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Messenger Plus Live software review

Review for: Messenger Plus Live

Visit the website for: Messenger Plus Live

Introduction

Messenger Plus! Live, formely known as Messenger Plus!, is the latest iteration in an addon series for Windows Live Messenger. Along with a new name, comes a new interface and new features. Created solely by a developer known only as Patchou, it now boasts over 150 million installations since 2001 and has gained recognition even from Microsoft itself.

Installation

The setup of Messenger Plus! Live, has long been a source of controversy, with many anti viruses and firewalls flagging it as a virus or malware. The reasoning behind this was that in early versions of Messenger Plus the installer came bundled with a third-party sponsor program, which was installed by default unless one explicitly chose not to install it. Many users simply clicked through the installer and didn't even notice that it installed the sponsor program. Since then, the sponsor program is not selected by default and it's easy enough to choose not to install it. Aside from this controversial inclusion to the installer (which is needed to help fund development of the software), it's a fairly simple process to install. Simply follow the on screen steps and let it close down Windows Live Messenger if it's already running, and it'll restart it with the new Messenger Plus! Live functionality ready to go, and an on-screen guide to walk you through the set up of the most common options.

Features

Tabbed chats

Following in the common trend within applications these days, Messenger Plus! Live allows you to group your conversations into one window, and one can navigate between each conversation by clicking a tab. This feature can help save much tray space if you're a compulsive chatter!

Quick Texts

If you find yourself typing the same things over and over again, then this feature is for you. You can associate common phrases or sentences that you may type with a series of characters, similar to emoticons. So if you set up a quick text with the text as "saythis" which should say "I am saying this to you", next time you type "saythis" it'll replace it with the relevant text automatically, saving a bit of time.

Custom Sounds

One of the more viral aspects to pop up in the newer version of Messenger Plus! Live is the addition of custom sounds which you can send to your friends in your conversation window. You can record sounds and share them with others. The database hosting the custom sounds has rapidly grown and now features millions of custom sounds you can send to your contacts.

Personalized status

Windows Messenger Live is limited to only a few statuses such as "Away" and "Busy", but Personalized Status allows you to expand this functionality by changing your Display name and setting up an auto-responder at the same time. You can even automatically reset your status at or after a certain time.

Messenger Lock

This feature can be a life-saver if you're using Windows Live Messenger in the office, not that Teck Reviews condones use of public messenger services in the office of course! Simply set up a keyboard shortcut you can press and messenger will be locked, all conversations and windows related to Windows Live Messenger are minimized and hidden to the system tray with an inconspicuous icon.

Chat log expansion

Messenger Plus! Live allows you to expand upon Windows Live Messenger's default chat logging capabilities by adding in custom formatting, and a great search feature. All conversations are group by month/year and then by the contact, allowing for easy access to conversations on certain days of a certain month.

Contact List Clean-up

By using this tool you can quickly see if any of your contacts have deleted you off their contacts list, or the last time a contact was online or spoke to you. By utilizing this feature, cleaning up old contacts you don't chat with anymore becomes an easy task.

Positives

• Simple user-interface
• Tabbed windows are a lifesaver!
• Barely uses system resources
• Seamless integration

Negatives

• Still flagged by some security tools as malware (although incorrectly)
• Fairly slow development cycle[/LIST]

Conclusion

Messenger Plus! Live is a must-have for anyone using Windows Live Messenger. Packed full of useful features that one might argue should be included in Microsoft's program by default, Patchou has helped to improve the worlds most popular instant messenger client.

Editors Rating: 9.5/10

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