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Windows Live Messenger

Most people these days use Windows Live Messenger, or MSN as it is probably better known. Most windows PCs have it installed, and pretty much everyone uses it, or has used it at some point.

If you have a fairly recent version, then in order to log in you have to update to the latest version. Lots of people I know have had problems with the newest version, or just don’t like it. There are alternatives availible, which are compatible with MSN/Windows Live. This article will list some of the more popular ones.

First off, let’s list a few advantages / disadvantages of Windows Live MSN:

Advantages:

• Most people use it, so you won’t have problems contacting them
• Easy to use
• Has every feature you need and then some

Disadvantages:

• Annoying Ads
• Microsoft likes to install crap and snoop on you
• Has a lot of useless annoying features that get in the way

MSN

If you are lazy, most computers have a really old version of MSN that lets you log in without updating. It works, although it’s really old, and if you have vista chances are you won’t have it.

Advantages:

• Comes on almost all older computers running XP/previous
• Fairly similar to Windows Live

Disadvantages:

• Old, Microsoft
• Some people find it crashes alot
• Lacks many features

aMSN

Sounds just like MSN, but isn’t!

Desktop Version: http://www.amsn-project.net/

Portable Version: http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/amsn_portable

At first glance, aMSN is much like a slightly older version of MSN:

On the front it looks pretty ugly, but it is fully skinnable, and there is a skin availible which makes it look virtually identical to MSN (including smileys). It has a few handy features too – those X’s show that the contact hasn’t added me as a contact, and it is very good at getting past workplace firewalls with a little settings-tweaking.

It also comes in a handy portable version, so you can run it off a pendrive if you want. It’s ad free, and since it’s fully skinnable you can go download a skin or mod to your heart’s content.

aMSN is capable, but it might not be your cup of tea. I use it because I find it being portable highly useful, your mileage may vary.

Advantages:

• Great at evading firewalls (with settings-tweaking)
• Fully Skinnable
• Has advanced features standard MSN lacks
• 100% Free and Open Source
• No annoying advertisements

Disadvantages:

• In order to look like / act like standard MSN, some modding is required
• Doesn’t load your custom nicks for contacts from old msn (although you can give them new ones)
• Not as user-friendly as Windows Live MSN

Trillian

http://www.trillian.im/

Trillian is another (more popular) alternative. It is free, but if you want the extra fancy features you will have to pay. Trillian can replace all your IM programs – it supports a wide range of networks, not just MSN. The user interface is clean, and it’s easy enough to use. Contacts are colour-coded based on what network they’re on.

Advantages:

• Supports wide range of IM networks
• Free (for the basic version anyway)

Disadvantages:

• You’ve got to pay for the fancier features (who wants to pay for IM? anyone? nope!)
• If you use heaps of IM networks things can get ugly

Google Talk

http://www.google.com/talk/

Google Talk is a truly excellent product, typical of Google. The user interface is clean and minimalistic, there’s no annoying ads, and it’s free. This would be easily the best MSN replacement by far, only it doesn’t officially support MSN/Hotmail. If you google it you can get it to work, but why bother? There are many easier alternatives out there.

Google Talk is a great program if you only have a few contacts, and you can convince them to move to Google Talk too, otherwise it’s not really a useful MSN alternative.

Advantages:

• Free
• No annoying ads
• Easy to use
• Integrates nicely within Gmail

Disadvantages:

• Doesn’t work with MSN (unless you really want to go to a lot of effort)
• Minimalist (I actually like this, but some people don’t)

Pidgin

http://www.pidgin.im/

I don’t actually use Pidgin myself, so I can’t really comment on how good it is, but my cousin raves about it.

Pidgin is free / open source, and supports a very wide range of IM networks (it even does IRC!)

It runs on a wide range of platforms, like most open source programs, and supports plugins.

I was actually going to just have a link to it, but after reading the site, it sounds good, so I’ll use it for a while and update this article with my findings.

Other options

There are a lot of other alternatives out there – I cannot hope to cover all of them myself. Of course, if you have a suggestion for another IM client to try out, or disagree with some of my opinions (admittedly, I haven’t used Trillian for a while, it may be a bit different now) then by all means leave a comment!

Conclusion

There are heaps of alternatives out there – the problem of choosing one still remains. Every IM app is different, just like people are different. No doubt you will prefer one over another. I’d suggest trying out several before picking one. None of them have quite as many features as Windows Live MSN, but in many ways Windows Live is feature overkill anyway.

Thus ends my first article. I’d love to hear your opinions on IM clients – I didn’t have time to do rigorous testing, and I’d like to update this with multiple viewpoints. Even if you found this article complete rubbish, I hope at least the links to alternative messengers are useful. As Windows Live MSN gets ever more obnoxious ads and snoopware / bloatware, the alternatives start to look much better. Plus they have the bonuses of being more portable, more compatible, and able to run on multiple platforms!