posted by Jason

On September 5^th, I announced that the Messenger 8.5 Beta 2 release had come out.  As part of that release, we’re now going to start upgrading users from Beta 1 to Beta 2.  Please note that you are only affected by this upgrade if you’re currently using the 8.5 Beta 1.  If you’re running an earlier version of Messenger (like 7.0 or 8.1) or have already upgraded to 8.5 Beta 2, you won’t be affected by this new upgrade process.

For all you beta 1 users out there, you should expect to start seeing the upgrade prompts.  We’re testing a few different upgrade scenarios with this release, so it is expected that different operating systems will have different upgrade experiences:

• Windows XP users will see the new unified installer experience as an optional update
• Windows Vista 32- and  64-bit users will see the Windows Installer and MSI experience as a mandatory update
• Windows XP 64 and Windows 2003 Server users will see the Windows Installer and MSI experience as an optional update

These scenarios are all part of our beta testing – thanks again for being a beta tester!

Other important details for 8.5 Beta 2:

• Send feedback here
• Talk about it here
• Get support here

----

If you have a comment on this post please comment! For other questions/concerns/discussion topics/rants/raves/etc - please head over to the Windows Live Messenger Newsgroup.

posted by Anand

We’ve seen feedback from several people that they would like to stay on a version of MSN Messenger.  Given that many of us currently on the Windows Live Messenger team also worked on MSN Messenger for years, we can appreciate the sentiment.  Based on this, we have a new option we hope you’ll like.

For those of you on XP who are passionate about staying on MSN Messenger, we’ve now released the new, more secure build of MSN Messenger 7.0 build 0820 for Windows XP, and we recommend you install and use this build (rather than running MSN Messenger 7.5 on XP in Windows 2000 compatibility mode as we realize some of you are doing).  If you currently have MSN Messenger 7.5 installed, we recommend you uninstall it via Add/Remove Programs and install MSN Messenger 7.0.0820 from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=cf49c56c-8b3e-4eae-9904-9505f47bed45.

----

If you have a comment on this post please comment! For other questions/concerns/discussion topics/rants/raves/etc - please head over to the Windows Live Messenger Newsgroup.

posted by Rick

Wanted to let you know that we’ve officially kicked off phase 2, as described in my last post, in which we will upgrade Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows ME users to a new version of MSN Messenger 7.0, build number 7.0.0820.

For those of you on Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, or Windows ME, please note that MSN Messenger 7.0 requires Internet Explorer 6.0.  If you are currently running an earlier version of IE, we recommend you install IE 6.0 first and then upgrade your version of MSN Messenger.  IE 6.0 SP1 can be installed from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1e1550cb-5e5d-48f5-b02b-20b602228de6.

-Rick

----

If you have a comment on this post please comment! For other questions/concerns/discussion topics/rants/raves/etc - please head over to the Windows Live Messenger Newsgroup.

 posted by Rick

Hi everyone, Rick here again.  As you know, we are in the middle of a multi-phase rolling upgrade of the Messenger network that started last Wednesday, September 12.  I wanted to give you an update on where we are in the process and what's coming next.

The first phase of the Mandatory Security Upgrades focused on the Windows XP operation system and getting the rest of the XP user base onto Windows Live Messenger 8.1.  Focusing on just XP has allowed our customer support teams to focus on Windows XP issues and it also reduced some of the network load created by the upgrades.  We have seen some issues in these upgrades that we are trying to address in the newsgroups and through customer support.  Your postings to the newsgroups and this blog have been very helpful in directing our support efforts to those areas that are preventing usage of the 8.1  client.  Thank you for your postings, and please continue to let us know what kind of issues you are seeing  with 8.1 on XP and Vista. 

In the second phase, we are turning on the Mandatory Security Upgrades for Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows ME.  As noted in the security bulletin, we have built a new version of MSN Messenger 7.0, build number 7.0.0820, that will run on Windows 2000.   This version of MSN Messenger has also been tested for Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows ME.  Users should expect these upgrades to start soon.

To recap, the set of Messenger clients that do not have the webcam security vulnerability are:

• Windows Live Messenger 8.1  (for XP and Vista)
• MSN Messenger 7.0.0820 (for Windows 2000 and Windows 98, SE, ME)
• Windows Messenger – all versions (XP only)
• MSN Messenger 5.0 for Windows 95.
• Microsoft Messenger for Macintosh (all versions)

and ... Windows Live Messenger 8.5 which many of you are using in beta form.

The third phase of the upgrades will focus on a small number of remaining clients that exhibit the webcam vulnerability.  We're still working out the time line for this third phase, and we will keep you posted about when you can expect to see that upgrade roll out.

Again, please continue to send us your feedback.

