14 DAY TRIAL // End of last week, Microsoft announced having released a new version of the instant messenger application Windows Live Messenger 8.0, which is available in Beta and is meant to be tested exclusively by dedicated testers. One must observe that the Redmond company is doing a 180 turn from the user interface approach, that is compared to the latest beta version.
Since the previous user interface of the existing Windows Live Messenger 8.0 was heavily criticized by users and testers alike, the company has decided to react and change entirely the look of the instant messenger, which only worsened the design of this particular version.
However, reacting like this to user's requests isn't something Microsoft does too often, so we can at least appreciate the effort. But despite all good intentions, the application now looks worse than before and users will have to contempt themselves with the fact that Microsoft was actually convinced to change a feature that wasn't appealing to them.
Other than that, the company fixed several bugs reported by users and also offered a new design for the contact list, the old status icons are back in the picture and a progress bar for file-sharing has been included. Voice features-wise, the application now includes a new platform, which offers better performances and stability.