A new BETA version of Windows Live Messenger has been publicly released by Microsoft. All users can now upgrade to Windows Live Messenger 8.1 BETA, by downloading it from below.

This release does not contain any brand new features, but contains improvements to the existing features, accessibility/usability improvements and bug fixes.

Download Live Messenger 8.1:
Official Mirror - English - 18.0 MB

To find out what's new in this release, click here to read the full article.

Almost a year after the initial details of the interoperability of the two IM networks surfaced, Windows Live Messenger (FKA MSN Messenger) and Yahoo Messenger are now officially connected!

After months of hard work from both sides and lots of feedback from users during a lengthy BETA period, the integration is now final! Yahoo users can now have Live Messenger contacts on their list, and vice versa.

This feature is available to users of either Windows Live Messenger 8.0 or Yahoo Messenger 8.0. To start adding your Yahoo friends to your Messenger list, read our quick guide to adding Yahoo contacts.

Since the release the initial release of Windows Live Messenger there has been a lot of confusion about how to add a contact to your buddy list. This was mainly due to the complete overhaul of the 'Add a Contact' screens present in previous MSN Messenger versions and the tight integration of Windows Live Contacts. There has also been some confusion about how to talk to Yahoo Messenger contacts from Windows Live Messenger.

So here is an official guide which outlines the steps you need to follow to add new contacts to your Messenger list. Be sure to read the 6 steps and the extra notes at the end. Click HERE to read the guide.

With the release of Windows Live Messenger 8.1 approaching, former BETA testers received an official invitation to join the 8.1 BETA yesterday.

So what can we expect from the next release of Live Messenger? Although there is no official word yet, we can probably expect the Yahoo Messenger interoperability to be finalized and a few more bugs to be squashed.

The BETA could be out in as little as 2 weeks, while we can probably expect to see the final release in 2-3 months time.

We've recently received many complaints from users about not being able to activate sound in MSN Messenger or Windows Live Messenger after performing an upgrade or downgrade.

This problem usually seems to occur when MSN 7.5 is upgraded to Windows Live Messenger, and possibly when Live Messenger 8.0 is downgraded back to Messenger 7.5. In any case, this problem can be solved by uninstalling whatever version of Messenger is currently installed and then performing a fresh installation.

According to Microsoft Watch, Microsoft's next generation Operating System, Windows Vista may ship with Windows Live Messenger!

It is not yet clear to what extent Live Messenger will be integrated into Vista: Messenger could be pre-installed in Vista as a replacement for the aging Windows Messenger or Vista could simply contain a link to the Live Messenger website.

Although most Live Messenger users would welcome this, owners of other competing Instant Messaging services (e.g. AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, etc) will probably not be so pleased.

Windows Live Messenger has been officially updated to version 8.0.0812, which mainly fixes bugs and errors in Messenger.

A major bug fix is that of error 80004005 which was not allowing users to log into Messenger due to a logic error in previous Messenger versions. Build 8.0.0812 is also supposed to fix other instability issues that cause Messenger to crash or hang, and also remedy some connectivity issues.

You can download this latest version of Windows Live Messenger from the official website located at http://get.live.com/messenger/overview and also read our Live Messenger page for the latest details regarding Messenger 8.0!

MSN Messenger 7.5 and Windows Live Messenger (WLM) are both great offerings from Microsoft, each with their respective pros and cons. It's certainly a good idea to be able to have both of them installed simultaneously and be able to use either one at any time without installing and uninstalling anything. This is exactly what we'll be covering in this article, please also be sure to read the important notes at the end of this article.

Click here to read the full article.

You can finally download the final version of Windows Live Messenger! The build number of this final release is 8.0.0787 (or Messenger 8.0.0787.00 to be exact).

Not many big changes in this version: it's no longer a BETA version (which means a lot of bug fixes) and several interface and graphical changes have been applied.

Unfortunately it also looks like we'll have to do some more waiting before we can chat with people on Yahoo Messenger, but the wait is certainly going to be worth it! Go ahead and download it below.

>> Download it NOW!
>> Visit the official website

The big day is finally here, the final version of Windows Live Messenger is set to roll out sometime today (within the next 10 or so hours)!

It's been quite a while since the original original Windows Live announcement in October 2005 and those early MSN Messenger 8.0 BETA leaks - Messenger 8.0 has come a long way!

Strangely enough there is still no mention of the Yahoo Messenger interoperability (which has yet to be BETA tested). One possibility is that it will be released at a later stage along with a version of Yahoo Messenger which is compatible with Windows Live and MSN Messenger.

Although the Windows Live Messenger 8.0 BETA is set to end shortly, no clear date for a final release of Messenger 8.0 has been set.

Some speculations of a June 16 release have been made, but there is no concrete evidence to back this up. The last official word confirms that a Yahoo enabled version of Messenger is being tested, but no word on the release date. Naturally, a lot of users are very excited to be finally able to IM across the MSN and Yahoo worlds!

It's been quite a while since we last heard anything about the upcoming Yahoo Messenger interoperability with our beloved Windows Live Messenger since the Initial announcement over 6 months ago.

Naturally, we can't expect full compatibility between the two IM clients at this early stage, but you can probably expect more in the next version of Yahoo Messenger. We can most likely expect the next version of Live Messenger to contain some interoperability with Yahoo Messenger.

MSN Messenger is already the world's most popular Instant Messaging client, and the ability to communicate with Yahoo contacts will certainly provide a huge boost to it's popularity. Stay tuned.

A common question about installing the new MSN Messenger 8.0: Will I lose all the emoticons and display pics that I added to MSN Messenger 7.5?

The upgrade process from MSN Messenger 7.5 should be smooth and all your Emoticons and MSN Display Pictures should load up straight away in Windows Live Messenger when you install it. They will also remain there if you decide to uninstall version 8.0 and go back to using Messenger 7.5.

If you are really concerned about losing your emoticons and display pics, you should always create a backup using a tool such as the CE/DP Backup Wizard.

The Windows Live Messenger 8.0 BETA has finally come out of managed mode and is completely open to the general public - this means that anyone can now sign-in using their standard Messenger accounts without needing to register anywhere or fill any forms!

The recently released Messenger 8.0.0689 has been a great improvement over the previous versions since the BETA phase started back in November 2005. It's definitely a good time to upgrade to the newest Messenger!

A small website introducing the "Future of MSN Messenger" which basically explains the transition from MSN Messenger to Windows Live Messenger has also been created ahead of the final upgrade to WLM. The website features a small flash animation showing the rebirth of MSN Messenger 7 as WLM 8.0.

> Download Latest Messenger 8.0: Here - (English version) - Other languages over here
> Visit the launch site: Here

The new Messenger 8 BETA is currently available in 25 different languages in order to cater for much more of the global MSN Messenger users. Here you can find links to download any of these different localized versions of Messenger.

• Download Messenger 8.0 - English
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Dutch
• Download Messenger 8.0 - French
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Spanish
• Download Messenger 8.0 - German
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Korean
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Japanese
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Portuguese (Brasil)
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Portuguese (Portugal)
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Chinese (Simplified)
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Chinese (Traditional)
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Russian
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Polish
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Finnish
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Danish
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Norwegian
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Hebrew
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Greek
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Arabic
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Italian
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Hungarian
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Swedish
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Turkish
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Slovenian
• Download Messenger 8.0 - Slovak