Microsoft has released Microsoft Messenger for Mac 7 which Microsoft claims “is an integrated communications client that enables you to communicate with contacts within and outside your organization.”
Built for corporate Mac users on Office Communications Server 2007, Messenger for Mac 7 gives co-workers new ways to communicate easily with each other in different locations or time zones. Additionally, personal users will find a few improvements for managing their contact lists.
Messenger for Mac 7 is a Universal application.
More info and download link (21MB) here.
Why on earth do we need this?
A. No one uses Messenger
B. There are plenty chat clients that support it should you need it.
someone notify the cdc that another M$ infection has been unleashed on the world
Steve Balmer needs this for his MBP when he’s running OSX.
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This is a good development for the folks who will be using MS Office for Mac in the corporate environment and who rely on chat for communications. The Mac end of this software has always lagged, so this is a welcome development.
If this does support A/V, then there is a chance it would challenge the position of Skype on Mac. I’ve been using iChat A/V for the past five years and it has been, and continues to be, by far the most robust, reliable and simple A/V conferencing solution. When I cannot use iChat (for example, when corporate firewall blocks it, or when the person on the other end is a Windows user and just won’t except the pile of turd that AIM client for Windows is), I end up defaulting to Skype. While never as robust and reliable as iChat, skype goes through all firewalls (often masquerading itself as web traffic on port 80) and call quality is acceptable at this point.
For some reason, MSN seems to be quite popular in the third world countries (that includes what used to be called, and is now for some reason politically incorrect, the Eastern Europe – former Soviet bloc). I suppose what came with the cheapo PC was what users default to, and MSN messenger is always there, as is hotmail. While not many Macs are sold into this third world + Eastern Europe area, there are many Mac users who communicate with this world, so MSN 7 might get some traction there. I’d like to see if this will have any impact on the dominance of Skype in this area, though.
I`ll never use it, Adium is so much better
They should call this “Microsoft Office Messenger”, because business is all it’s good for. “Personal users” are pretty much all running Adium if they’re using MSN/Windows Live Messenger/(whatever they’re calling it this month).
Well Messenger is used by corporate offices. Because of the monopoly, you have to have it to work with corporate users. You can’t use anything else but corporate approved CIO Microsoft software. Thats why we are “FORCED” to need this POS.
Horray! Video iChat was getting too easy. It’s time we had a challenge. Oh and could MSN also give us some backup/restore software? Y-e-a-a-a-a-h…that would be g-r-e-a-a-a-t.
“Mac 7” is out already?!
Note that Video/Audio will be available for offices with Corporate Communications server 2007 ONLY – personal users get the same cr*p as they always have.
When the rest of the world can figure out how to do video on a mac it’s becoming more and more apparent that M$ have taken a decision to hamstring their product offering on the platform…
I wish Messenger for Mac had some more features, like Windows Live Messenger, like winks, nudges & web cam.
like it or not, msn messenger is still one of the most used instant messenger around. Its pretty much the only one people in asia uses.
@Sunlokyee
MSN (the chat network) is popular, yes. But this is about Microsoft’s chat application — Messenger for Mac — and it’s not necessary since other chat apps exist. Adium is probably the most popular one.
Microsoft may have a chance if they kept the Mac version in sync with the Windows version, since there’s a lot of proprietary stuff that the Mac version (any Mac chat app) can’t access or utilize on the MSN network. It’s a sad state of affairs.
I can’t wait to see how craptacular it is.
wOw, ms gets back to its roots, its bread and butter, that is.
smart move.
and… somebody call the mac unit, we’re grossly expanding their ops.
Mafiasoft Messenger? Who needs that? MobSweatBoy Balmer? Seriously?
That’s not very snappy.
Junk. Total Junk. As far as the personal account goes, this isn’t an upgrade in any way. It’s a new, uglier icon. The corporate account gets A/V chat, but that’s the only upgrade. This is really Messenger for Mac 6.1, not Messenger for Mac 7.
Which really sucks. Back in my dark Windows days, Messenger was one of the few applications that I actually liked. And it’s the one application that I really miss being able to run (I have a PPC Mac, so I can’t run BootCamp and the like). Screw Mac BU. How’s about some feature parity, douche bags?
And, amazingly enough, AOL’s AIM is still the network with the highest number of active users at any time. It continues to amaze me how many people still live in the AOL’s walled gardens. I’m sure the vast majority of users of AIM are in fact ordinary AOL users, with their clunky AOL client software. If you take those out of the equation, there won’t be many people who only use AIM (on Windows, it’s a monstrosity of the worst kind), or iChat on the Mac. Still, AOL doesn’t miss a chance to trumpet the fact that their messenger is the most popular one in the world.
In the end, text chat has limited practical use for work; I have yet to meet a person who can type as fast as they can talk, and at least for me, it is always faster and easier to talk than to type. While I can see some rare situations where discreetly typed instant message might be preferred over a live phone call, I see little practical benefit from typing. When someone tires to send me an IM, I pick up the phone and call them. Fifteen years ago, long distance cost 15 cents per minute in the US. Today, I can call Serbia for 6 cents (or Burkina Faso for 15), so there really is no point in typing when I can do talking.
Having said that, there will always be people who for some reason like typing and often use it. For them, chat networks will be there. And they’ll probably continue to use this Adium thing, ignoring thoroughly MSN’s new offering.
Open source developers do so many great things; I’m surprised they haven’t been able to create a Mac IM client that does video chat with Windows Live Messenger. That is a feature I would pay for.
I think the new version of Adium will utilize many of the features on the MSN network that the PC users enjoy today (sans video/voice chat). so let’s just wait a little longer w/o having to install something as inferior as Microsoft Messenger for Mac… Besides, does MSN 7 for Mac have multiple tabs? Com’on… it’s fricking 2008 already… get on the “tab” wagon already…
Oh, and who needs Adium either? I’m not a huge fan of that. The best way to use MSN on a Mac is on iChat through Jabber. Works great. Can’t quite use the A/V stuff, though I hear they’re working on it (by they, I mean the people running the Jabber network that I route my MSN account through). Still, it’s a lot nicer than using Messenger for Mac or Adium.
Not that I really care, but, Mess7, Office2008 – and no IE? I don’t get it.
@Missy Pants
hahaha… Good one!