Rick

----

If you have a comment on this post please comment! For other questions/concerns/discussion topics/rants/raves/etc - please head over to the Windows Live Messenger Newsgroup.

  posted by Rick

Hi everybody, I’m Rick Eames, Group Program Manager for Windows Live Messenger.  First off, I want to thank you for all your feedback over the last few days as we’ve rolled out the client upgrade to Windows Live Messenger 8.1.  We’re actively reading all your feedback and are working within the Messenger team to investigate the problems folks are having so we can be as helpful as possible in resolving them.  This upgrade will impact about 1/4 to 1/3 of the Messenger user base.  Most people on the network were already running the 8.1 client.

Why we’re upgrading your Messenger Client

I wanted to write this blog post to talk a little more about why we’ve issued the mandatory upgrade.  A lot of the feedback I’m reading in the blog comments and newsgroups has the sentiment of “Hey, I don’t need Microsoft keeping me safe.  This is my machine, I know what’s best for it, and I can be responsible for my own actions.”  That argument certainly makes sense in the context of an individual person & their machine. 

The nature of IM networks and certain security bugs, though, is that they may allow the attacker to use your machine to attack other members of the Messenger community.  As you can imagine, in a highly connected network like Messenger it would not take long before all Messenger users could be under attack. Because these types of scenarios are possible, we felt we needed to take action to protect all our users and issue the right fix.  Another way to think about it is to imagine the security bug to be a disease and that it’s our responsibility to inoculate the network so that the disease can’t spread.  The more clients that are safe, the lower the risk to the entire community.    

Also, many of the readers of this blog and the participants on the newsgroups are pretty savvy computer users – you understand how to look out for viruses, worms, phishing schemes, etc. – but there is a larger portion of the Messenger user base that is not that savvy.  Have we optimized for these folks?  Yes.  Why?  Because we know that they are the majority of our user base and we have a responsibility to keep them safe.  You probably noticed that we took a similar stance a few weeks ago when a URL worm found its way on to the Messenger network. 

What we’re doing with your feedback & issues

Many folks on the Messenger team are actively working to investigate the problems you’ve reported around not being able to sign in, contacts that aren’t showing properly, and emoticons and other content having gone missing.  We will be posting responses on the public Windows Live Messenger newsgroup.  I encourage you to look there for resolutions to your issues, and I’d request that you post there if you’re having a problem with the upgrade that hasn’t yet been reported.  The benefit of posting your issues on the newsgroups rather than as blog comments is that we are able to reply to your newsgroup post directly and connect with you if we need more information about your particular issue.

We realize that being forced to upgrade is not ideal and can be painful (inoculation shots can hurt L), but we do believe we’re doing it with the best intentions of keeping the network safe and secure so that all our users have a good experience.

Thanks for being such a great Messenger user, and thanks again for all your feedback.  Keep it coming.

Rick

----

If you have a comment on this post please comment! For other questions/concerns/discussion topics/rants/raves/etc - please head over to the Windows Live Messenger Newsgroup.

 posted by Jason

A few days ago, we announced that we were upgrading all users on Windows XP and later operating systems to Windows Live Messenger 8.1. Since then, a large number of users have been successfully upgraded and are happily using our latest client. (Actually, most users were already on 8.1.) However, several of our users are having problems after installing the upgrade. The Messenger team wants you to know that we hear you and are working as fast as we can to fix these issues.

Having Connection Problems?

If you’re having problems connecting to Messenger and/or sending IM’s, we encourage you to try the some of the following suggestions:

1. Make sure that your firewall is properly configured to allow Windows Live Messenger 8.1 to function properly.
Behind a corporate firewall:  The 8.1 client uses far more web services, and it is possible that the network administrator for the corporate firewall will need to put a few more URLs on their web address white list.    The client needs to send web requests to “*.hotmail.com”, “*.live.com”, and “*.msn.com”. (The asterisk (*) is a “wildcard” character meaning that anything can come before “live.com”.) Your network/ firewall admin will understand this jargon if they see it.

On your PC at home: Many personal firewall products learn what a client does on the network, sometimes asking the user for permission to allow the applications to access the Internet and then remembering these answers.   When the new client changes its network behavior, some personal firewall products don't learn fast enough about how to let the client function properly on the network.    To test this you can temporarily turn off your firewall and see if you can sign-in.  Be sure you turn the personal firewall back on after your experiment.  If you can sign-in, then it is likely that your personal firewall needs to reconfigure itself.   Many products allow you to see the list of filters it is using, and by removing the filter entries for messenger (or msnmsgr.exe) you can force the personal firewall to re-ask you for permission to grant the required network access to the new 8.1 Messenger client.   Sometimes you have to let the client fail a few times while the firewall is learning, and then restart the client. 

2. Try to using the Connection Troubleshooter (you don’t have to login to Messenger to do this). You can find it in Messenger -> Tools -> Options -> Connection tab:

3. If you are using a proxy server, click on ‘Advanced Settings’ and configure the proxy settings.

4. If IE is NOT set as your default browser, launch IE (you don’t have to set it as default) and visit any webpage to make sure that the internet connectivity and network configurations are properly set. 
 

Is Messenger Crashing?

If you are using Windows Vista, you may encounter crashes if you don’t have the latest version of Adobe Flash installed. You can install the latest version of Adobe Flash at http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&promoid=BIOW.

