Microsoft Messenger 7 for Mac

Earlier this week, Microsoft has updated their MSN chat client for the Mac with Microsoft Messenger 7. The previous version which had nearly no fanfare and was super outdated was easily pushed away for alternative clients such as Adium or Proteus. With this new version, I have the feeling Mac users who use the MSN protocol to chat with their buddies will continue to use the alternative clients which have a lot more to offer.

Hardly Anything New

From a home user’s perspective, Messenger 7 has nearly nothing new to offer in comparison to the older version. Mac users are still limited to plain old chatting (still no video), and none of those “bells and whistles” that are available on Windows Live Messenger. This means, you should not expect support for shared folders, nudging, handwriting, winks, etc.

The look and feel of the new client is similar to the old offering. A lot of chrome with an oversized Send button:

However, those who use this client in an enterprise environment will notice new features such as multi-party audio and video conferencing. Although it is a new offering, I’ve yet to come across a workplace which actually has Office Communications Server 2007 running for this.

It Feels Bulky

Personally, I prefer to use Adium as my chat client of choice on the Mac. Although it too is limited to just text-chatting, it is customizable in nearly every aspect of the program, and I can choose to make it minimalist as I like since my laptop display does not have that much real-estate to begin with.

I also love the tabbing offered by Adium which allows me to concern myself with just one window when running multiple conversations. Tabbing is yet to be seen in Messenger for Mac.

The alerts from Messenger 7 are also proprietary, not utilizing the “standard” Growl notification service.

It Could Be Better In The Future

I’ve read a few comments that the Mac BU at Microsoft did not pursue adding in all the features offered by the current Windows Live Messenger because all its underlying technology was going to be transitioned to newer stuff. If you thought that it was odd that video and audio conferencing was only supported for enterprise environments, you’re not alone. It’s likely that the technology utilized for that is newer and will probably be supported for Windows Live Messenger and Messenger for Mac home users in the future. However for now, Mac users will probably stick with the alternative clients which do a better job.