RSSMSN Messenger Gets Music Integration
By David Worthington | Published February 10, 2005, 8:25 PM
BetaNews has learned that the latest beta builds of MSN Messenger 7 have begun exhibiting signs that Microsoft plans to integrate its music properties into the software. Beta build 604 implements a feature that enables users to jam a playlist of the songs that they are listening to within their personal message. But Microsoft is now singing a different tune on the final release date.
In contrast to the noted progress, Windows enthusiast sites are abuzz with rumors that the client will be delayed, and Microsoft has added to the confusion by issuing conflicting statements about when the final version will ship.
The playlist feature is borrowed from Microsoft's ThreeDegrees test bed, which already offers steaming media playlists. It is presumed that songs in a user's playlist will be linked to the MSN Music store as Microsoft continues its attempts to position itself against rivals.
"This integration is simply a way to leverage the popularity of MSN Messenger to get more traffic to MSN Music, which is trying to compete with Apple's iTunes Music Store," remarked Directions on Microsoft Senior Analyst Matt Rosoff.
"This is a digital media platform play: iTunes' success threatens the Windows Media Platform. If Microsoft can convince more users to download songs from MSN Music, then they might be convinced to buy portable and networked devices that can play those files, instead of an iPod."
A public beta of MSN Messenger 7 was issued in December 2004 and served as a bellwether for what customers should expect from MSN. The playlist feature is a momentum note: Microsoft is working to make MSN services more discoverable across the business unit's products and has done so by integrating presence awareness into its Hotmail e-mail service and MSN Spaces blogging tools.
The client continues to borrow from ThreeDegrees by implementing some of its personalization options such as "winks" and "nudges," and will also include new transactional services, online status options, better contact management, and MSN Search functions.
What's more, audiophiles will pick up on the modest improvements that will have made to the software's overall sound quality.
When asked about the beta, Microsoft opted not to remark on it specifically but stated, "The public beta of MSN Messenger, released in December, offers customers new ways to connect, express themselves online and personalize their instant messaging experience and will give customers a taste of what's to come with the final release. The final release of MSN Messenger will be dependent on the beta feedback. At this point, we are aiming to release the final service later this year."
Internally, however, MSN Messenger 7 was slated to ship during the first quarter of 2005. It is unclear why Microsoft has now made the file release date open-ended, but Windows enthusiast site Mess.Be is pointing to delays caused by problems encountered during beta testing. Previous builds of the software were modified due to security concerns.
An MSN spokesperson refused to characterize the change in public comments as a delay. "When we announced the Messenger beta in December, we never set a date of when we would release the final version; it was dependant on the beta feedback, so this isn't a delay."
If your like me and have friends across the IM spectrum, then this software is intresting, but totally not worth the hassle. If you use MS IM only, then this has some great new features! i recommend it for you.
the nudes/winks are annoying at best, but the music listening is quite nice. the new way they handle some things is also nice.
Overall, i am a GAIM fan and Miranda IM fan, either does the trick.
Skype for talking, and soon video?
anyways... again, good IM, not what i need, but for those who use it, this is a good upgrade.
Ads suck, kinda bloated... why i give it a 3 and n ot 5.
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|... if only for the fact that it now supports HTTP proxy, which means I can run it at work (many of us now do).
Prior to that I would use a SOCKS proxy tunneling over HTTP to my server at home to get it working. Nice, but fiddly.
Sure it's bloated for what it does [cue Homer Simpson] but, what ya gunna do about it?
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|Thanks, I'll stay with 6.2. I don't need all this extra garbage - I just want to talk to people and occasionally do a vidcam session. This golly-gee-whiz-featuritis crap just leaves me cold.
"Let's turn this client into ICQ - we need more obese software!"
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|The problem with the beta version 7 is that it does not work! Once you install it and try to run it you get an error message saying it is configured wrong.Attempts to configure it are futile. MSN support was no help saying "wait for next release" in response to my help requests. I was disappointed with the response as I am sure many others are as well.
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|You should really correct what you said.. You said that "Once you [the reader] install it, and you [the reader] try to open it, you [the reader] gets an error message" and something of the lines that it wasn't salvageable. Do you really think that Microsoft would release a program that totally did not work for anyone whatsoever? And this version 7 has been out since at least November/December, don't you think there would be huge amounts (like, 70 million i think was the userbase) of people stating that they could not get it to work, and that there would be some sort of Microsoft response, and further more that other people wouldn't be using it? Because YOU had a problem with getting it to work on your machine does not mean that the world can not run it either. And keep in mind that this is a BETA version, meaning, it's not ready for "production," that it's still in it's testing phase, further meaning that it most likely won't work for the entire world. And you also mentioned that you got a response to wait for the next release, which is pretty good service because if you read the EULA when you installed the beta version, they assumed no responsibility for the program since it was still in it's beta testing phase.
Sure, I support Microsoft, but I don't think they're flawless. Don't attack a beta version because one person couldn't get it to work...
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|Gee, I have no trouble with it at all and it works just fine for me. Isn't it funny how it will work with some and not others, which tells me, that perhaps it did not install correctly and simply, they do not know what they are doing? Anyway, I have no trobule with the newest beta version.
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|I love how you lay it all on the user. spouting lines like "And keep in mind that this is a BETA version" and "it's not ready for "production," that it's still in it's testing phase, further meaning that it most likely won't work for the entire world"
I have long stated those very lines in reference to every version of the windows operating system. and I can totally believe the users claims in this, having been in the industry for more years than most of the readers have been alive (for close to 24 - 25 years now). Microsoft releases Beta software all the time as production level product then spends 1-3 years patching their beta software that started as buggy and only gets worse before realizing they cannot fix the shabby product they released and abandon it and release a new beta under a new version of windows and the cycle starts over again.
and I didnt get the feeling he was attacking the client itself, just sharing his complaint or problem... however - I did get his unhappiness at microsoft's response to his problem.
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|have anyone had probs with the hanwrite not working sometimes, it works one time, and then u sind off and it asked u to install it, are something rather, try sining off and on and trying it
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|For anyone that saw those Wave 11 screenshots (even MSN's competitors); they've known these features were in the offing. Glad to see it coming to fruition finally. (this capability has been conceptualized for a long time)
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