# Live Messenger Alternative?



## Marticus (Oct 26, 2009)

Just a quickie guys...

I loved *msn messenger*, and *live messenger* is OKAY after patched with *apatch* (which removes all the extra bullshit like adverts).
However, I just find the latest *live messenger* to be really shitty and unstable. I know there are already alternatives out there...
*BUT*

Is there an* alternative* out there, which does the things which live messenger does like... send voice clips, insta preview picture sharing and custom emotes?

Thanks for the halp!


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## SailorYue (Oct 26, 2009)

pidgin. its a mulit-protocol program, but its the ONLY one that lets you use personal smilies in MSN.


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## Sinjo (Oct 26, 2009)

Pidgin, trillian.

you could always do it on the net with ebuddy


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## fwLogCGI (Oct 26, 2009)

aMSN


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## Marticus (Oct 26, 2009)

Sinjo said:


> Pidgin, trillian.
> 
> you could always do it on the net with ebuddy



Tried Trillian, but I want to use my current address and contact list.


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## Marticus (Oct 26, 2009)

fwLogCGI said:


> aMSN



Trying this now, looks promising so far


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## Runefox (Oct 26, 2009)

Marticus said:


> Tried Trillian, but I want to use my current address and contact list.



Buh? Trillian... Uses your Live account. Just like Pidgin does. ; All your contacts, and using your address.

Er, but anyway, if aMSN is working for you, then great.  Personally, I'm a Pidgin user. <3 Pidgin. 12 messenger accounts across pretty much every protocol rolled into a single app.


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## Duality Jack (Oct 26, 2009)

I use aMsn and pidgin,


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## Sinjo (Oct 26, 2009)

Runefox said:


> Buh? Trillian... Uses your Live account. Just like Pidgin does. ; All your contacts, and using your address.
> 
> Er, but anyway, if aMSN is working for you, then great.  Personally, I'm a Pidgin user. <3 Pidgin. 12 messenger accounts across pretty much every protocol rolled into a single app.


I like windows live >.>


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## CryoScales (Oct 26, 2009)

Why not just install an old version of MSN messenger? I believe download.com has previous versions.


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## Marticus (Oct 26, 2009)

Runefox said:


> Personally, I'm a Pidgin user. <3 Pidgin. 12 messenger accounts across pretty much every protocol rolled into a single app.



Yea but does it do  voice clips & the insta preview picture sharing.

I notice that aMSN doesn't , and I hear Pidgin doesnt either.


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## Runefox (Oct 26, 2009)

No, though I haven't had any reason to do that.

Actually, the msn-pecan plugin for Pidgin supports the _receipt_ of voice clips, though not the sending thereof. It doesn't do the insta-preview, but it does do the "direct connection" bit I believe (and file transfers, of course). ... Though I think the direct connection feature is for AIM/Yahoo.


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## Azbulldog (Oct 26, 2009)

Windows Live has always been stable for me, once patched to remove advertisements as well. Except for when it would refuse to remember my information and automatically log on when I restarted my computer or how I now have to run it under Vista compatibility on Windows 7 so it will be able to minimize into its system tray icon.
The problem I have with all the other universal chat clients is that they lack different features like video. (Logitech no longer supports my webcam for Vista and now Windows 7 anyways, ugh.) Other things like file transfers, and sometimes just being able to communicate with people using different clients I have seen get very messy. A friend of mine I still can't contact using Yahoo because he is using Trillian even though we are both online, etc.
Rolling back to an older version of MSN would probably be a good idea.


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## CyberFoxx (Oct 26, 2009)

Personally, I use aMSN. Webcam support, voice clip support, direct file transfer support, ink draw support, voice chat support, custom emoticon support, display image support, winks support, etc... It seems to be the only alternative MSN client out there that's pretty much on par with the features of the official client.


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## Sinjo (Oct 26, 2009)

Azbulldog said:


> Windows Live has always been stable for me, once patched to remove advertisements as well. Except for when it would refuse to remember my information and automatically log on when I restarted my computer or how I now have to run it under Vista compatibility on Windows 7 so it will be able to minimize into its system tray icon.
> The problem I have with all the other universal chat clients is that they lack different features like video. (Logitech no longer supports my webcam for Vista and now Windows 7 anyways, ugh.) Other things like file transfers, and sometimes just being able to communicate with people using different clients I have seen get very messy. A friend of mine I still can't contact using Yahoo because he is using Trillian even though we are both online, etc.
> Rolling back to an older version of MSN would probably be a good idea.


I also prefer it in the taskbar. However an option to choose would be nice.


