Windows Live Messenger
Windows Live Messenger (formerly named MSN Messenger, and colloquially referred to as simply MSN) is an instant messaging client created by Microsoft that is currently designed to work with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Mobile. The client has been part of Microsoft's Windows Live set of online services since 2005. It connects to Microsoft's .NET Messenger Service. The client was first released as MSN Messenger on July 22, 1999,[1] and as Windows Live Messenger on December 13, 2005.[2]
Contents
[hide]
1 Features
1.1 Sharing folders
1.2 PC-to-phone calls
1.3 Interoperability
1.4 Offline messaging
1.5 Games and applications
1.6 "i’m" initiative
1.7 S60 Platform
1.8 Xbox integration
2 History
2.1 MSN Messenger
2.2 Windows Live Messenger 8.0
2.3 Windows Live Messenger 8.1
2.4 Windows Live Messenger 8.5
2.5 Windows Live Messenger 2009
3 File scanning
4 Security vulnerability
5 Protocol
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
[edit] Features
In addition to its basic functionality and general capability as an instant messaging client, Windows Live Messenger offers the following features:
[edit] Sharing folders
The Sharing Folder feature, unique to Windows Live Messenger, is an alternative to the "direct transfer" method of file distribution. When a user wants to deliver a file to another person on his or her contact list, the "sharing folder" window appears, which is an individualized representation of all previously shared items.
When files are added to the "sharing folder" for that particular person, the file will automatically be transferred to the corresponding computer when they are online. This means that the folder is literally "shared" between two computers. If a user deletes a file, for example, the file will also be deleted from the corresponding computer's shared folder.
To minimize risk of virus-infected transfers, the "sharing folder" feature is bundled with an anti-virus program. The "sharing folder" feature can only be used on computers with NTFS-formatted hard disks.
The Sharing Folder feature has been discontinued in the latest version of Windows Live Messenger (2009), and replaced with access to Windows Live SkyDrive instead.
[edit] PC-to-phone calls
Main article: Windows Live Call
In addition to PC-to-PC calls that have been supported in previous versions, Windows Live Messenger now supports PC-to-phone calls with Windows Live Call. In the US, this feature is supported by Verizon, branded as "Verizon Web Calling". Orange France also has a similar service. This feature is only available in selected countries, including the US, the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Finland, Belgium, Spain, and Italy. Verizon ended service in August 2008 and was replaced in the US with Telefonica, while Orange will offer the service for the rest of the world.
