Messenger

Q: What happened to handwriting?
A:
It’s gone. We asked, and according to a Microsoft spokesperson, “the feature will not be included in the new messenger”.

Q: How do I block someone? I can’t find the “Block” button in Messenger Wave 4 anymore!
A:
You can block a contact by righ-clicking on the contact and select “Appear offline to this person”, which has the same effect as blocking a contact in previous versions of Messenger.

Unfortunately, Microsoft has removed the ability to view your “Allow list” and “Block list” in Messenger Wave 4.

Q: Where’s Facebook Chat integration?
A:
 Facebook Chat (via XMPP) is now available via the Messenger client, from Web Messenger throughout Windows Live web services, and via the Messenger iOS app. (via Jeff Kunins, Group Program Manager for Social Networking – Windows Live) To enable Facebook Chat, you will need to perform the following first:

  1. Go to http://profile.live.com/Services/Add.aspx?appid=1140906031
  2. Ensure that Chat with my Facebook friends on Messenger is checked (if this is your first time trying to enable Facebook chat, it will be checked by default, but you will still need to perform the following steps)
  3. Click on Connect with Facebook, a new window will pop-up directing you to Facebook’s authentication site
  4. After logging in to your Facebook account, click on Allow to allow Facebook Chat to connect with Messenger
  5. Facebook Chat should now be enabled

Please note that Facebook Chat support is currently available in US, UK, France, Brazil, Germany, Russia, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, India, and Turkey only. You can work around this by changing your Windows Live ID to one of the supported countries by going to Windows Live Accounts. Please be aware that if you do this and that you are not physically within the United States, your Hotmail inbox may display the time zones incorrectly. You can change back your locale settings at any time by visiting http://accounts.live.com.

Q: Why can’t I see or change my display name in Messenger Wave 4?
A:
Microsoft has simplified the Profile model in Wave 4 to maintain consistency across all of their products, and part of this is the removal of display names. From Wave 4 onwards, only your Full Name will be displayed across all of your Windows Live services. Of course, you can limit who can see your Full Name such that it is not shown to the public. This can be done at http://profile.live.com/privacy/advanced. Refer to this article for more information about this change.

Q: Can I still use the video conversation feature if either my computer or my contact’s computer doesn’t have a webcam?
A:
Yes, one-way video conversations are still supported if either parties does not have a webcam.

Q: If both my computer and my contact’s computer have a webcam, can I still have one-way video conversations so that I can hide my webcam while still see my contact’s webcam?
A:
Yes, Windows Live Messenger Wave 4 now allows you to turn off your webcam or audio during your video conversations. For more information about the changes to the Messenger video conversation feature, click here.

Q: I don’t want to see the social updates of my friends, can I have my simple Messenger contact list back?
A:
Yes, Windows Live Messenger allows you to hide the social pane and return to the “Compact view”. Simply click on the button on the top-right corner in Messenger to switch between the two modes. Messenger will remember this setting for your future sign-ins so you will never have to see the social pane again. Refer to this post on the Inside Windows Live team blog for more information.

Q: How many places can I be signed in at the same time to the Messenger service?
A:
You can sign in to Messenger in only seven locations at one time. If you try to sign in to the eighth location, you will automatically be signed out of one of the other locations. These locations include the Windows Live Messenger client, Messenger app on the iOS, Web Messenger on each Windows Live web services, and Windows Live Messenger Mobile.

Q: Why can’t I send certain files over to my friends on Windows Live Messenger?
A:
Files with the following extensions are blocked by Windows Live Messenger:

“ade”, “adp”, “app”, “asp”, “bas”, “bat”, “cer”, “chm”,
“cmd”, “com”, “cpl”, “crt”, “csh”, “exe”, “fxp”, “hlp”,
“hta”, “inf”, “ins”, “isp”, “its”, “js”, “jse”, “ksh”,
“lnk”, “mad”, “maf”, “mag”, “mam”, “maq”, “mar”, “mas”,
“mat”, “mau”, “mav”, “maw”, “mda”, “mdb”, “mde”, “mdt”,
“mdw”, “mdz”, “msc”, “msi”, “msp”, “mst”, “ops”, “pcd”,
“pif”, “prf”, “prg”, “pst”, “reg”, “scf”, “scr”, “sct”,
“shb”, “shs”, “tmp”, “url”, “vb”, “vbe”, “vbs”, “vsd”,
“vsmacros”, “vss”, “vst”, “vsw”, “ws”, “wsc”, “wsf”, “wsh”

If you are trying to send a file with the above file extensions, try renaming the file extension to something else (e.g. .EXE to .EX_), and ask the recipient to rename the file extension back to the original.

October 2nd, 2010 at 3:36 am