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## Marticus (Oct 27, 2009)

Sinjo said:


> I also prefer it in the taskbar. However an option to choose would be nice.



Agreed



Azbulldog said:


> Rolling back to an older version of MSN would probably be a good idea.



Yea, good idea, though I really like the new features. What I really want is some sort of lite version.



CyberFoxx said:


> Personally, I use aMSN. Webcam support, voice clip support, direct file transfer support, ink draw support, voice chat support, custom emoticon support, display image support, winks support, etc... It seems to be the only alternative MSN client out there that's pretty much on par with the features of the official client.



Yea, It seems really good, though without the image sharing/preview thingy, it's useless for me  

Though apart from that its a great alternative. Also low on cpu:

live messenger: 56,000K
aMSN:             38,000K


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## SailorYue (Oct 27, 2009)

theres no such thing a a "lite wieght" version of live messenger. sure youcan try WEBmessenger or windows messenger, but thats as lite as you can get.

im telling you use pidgin. it usses less memory than live did, and you can conne ct aim YIM and all the restp rotocols you have if you want


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## Sam (Oct 27, 2009)

???

How can you not run Live? I have that thing on all the time, never had a problem with it. It's competing with xfire right now as far a stability goes. x3


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## Shino (Oct 27, 2009)

Trillian.

I've been using Trillian for years, and absoloutely love it. I've currently got MSN/Live, AIM, Yahoo, Skype, GTalk, ICQ, and Bonjour all running through it. Imagine having to have seperate clients going for that. I also love some of the UI features that are unique to the IM world, and the fact that you can access _all_ of the above remotely with one signin alÃ¡ AIM Express.

So yeah, Trillian.


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## SailorYue (Oct 27, 2009)

ah, but trillian doesnt offer the personal emoticons that live messenger has  pidgin does. ive got tons of MSN pretty emotes and others can show me theirs.


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## Sam (Oct 27, 2009)

You guys get way into your messengers. Just pick something and talk Christ.


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## incongruency (Oct 27, 2009)

I use finch and pidgin.  Mostly finch though.

Finch because it runs easily through ssh (unlike Pidgin, which I've not had much success with running it with xming portably), and Pidgin because I'm not always away from my main computer.

Finch won't suit you for what you want, though, and from how you describe how you use your messenger, neither will Pidgin.  I'd reaffirm what others have been saying about aMSN, for you.


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## Neybulot (Oct 28, 2009)

Runefox said:


> No, though I haven't had any reason to do that.
> 
> Actually, the msn-pecan plugin for Pidgin supports the _receipt_ of voice clips, though not the sending thereof. It doesn't do the insta-preview, but it does do the "direct connection" bit I believe (and file transfers, of course). ... Though I think the direct connection feature is for AIM/Yahoo.



Didn't...The Pidgin devs recently add receiving voice clips to their MSN protocol? I know for sure that they added receiving handwriting stuff.

The only differences would be the stuff under "Compared to Pidgin's official MSN plug-in" which except for maybe the winks and hiding Plus! tags I don't think many would really care about.

File Dropper and FilesOverMiles are much better for sending files than direct connection via MSN. (Despite it being fast, I still get my full upload to File Dropper.)

Currently yes, aMSN is likely the best choice unless you want a bunch of messengers rolled into one. That's where Pidgin shines.


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## Chukkz (Oct 28, 2009)

Has been said all over already but I suggest aMSN as its specifically being developed for doing the same thing like WLM.

However, I noticed when you communicate with friends on regular WLM and wanna send things via filetransfer then this can take a looooot of time.


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## Marticus (Oct 28, 2009)

SailorYue said:


> im telling you use pidgin. it usses less memory than live did, and you can conne ct aim YIM and all the restp rotocols you have if you want



Yeah, though no picture sharing :/



Sam said:


> ???
> 
> How can you not run Live? I have that thing on all the time, never had a problem with it. It's competing with xfire right now as far a stability goes. x3



I can, I just noticed that when i open its main window it's kinda slow, I see the default blue theme and then it changes to my purple one.
Also, its terrible when thrown offline, it freezes up and stuff, nasty.

Thanks for all your feedback!

 Trillian, Pidgin and aMSN are all pretty neat, though couldn't offer what I wanted, i'll just stick to Live Messenger with aPatch for now!


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## Neighboursfiends (Nov 2, 2009)

the windows live is suck I dont like but I have the 7.5 and she work  perfect


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## Plantar (Nov 2, 2009)

I usually use Pidgin as an alternative, especially on my laptop, considering she is old and tired (and originally shipped with Windows 98...)


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