FEEDBACK - Just switched from Yahoo Messenger

I just downloaded and installed Live Messenger. I was using Yahoo until
yesterday. I imported my contacts and the install went fine (I'm on Vista
RC2).

I just finished my first convo... and there is one little thing that DROVE
ME CRAZY. It was difficult to scan up the window and see which comment
belonged to whom. Yahoo color-codes the participants' names, which makes it
easy to see at a glance if you missed a comment.

This is a very basic UI / UX feature. Please, please add it.

Thanks,
Matt

Greetings Matt,

Well, you can change your own text colour. For instance, in my closer group of friends we
each have our own colour, which effectively solves this problem.

But yes, you get two+ people using black and you have the problem you're describing.

Quick question for you -- what process did you use to import the contacts?

--
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger/MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2006 Jonathan Kay.
You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.
--

"Natt" <> wrote in message
news:60D8013A-FD86-4CA6-858E-...
>I just downloaded and installed Live Messenger. I was using Yahoo until
> yesterday. I imported my contacts and the install went fine (I'm on Vista
> RC2).
>
> I just finished my first convo... and there is one little thing that DROVE
> ME CRAZY. It was difficult to scan up the window and see which comment
> belonged to whom. Yahoo color-codes the participants' names, which makes it
> easy to see at a glance if you missed a comment.
>
> This is a very basic UI / UX feature. Please, please add it.
>
> Thanks,
> Matt
>

Thanks for the reply, Jonathan.

I only had six contacts to import, so I did it manually. This was my process:

1. Right-click on contact in Y!M, select Profile, copy their Y! ID.
2. Click on the add button in WLM, paste in the Y! ID, then type in their
name.

Nickname color-coding in the IM window is such a no-brainer to me... I can't
fathom why it's missing. This is version *8* after all!

It's enough of a visual strain to make me switch back to Y!M.

It's a shame (or maybe it's just ironic) since the WLM developers went
through the hassle of 100% owner-drawn widgets. The windows look so pretty
but the conversation text is difficult to follow-- especially when both
nicknames are about the same length. (I don't have any visual impairments,
either

The Message History dialog suffers the problem, btw.

Matt


"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:

> Greetings Matt,
>
> Well, you can change your own text colour. For instance, in my closer group of friends we
> each have our own colour, which effectively solves this problem.
>
> But yes, you get two+ people using black and you have the problem you're describing.
>
> Quick question for you -- what process did you use to import the contacts?
>
> --
> Jonathan Kay
> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger/MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
> Associate Expert
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
> Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
> All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2006 Jonathan Kay.
> You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.
> --
>
> "Natt" <> wrote in message
> news:60D8013A-FD86-4CA6-858E-...
> >I just downloaded and installed Live Messenger. I was using Yahoo until
> > yesterday. I imported my contacts and the install went fine (I'm on Vista
> > RC2).
> >
> > I just finished my first convo... and there is one little thing that DROVE
> > ME CRAZY. It was difficult to scan up the window and see which comment
> > belonged to whom. Yahoo color-codes the participants' names, which makes it
> > easy to see at a glance if you missed a comment.
> >
> > This is a very basic UI / UX feature. Please, please add it.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Matt
> >
>
>

Hey Matt,

Thanks, I didn't think there was an automatic way of doing it but I just wanted to check.

Considering AIM has had the colour coding since the dawn of time, I think you're right. The
message history effectively hasn't changed since MSN Messenger 6, minus a few bug fixes. The
history itself is just XML files rendered using a XSL schema and as such, it could actually
be made more readable. Unfortunately no one really has (to my knowledge) done up a XSL which
is that much more readable.

However, Messenger Plus (and yes, I realize the last thing you want to hear now is additional
third-party software since you just "switched") has a variety of Messenger improvements
including its own message logging which is much more easier to follow:
http://files.msgpluslive.net/images/features/logs.png

Note: If you try out Plus, you probably don't wish to install the "sponsor" (it's a question
during setup just so you're aware).

--
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger/MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2006 Jonathan Kay.
You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.
--



"Natt" <> wrote in message
news:73131046-2DE7-49F7-9173-...
> Thanks for the reply, Jonathan.
>
> I only had six contacts to import, so I did it manually. This was my process:
>
> 1. Right-click on contact in Y!M, select Profile, copy their Y! ID.
> 2. Click on the add button in WLM, paste in the Y! ID, then type in their
> name.
>
> Nickname color-coding in the IM window is such a no-brainer to me... I can't
> fathom why it's missing. This is version *8* after all!
>
> It's enough of a visual strain to make me switch back to Y!M.
>
> It's a shame (or maybe it's just ironic) since the WLM developers went
> through the hassle of 100% owner-drawn widgets. The windows look so pretty
> but the conversation text is difficult to follow-- especially when both
> nicknames are about the same length. (I don't have any visual impairments,
> either
>
> The Message History dialog suffers the problem, btw.
>
> Matt
>
>
> "Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> Greetings Matt,
>>
>> Well, you can change your own text colour. For instance, in my closer group of friends we
>> each have our own colour, which effectively solves this problem.
>>
>> But yes, you get two+ people using black and you have the problem you're describing.
>>
>> Quick question for you -- what process did you use to import the contacts?
>>
>> --
>> Jonathan Kay
>> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger/MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
>> Associate Expert
>> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
>> Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
>> All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2006 Jonathan Kay.
>> You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.
>> --
>>
>> "Natt" <> wrote in message
>> news:60D8013A-FD86-4CA6-858E-...
>> >I just downloaded and installed Live Messenger. I was using Yahoo until
>> > yesterday. I imported my contacts and the install went fine (I'm on Vista
>> > RC2).
>> >
>> > I just finished my first convo... and there is one little thing that DROVE
>> > ME CRAZY. It was difficult to scan up the window and see which comment
>> > belonged to whom. Yahoo color-codes the participants' names, which makes it
>> > easy to see at a glance if you missed a comment.
>> >
>> > This is a very basic UI / UX feature. Please, please add it.
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Matt
>> >
>>
>>

Natt <> wrote:
> This is a very basic UI / UX feature. Please, please add it.

So would be adding typed message recall but they've not added that yet.
Don't hold your breath for any particular feature.