Windows Live Messenger

CNET Editors' Rating 8.0/10 Excellent Editorial policies >>
Average user rating from 20 users 6.3/10 Good Read user opinions >>

Product Summary

The good: Windows Live Messenger lets you share files and folders locally with buddies and lets you chat via voice with Yahoo IM users; offers improved security, outbound voice calling, clear video chatting, and integration with other Microsoft tools.

The bad: Windows Live Messenger's voice calling plans won't let you receive inbound calls from landlines or cell phones; ads appear within interface.

The bottom line: The live file-sharing capabilities and clear video call quality make Windows Live Messenger stand out.

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CNET editors' review

Reviewed by: Elsa Wenzel
Edited by: Felisa Yang
Reviewed on: 06/19/2006
Released on: 06/19/2006

Microsoft's updated IM client reflects the company's rebranding of its many free tools with the Windows Live label. The new MSN Messenger is now called Windows Live Messenger. While largely the same as its predecessor, Windows Live Messenger is unique for allowing you to share folders and files locally with fellow users. It also serves up the usual animated emoticons, winks, and buzzes, along with multiplayer gaming, free PC-to-PC calling, mobile phone messaging, and video chatting. Plus it adds VoIP capabilities that allow you to call telephones around the world for a fee. One major omission, though, is the ability to receive inbound calls from landlines or cell phones, a service that Yahoo Messenger with Voice offers. Overall, we recommend Windows Live Messenger's video chat over other IM tools'. You can access this app at get.live.com/messenger/overview.

For the first time, you can add contacts outside of the Windows Live or MSN network. Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Live Messenger now allow you to chat via text with buddies who use either tool. We clicked the Add A Contact link within Windows Live Messenger to add a Yahoo-using friend to our contact list in a few quick steps. To do so in the past, you'd have to use a tool such as Trillian.

You can tailor the look and feel of Windows Live Messenger to your taste.

This 14MB download took just a few minutes in our tests, though we had to proceed with care to prevent Windows Live Messenger from installing unwanted items, such as a desktop shortcut or Rhapsody music software. Once installed, Windows Live Messenger displays a drop-down menu of features along the top, contacts within the center pane, a search box on the bottom, and tabs for eBay, Rhapsody, and other services along the left. Microsoft fans will like the integration with MSN Spaces and the company's other properties. However, we wish we could hide the animated panel of ads at the bottom.

The chat window is customizable, so you can pick a color scheme or choose from themes and paid avatars, most of which cater to kids and tweens. See more details of the changes in our slide show of Windows Live Messenger beta. If you don't need the graphics bells and whistles of this tool and those of the similar Yahoo Messenger with Voice or AIM, we recommend the bare-bones Google Talk.

Just click the Share Files icon within the chat client to invite a buddy to view the same documents within a common folder at the same time.

We like Windows Live Messenger's Sharing Folders feature, which sets it apart from competitors by allowing you to transfer files to and from your buddy's computer by displaying a mirror of each others' files on your desktops. With security precautions in mind, Microsoft includes a free file scanner to check Sharing Folders for viruses and other potential threats. You can drag and drop all kinds of files into the chat window, which synchronizes with the mirror window viewed by your buddy, and view a log of activity. Another welcome change is Windows Live Messenger's ability to store up to 600 contacts, integrated with those from your Windows Live Mail beta account. Windows Live Contacts will notify you when a contact updates his or her details.

With a Webcam installed, you can make video chats with a full 640x480-pixel screen. You can use any Webcam or pick a Microsoft LifeCam with controls tailored to Windows Live Messenger. We found the image quality to be better than that of other IM clients, though we still suffered an image and audio lag of a second or two. With a headset you can talk to Windows Live Messenger buddies via voice for free or pay to call any telephone number through Messenger's Internet phone calls through Verizon Web Calling. If you plan to rely on Messenger as a Net phone, you can also buy a compatible headset to sign in and out without using your PC. Windows Live Messenger costs 1.9 cents per minute for U.S. calls and up to a dollar to reach numbers abroad. These rates are comparable to Yahoo Messenger's, but the inability to accept inbound calls limits Windows Live's usefulness.

Microsoft provides FAQs and a searchable and detailed online knowledge base. You can ask additional questions via a Web-based e-mail form.

Although Yahoo Messenger with Voice and other VoIP tools offer more options for phone service, only Windows Live Messenger sets up a secure environment for sharing and synchronizing all kinds of files. While Messenger may not serve as the ultimate communications hub, it's a solid, fun multimedia chatting tool and an improvement over the earlier version.