If you have a computer manufactured by Acer, you may be using Acer eDataSecurity software. Please upgrade to the latest version at http://global.acer.com/support/winvista/t-faq.htm.
 

Error Codes

For more information on specific error codes, please visit the Messenger Support Space. You’ll find lots of information and troubleshooting tips there.
 

More Updates to Come

Check back here often for updates on other issues. If you’re having a problem, please head over to the newsgroups and post there! The benefit of posting your issues on the newsgroups rather than as blog comments is that we are able to reply to your newsgroup post directly and connect with you if we need more information about your particular issue.

----

If you have a comment on this post please comment! For other questions/concerns/discussion topics/rants/raves/etc - please head over to the Windows Live Messenger Newsgroup.

My name is Aaron, and I’m a PM for the Messenger Voice, Video and Sounds team. We recently released an update to our earlier 8.5 Beta (which Jason pointed out earlier) that has many improvements to video call, especially on Vista. If you’ve occasionally run into audio jitter or noise in a Video Call, our latest version should help. We also improved echo support and a small issue with the volume sliders.

There are other updates as well, so head on over to http://get.live.com/betas/ and try the latest version.

posted by Anand

Hi, I’m Anand, the security PM for Windows Live Messenger.

If you are using a Windows XP or later system, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t be using the latest and greatest released version of Messenger. Messenger 8.1 was released earlier this year. It the most stable and reliable version of Messenger. It also has the latest security updates.

There is a security vulnerability in the earlier versions – MSN Messenger 6.2, 7.0 and 7.5 and Windows Live Messenger 8.0. This is discussed in the security bulletin MS07-054. However, this security vulnerability doesn’t affect Windows Live Messenger 8.1. There, I gave you another reason to upgrade to Messenger 8.1.

Unfortunately, not all of our users read this blog and so we have found another way to make sure that they protect themselves by using Messenger 8.1. Some of you might remember that upon logging in to Messenger you occasionally get toasts recommending an upgrade. Well, with this new security issue gone public, we need to raise it up a notch in order to protect the users.

We will soon configure the service such that any user on Windows XP or later system has to use Windows Live Messenger 8.1. When a user using an older version of Messenger tries to login, the client will help the user with a mandatory upgrade to Messenger 8.1.

Some of you might feel this inconvenient, but in order to protect you and protect the health of the network we have chosen to take this step.

Do users have to upgrade?

Yes, once a user has been given a mandatory upgrade notice, they will have to install Windows Live Messenger 8.1. Most users have been given an optional upgrade notice since January 2007. 

I am not seeing a mandatory upgrade right now and I am running a bad version of the client, why?

The Messenger network uses a rolling upgrade mechanism across the network. It will take several days to get a mandatory upgrade and new bits to all users.

What can users do now to protect themselves sooner?

Users running Windows Live Messenger 8.1 do not need to take action. Users running earlier versions of Messenger should visit http://messenger.live.com and install Windows Live Messenger 8.1.

I use Windows 2000. How can I protect myself?

Because Windows 2000 isn’t supported by Windows Live Messenger 8.1, we will provide an updated version of MSN Messenger 7.0. We will upgrade Windows 2000 users to the updated version of MSN Messenger 7.0 after the Windows Live Messenger upgrades.

Till then, as a precautionary measure, don’t accept a webcam or a video call invitation from a contact that you don’t trust.

If I’m running the new Windows Live Messenger 8.5 beta, am I protected?

Yes. Messenger 8.5 beta users are not affected by this vulnerability.

----

If you have a comment on this post please comment! For other questions/concerns/discussion topics/rants/raves/etc - please head over to the Windows Live Messenger Newsgroup.

posted by Jason

Yes, it's that time again!    The Windows Live Messenger team is proud to announce our Beta 2 release!  This beta is available in 35 languages - that's a lot of IM's!

Important Details:

• Get Messenger 8.5 Beta 2 here
• Send feedback here
• Talk about it here
• Get support here

So... what's new in Messenger Beta 2?

If you downloaded our Beta 1 build, you may not think that much has changed.  While the look and feel is almost the same, we listened to your feedback and fixed many of the top issues reported by our customers.  THANK YOU to all of our beta testers who reported issues.

For those of you who didn't download our Beta 1 build, you can see a recap of what's new in Nicole's earlier post.

What else is new around Windows Live?

Windows Live Mail, Photo Gallery, Writer, Toolbar, and OneCare Family Safety are also releasing betas today.

What's the best way to get Windows Live?

Starting today, you’ll be able to install the entire suite of these downloadable Windows Live services at one time, from one place, instead of going through separate installations for each service. Of course, if you don’t want the entire suite, you can still get each application individually.

You get the best experience that Windows Live has to offer when you download the suite!  Visit http://get.live.com/wl/all to download it all today!

----

If you have a comment on this post please comment! For other questions/concerns/discussion topics/rants/raves/etc - please head over to the Windows Live Messenger Newsgroup.