What's the difference between Windows Live Messenger, Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger, and Windows Messenger Service?
Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
Windows Live Messenger, Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger Service are four names for three applications that do two different things, only one of which you really want. Confusing? Yes. But easy to clear up.
OK, something called "Windows Live Messenger" just released. It seems I'm now floating in "Messengers" ... Windows Live Messenger, Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger and this thing called Windows Messenger Service. Do they relate? How do they relate?
And which one do I want to use?
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One of my older and more popular articles here on Ask Leo! is one covering the difference between MSN Messenger, Windows Messenger, and Windows Messenger. Unfortunately with the release of Windows Live Messenger, names have only gotten more confusing.
Let's sort this out, one name at a time:
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Windows Live Messenger (WLM) is the latest and greatest version of Microsoft's instant messaging client. Very much like Yahoo instant messenger (YIM), or AOL instant messenger (AIM). Anyone running Windows XP can download Windows Live Messenger and begin IMing with other users.
WLM has a slew of new features compared to its previous versions - the most interesting to me is the ability to share folders with people you're chatting with. WLM promises to interact directly with Yahoo Messenger in the near future.
WLM is actually version 8. Version 8? Yes, because it is really just a new name for, the latest version of and the replacement for MSN Messenger.
It's the same program with a new name, and new features.
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MSN Messenger is simply the "old" version of Windows Live Messenger - nothing more, nothing less. Versions 6 through 7.5 all seem to be popular and "in the wild".
If you have Windows XP, you probably want to upgrade to the latest version: Windows Live Messenger. If you're running any other version of Windows, you may need to stick with these older versions of MSN Messenger.
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Windows Messenger is yet another instant messaging client, very much like MSN Messenger and WLM. It comes with Windows XP and runs only on Windows XP. It's typically version 4.7, though the updated Windows Messenger 5.0 also runs on Windows 2000, and can be downloaded here.
Important: Windows Messenger is not MSN Messenger, nor is it WLM. That's important because you can run Windows Messenger at the same time as MSN Messenger or WLM. That can get confusing if they are both logged into the same account because a message about being logged into two places may result.
Windows Messenger is a different program from the other two. It has a different feature set, and release on a different schedule. In particular, Windows Messenger is more tightly integrated with applications such as Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, or the Remote Assistance feature of Windows XP. The differences, and the confusion, don't end there, though. Microsoft has a Knowledgebase article that touches on more of the technical differences, and provides instructions for installing and running both on the same machine. The good news is that chances are, you'll never need to know how, or why, you would want to.
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Windows Messenger Service adds to the confusion. It has a similar name but it is completely unrelated to everything I've talked about so far.
On Windows 2000 and Windows XP there is a service, called "Messenger", often unfortunately referred to as the "Windows Messenger", that is used to present what can best be called "network messages" to a machine's user. This is not an instant messaging application, but rather software that runs in the background, listening for incoming messages, and popping up a very simple box containing the message when one arrives. The most common example might be in a corporate environment when you send a document to a network printer. The messenger service handles the pop-up message that the printer sends back when it has finished.
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So what, of all of that, do you actually need or want?
My recommendation is actually very, very simple:
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Windows XP users should download Windows Live Messenger and use it.
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Folks without Windows XP should stick with their existing version of MSN Messenger, or perhaps download and run a third-party application such as Trillian. (It's unclear at this point if Microsoft has an official recommendation for non-XP users.)
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Everyone should uninstall Windows Messenger. Most people simply have no use for it.
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Everyone should disable the Windows Messenger Service. Again, there's simply no need for it.
The bottom line? For Windows XP users, all you need is Windows Live Messenger. Ignore or uninstall everything else.
Article C2697 - June 20, 2006
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
I had Windows Messenger 4.7 on my Windows XP laptop. But unfortunently,it did not work at all. When I tried to log into it,I got a message telling me to upgrade to the latest version of Windows Live Messenger! So I removed Windows Messenger 4.7 from my computer by deleting the file on programs on C drive. As Windows Messenger does not come with an uninstaller.So it cannot be uninstalled in uninstall programs menu.The problem is that Windows Messenger 4.7 is no longer supported and is now out of date. Which is why it does not work anymore. Andrea Borman.
Posted by: Miss.Andrea Borman. at September 12, 2011 4:53 PMI don't want windows live messenger but want to keep the MSN messenger, how do I do that? I really don't want anything to do with Qwest or Century-Link. I have a subsciption for MSN. That's all I want to use.
01-Dec-2011
Posted by: Cristine Buntin at December 1, 2011 10:47 AM
the thing i like about windows messenger is that it is clean and has remained the same. windows live messenger seems to want to engage with other stuff...for example i now have "windows live call" installed (i didnt ask for this but its there). I just feel like this is going to get blaoty and messy and eventually ads will appear somewhere in my face. do you know what i mean. old windows messenger just looks the same as it looked 10 years ago...and does what it does. maybe im grumpy.lol.
Posted by: tedz at May 17, 2012 1:26 PM
Posted by: Anders Paradis at May 18, 2012 8:23 AMThis Window Live service isn´t available right now, but we´ll add ....@hotmail.com to your contacts as soon as the service is available again,You don´t need to do anything else.
Posted by: Anders Paradis at May 18, 2012 8:27 AMthis is the message I get (see below) w hen I try do add some persons (not all) to my window live messenger friend list
YOU´RE DONE
This Window Live service isn´t available right now, but we´ll add ....@hotmail.com to your contacts as soon as the service is available again,You don´t need to do anything else.
This is the message I get when I time and time again try to add some ( but by no means all people) people to my regular window live msn list, but even so they don´t appear in my WL msn list of friends, and when I try to write to them when they contact me, my writing turns red and there is a message that says: "All recipients couldn´t recieve this message". I can read what they say but they cannot read what I write. There is also another message saying: "This person is not in your friend list, Add as friend " and when I try to do so it says that I am already connected to this person.
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I can see these people connected = the people that won´t be added to my regular Window Live msn, I can see these peope in the messenger that appears in my hotmail email account, but when I want to write to them from this place where my hotmail emails arrive, their coversation screen won´t show up and these people don´t appear in my regular window live msn.
Neither can I receive invitations from these people (= the people that supposedely are in my WL msn contact list but they can´t be seen in this list.) but I have received invitation from strangers
When I am at work using another computer and a window live msn that isn´t the latest they appear as conected in my regular msn list. Can you please help me with this problem. I have Windows 7 in both computers the one at home and the one at work.
I deleted the window live msn and downloaded it again but the problem persists
Please help. Anders Paradis, {email removed}