the web im setup should be able to handle being reproduced for personal businesses to use internally and securely.
Jon_MSN says: Great idea, We will talk to the Live Connection Server team.

Accessibility & Compatibility

ElDiabloCapron in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Can I use Web Messenger on Unix machines?
wendy_MSN says: Yes, you may use this on Unix but it is not an officially-supported browser.  If you find out something, we'd love to know about it!
Jon_MSN says: This is unsupported, but rumor is that it works with Mozilla

ElaineFaith in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: will I  be able to use web messenger at work, we are blocked from regular messengers.
Jon_MSN says: Give it a try, and let us know if it works for you

cohone_ss in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Is there a way for a company to block Web Messenger besides blocking port 80?
wendy_MSN says: yes. if webmessenger.msn.com is a blocked site within company policy.

Off-topic

JSerrano in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: I am new to these chats and am kind of lost. I have not been able to test Web Messenger as I don't know anyone here.
wendy_MSN says: Hi Jay, if you sign into the newsgroups and post a request, we a fantastic test team who will be willing to help you out!!

Daibidh in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: What should I expect to see first; a flying Delorian or AIM/MSN interpolarity?
wendy_MSN says: Delorian

Ernie_Hornak_II in MSN_Beta_Chat asks: Is Wendy as cruel to her co-workers as she us to us poor beta testers??
Jon_MSN says: I cry nightly, and Laurent is nodding

The end

Jon_MSN says: Web IM beta chat is over, please thank Jay and team for coming, and then we will get on to other beta duties
Jay_MSN says: Thanks for all the great feedback, guys.  It helps a lot!!!