New MSN Messenger 7.0 released and why you care
Posted by jerothe in 
Whole new set of tools to make you that much more of a slug.
MSN Messenger came out with a new version late last month, jumping from 6.2 all the way to 7.0, and for good reason. There are a bunch of cool new things and the interface becomes more slick every day.
First off, when I started to write this article, I came across a site that has those flash animated smileys that have been all over the internet lately. If you haven’t seen them, check these smileys out, they are really cool and really free.
More options for file transfers.
You can now transfer all sorts of file formats via messenger, from the original jpgs up to a better resolution format in .pngs or even music .mp3 files.
Trick those you don’t want to know that you are online.
There is a new cloaking feature that allows you to hide yourself and your online presence from those annoying friends who you don’t want to piss off, but don’t really want to talk to either. All you have to do is right click on their name, and choose “block”. Like I said, you will show up offline on their computer, so they won’t really know that you are there.
Personalize your messages and get your friend’s attention
First conceived in Yahoo Messenger, now there are animated “winks”. These are little animations of people and objects that say and/or do certain default things such as a dancing pig! There are nudges, which gives the other users window a little shake and sound to get their attention if they are away in the other room. The nice thing about nudges is that you can only do them so often, a nice preventative measure of them becoming annoying. If all this wasn’t enough, now there is a pen tool for the message box, so you can actually write a message to your friend instead of type it. More of a novelty thing I think, unless you have a wacom tablet like I do, it may be quicker to write, who knows.
Easily personalize your away message
What I believe is a new feature, right under you own screen name is a small field for you to type your away message, before you set your status. No clicking through a couple of menu options to find it, no clicking through and saving different messages to set. Just one click, type, and you are there.
The slick interface
When I say this I mean, the fading in of the buddy icons, the fading in of the bios, and all of the user information at your fingertips right down to accessing their hotmail email address. When you are typing messages, you can now make a simple right click and do a search on a word that was used, either to find out a definition, or maybe to find out more information if you are talking about media, literature, or even animals.
I even learn about these things they call “muggins” which are dynamic .png files inside of a flash file that you can change to reflect your mood. I think I must be really old, because I don’t get the point, but I guess it would be to let your friends know how they should talk to you according to your “muggin”.
I even understand there is advanced video options for those of you who have internet cameras, with more of a real time response and options for communicating sans typing.
Conclusion
Most of this stuff makes MSN that much more of a toy then a really necessary communication tool, especially for teenagers who can’t get out of the house. But fun and inventive, it is fun to see this software evolve into some crazy tool you might see in some sort of futuristic movie.
Coolness Rating
MSN Messenger 7.0
