Summary: MSN Messenger and Windows Live Messenger users are being told they must upgrade. We'll look at why, and what some alternatives might be.
I'm trying to launch MSN Messenger and it's telling me I must upgrade to the latest version of Windows Live Messenger. I don't like Windows Live Messenger, can't I just keep my old MSN Messenger? There must be a way.
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There isn't.
And you don't really want there to be, for reasons I'll explain in a moment.
The bottom line is that if you're running MSN Messenger or even an older version of Windows Live Messenger itself, you must upgrade. There's no avoiding that.
Now, as to what you upgrade to, well, there's a little wiggle room.
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The reason you must upgrade is simple: as reported in the infopackets windows newsletter there's a vulnerability in the older Messenger programs that can be exploited by a malicious attacker and can be used, in the worst case, to take over your machine. Microsoft has fixed this in the latest Windows Live Messenger and is now requiring that you upgrade to squash the vulnerability.
Much like the forced upgrade from MSN Hotmail to MSN Live Hotmail there's no alternative; you must upgrade. The old versions are no longer supported and will soon simply not work, if they haven't stopped working already.
Could they have fixed the older versions? Perhaps. But I'm not at all surprised that Microsoft would also use this as an opportunity to also help push the migration to "Windows Live" along. And particularly when it comes to free software and services, it just makes sense to support one and only one version of the software rather than trying to keep old versions working as well.
Remember, "Windows Live Messenger" isn't a new program, it's just the latest version of MSN Messenger with a new name.
So my first recommendation is to simply upgrade and give Windows Live Messenger a chance. You may be surprised.
But what if you still don't like Windows Live Messenger? There are two basic approaches:
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Stop using the Windows Messenger Service all together, and switch to another IM service.
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Switch to one of the alternative, non-Microsoft IM client programs.
Switching services is a big deal. All of your contacts now are on MSN/Windows Live Messenger, and if you switch to one of the other services such as AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk or others, then all your contacts would need to move as well. It may be easier than you think - you might want to check with your contacts and see if they already have accounts on those other services.
But of course you'll want to check out the client programs that work with those other services to make sure that they work and don't irritate you in the same way that Windows Live Messenger apparently does.
The second alternative is actually what I do. Run a third party IM client program. In my case I run Trillian. Trillian is a single program that allows you to IM with MSN/Windows Live Messenger contacts as well as AIM, Yahoo and others. You'd install and use it instead of Windows Live Messenger, but you're able to IM with all your Windows Live Messenger contacts.
Another alternative is Pidgin, an open source equivalent to Trillian. Same idea: you install Pidgin and use it instead of Windows Live Messenger to communicate to the same buddies you had before.
A third and completely different alternative is to use a web based IM service such as Meebo. You can IM through several different services via the Meebo website. (Caveat: while I've used both Trillian and Pidgin, I've not played with Meebo at all. Readers have reported good things about it, however.)
Related:
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Ask Leo! - How do I switch Windows Live Hotmail back to the old style MSN Hotmail?
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Ask Leo! - Are forced upgrades a bad thing?
Article C3154 - September 20, 2007
here is a nice tutorial to use msn without updating, however i agree with the security issues..
http://techtadka.net/tutorials/software-tutorials/178-how-to-use-old-msn-messenger-without-upgrading.html
Posted by: kush at March 11, 2009 10:13 PMThanks PTK. Upgraded my messenger to latest version which is a piece of $#*&. Uninstalled and reinstalled old version but it would always try to force me to upgrade. By using PTK's suggestions I manage to use v8.x now by using it in windows 2000 compatibility mode. Kudos to PTK.
Posted by: msnuser at April 1, 2009 8:25 AMhttp://patched-up.blogspot.com/2007/10/running-msn-messenger-75.html
This site explains how to make your MSN Messenger 7.5 work without updating...
It is possible, it's just not as "safe" as stated above.
I downloaded and am now, as I am typing, using MSN Messenger 7.5
You can also download other versions of MSN Messenger from this site
Posted by: Ben Brabec at April 27, 2009 7:30 PMhttp://www.oldapps.com/msn_messenger.php?old_msn=6
iya iam tryn my best 2 upload the lastest msn messanger but it wont let me & i realy want it but am woundering if theres a easy way 2 do it
from Danni
Posted by: Danielle at July 19, 2009 10:27 AMThanks dude.. ur suggestion worked for me ! now im using msn messenger .. no WLM :)
Cheers !
Posted by: jonathan at July 27, 2009 3:10 AMLeo didn't mention one VERY important thing from the beginning, which could have saved many of us so must frustration early on. For example, "WHAT IF I HAVE WINDOWS XP AND DOWNLOAD THE NEW MSN MESSENGER UPGRADE AND AFTER THAT A MESSAGE POPS UP STATING THAT MY OPERATING SYSTEM DOES NOT SUPPORT THE PROGRAMS INSTALLED" The first thing to do is go directly to the microsoft.com website and in their search box type in 7.0 messenger. Try downloading the 7.0 upgrade. It should work perfectly on most older XP Home Edition models if all else failed. I am surprised Leo wasn't specific about this. Perhaps he just didn't know himself. Of well.
Posted by: Monica at September 17, 2009 5:51 PMthe new version of messenger is very stupid it is the professional destruction os msn
in new version size of the cam is very small option to see contacts email adfress not existing if any1 is changing his nickname i cant find people totally this is an idiot messenger
Posted by: Dino at September 24, 2009 2:12 PMThe reason I have msn is that when I upgraded to internet explorer it was a night mare and then I lost it everything. I couldn't get on line to internet thru 8 and the qwest and they said to go to msn and it worked now I am told I have to upgrade or I will not be able to get my emails etc. Will the upgrade make me lose everything again.
Posted by: rita at October 21, 2009 2:58 PMUpgrade was forced, lost all my email settings, used explorerer before, now forced hotmail. Hate hotmail. Lost all of my sent messages. HATE IT!
Posted by: Debbie at November 11, 2009 6:08 PMI cannot upgrade to the new messenger and therefore cannot use my messenger it just downloads so far and stops and says it has been cancelled
Posted by: Brenda at November 17, 2009 10:13 AM