Windows Live Messenger (formerly MSN Messenger) Editor's Review

Windows Live Messenger 2011 marks the series’ final step in its evolution from chat client to fully-rounded communications hub. Fully integrated and with dozens of online social networks, including essential sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, you can access all of your social profiles through one organised interface.

Within the messaging box itself, all of the essential features that you’ve come to expect from Windows Live Messenger are present and correct; text chatting and file sharing, voice and video calls, and online gaming, as well as a range of essential social networking features. The newly-overhauled interface provides a smoother, crisper look and a new feature that allows users to have multiple conversation tabs in a single window. For those who prefer the older style, the original, compact look is only a click away. 

Pros: Efficient social hub, new emoticons, tabbed interface.

Cons: No Twitter support, not XP compatible, no custom names.

Conclusion: Windows Live Messenger’s new Social Highlights interface seems to have drawn a “love it or hate it” response from its users. Keen social networkers will value a way to connect and combine all of their various profiles, and this is a great way to do it. For those who just want a messenger, the emphasis on interconnectivity and the inability to edit your name will prove to be more than a little annoying. Thankfully a single button click reduces the interface back to the old-school, messenger-only view.

Despite it’s new slick interface, Windows Live Messenger suffers from the same stability issues as its predecessors. Crashes and other bugs are not uncommon, most likely due to the slightly rushed coding of the new features. Still, these interruptions aren’t frequent and when Windows Live Messenger works, it’s the best messenger out there.