14 DAY TRIAL // After two years of throwing development resources at Messenger for Mac, Microsoft has been able to roll out an issue-filled 8.0 version. Granted, it is listed as beta software, but we can’t but wonder what’s the point of launching the program to the public if it’s still this buggy.
“The Messenger for Mac 8 Beta is for personal accounts only. To sign into your personal account you will need an ID on the Windows Live Network,” Microsoft’s release notes (PDF) say. “The ID can be from any e-mail account ending in ‘@live.com,’ ‘@hotmail.com,’ ‘@msn.com,’ or other account that is registered with Windows Live. Users with an account on a corporate network that uses Office Communications Server will not be able to use this beta,” the company claims.
Talking about what’s new in this version, Microsoft outlines that, “Messenger for Mac 8 Beta introduces the much anticipated audio/video feature for personal users with a Windows Live account. You can now use your personal account for face-to-face interactions with family, friends, and coworkers by using Messenger for Mac or Windows Live Messenger.”
A couple of known issues are also listed in the changelog. According to Microsoft, one of those is Messenger’s inability to Display pictures in the conversation window. “Display pictures do not display in the conversation window for both you and your contacts,” the company behind the Windows operating system says. “Also, you cannot change your display picture from the conversation window or the Preferences dialog,” it adds, explaining what the second known issue is all about.
Whether or not you’ve been anxiously waiting for this update, Softpedia has it ready for you to download right behind this link. Both the stable (7.0.2) and the beta version can be obtained from the same location.