Hi, I'm Aaron, a PM for Messenger on the Voice, Video and Sounds team.

A year or so ago I bought my wife a new digital camera. It came with a very detailed, and very boring, instruction manual. We never read it. The camera was a basic point and shoot camera, nothing fancy. It did what we needed. It was only 11 months later, during a vacation to France when we asked a random person to snap a photo of us did we discover a really cool feature. It turns out, this gentlemen had the same camera, and had read the instruction manual.

Instruction manuals give you an overview of what your new camera, or new software application can do, but why do they have to be so boring!

The Messenger team has put together an awesome introductory video for Windows Live Messenger. This video is SO much better than an instruction manual! The onscreen guide walks you through many of the features of Messenger to give new and long-time Messenger users insight into what Messenger can do.

Don’t let some stranger tell you about cool Messenger features, find out for yourself with this great video!

http://imagine-windowslive.com/Messenger/Launch/en-GB/Default.aspx

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  Posted by Stacia

Hi there, I’m Stacia, one of the Lead Program Managers for Messenger. I’ve been working on Messenger for a whopping three years now and love building this product for folks like you – our avid users.

With over 280 million accounts using Messenger, one of the things we take very seriously here is safety.  We want you to feel safe in the conversations you have, and we want you to feel confident that the people you care about are protected as well.  To support these goals, I'm excited to tell you that one of the new features in the Messenger beta is integration with Windows Live OneCare Family Safety.  As a parent myself of two little girls, I'm personally excited to see this type of functionality become available.  Ensuring my daughters can have fun and learn in a safe, secure way is super important to me. 

If your family has signed up with Windows Live OneCare Family Safety, parents can set limits so that Messenger usage can be blocked or allowed.  This setting can be controlled by the parent from any machine, so adjustments made at work can take effect on the child’s account at home.  Windows Live OneCare Family Safety also provides contact management for parents who want to allow their child to use Messenger but want to restrict the conversations to only those individuals the parent approves.  We recognize that Windows Live Messenger can be a major social outlet for kids, so we’re thrilled to support this integration in a way that lets families decide what level of usage makes sense for them.  

One great part of the Family Safety integration is how simple and straightforward it is to set up.  Parents simply go to the Windows Live OneCare Family Safety web site, click Get Started to set up their account, add their child’s Windows Live ID, and apply the right settings for their child.  There are Family Safety settings for a growing number of Windows Live services (including Spaces!) and you can rest assured that we’ll be adding more settings in the future. The goal is to provide the parent with as much (or as little!) control as they like over their child’s experience on the computer and with Windows Live.

Note that because Messenger and Family Safety are in beta, this functionality isn’t currently available in all markets and all the usual beta caveats apply. 

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 Posted by Ali.

This post is a bit off topic, but I wanted to write about an awesome program at Microsoft called DigiGirlz. 

Digigirlz is a technology program for High School girls, where the girls go to different Microsoft campuses during the summer to learn about different technology and what it is like to work at a company like Microsoft.  This week I got the privilege of being a job shadow for a Digigirlz camper. We went to meetings together and she got to see firsthand what it is like to be a program manager on one of the coolest projects in the world, Messenger!  She was very enthusiastic and asked a lot of great questions.  I got an earful about what is now considered cool/un-cool about IM.   I think this is an amazing opportunity that I wish had been available to me when I was in high school.  So to all the girls out there, check out http://www.microsoft.com/about/diversity/programs/digigirlz.mspx and come experience life at Microsoft next summer.

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posted by Jason

The Windows Live Messenger team would like to extend a warm welcome to the Humane Society of the United States, the latest charity to join the i'm Initiative.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has worked since 1954 to celebrate animals and confront cruelty in all its forms. With nearly ten million members and constituents, The HSUS is the nation’s largest and most powerful animal protection organization, working in the United States and abroad to defend the interests of animals.

You can start giving to the Humane Society of the United States by adding *hsus to your Messenger Display Name.  While you're at it, show your support for the Humane Society by downloading their theme pack.

Again, THANK YOU for your generous support of these charities!

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posted by Nasa

Recently I read a blog entry on blogs.msdn.com from Sukesh which reminded me of this cool application written by our friends at Microsoft China: MSN Cartoon beta. It creates emotive cartoon characters based on a picture. The application has been around for a little while, but I thought it was worth mentioning since it's not well known.

note: It's important to mention that the entire website & application is in Chinese, which may be challenging if you don't know how to read it ... However, if you are adventurous and don't mind experimenting, I found the website fairly straight forward to use once you have it installed.

Here's some tips for installing:

1. Go to http://cartoon.msn.com.cn/
2. Click the round button to get started

3. Click the button with the wand to download MSN Cartoon Beta

4. Choose the first bullet to accept the User License Agreement. Click The first button to Accept & start the install.

5. Once the application is installed, you can start using it. From here, you can follow along with Sukesh's video by starting back on the main webpage. NOTE: First use may require you to "Run the ActiveX control". If you see a bar like the below pop up, right click and select "Run ActiveX Control"

 

   
Video: MSN Cartoon Beta screencap

Want more? See also: Live Side Blog which mentions other avatar tools such as South Park and the Simpsons. Way Cool!!

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Back in March, Nicole told you about the i'm Initiative - this program allows users to select one of ten non-profit organizations that will receive a donation every time they send IM's with friends and family. The site http://im.live.com includes all the details and lists the non-profits, which include Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Stopglobalwarming.org, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

The Windows Live Messenger team is extremely happy with the success of the i’m Initiative, and even more excited about our customers’ enthusiasm for the opportunity to help support these worthy causes. Our users are taking advantage of this opportunity to make a difference in the world by doing something that they already love to do.

You're telling your friends about this program, too!  Since the i’m Initiative’s launch, the Messenger network has grown nearly 25% in the US.  Why does that matter?  More users means more conversations - more conversations mean more money for the charities!  Keep up the good work!  If you know someone who isn't on Messenger , or you have a buddy who doesn't have the  emoticon in their name , help them get with the program!

All we can say is THANK YOU!!!

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