messenger 'mini-mode'

something i would really like to see in windows live messenger is a
'mini-mode', similar to wmp mini-mode, a small window which can always stay
on top: this would probably display your status, your mailbox status and your
online contacts (not your offline ones). it would be a really convenient way
to keep an eye on while doing other tasks, since i often miss new mail or
people signing-in, displayed in the system tray, when i am busy.

Greetings,

There's a whole bunch of things people have done to try and get this today, including some
Messenger Plus plugins that kinda get what you're after like:

WLM Preview Box (I actually use this one)
http://www.msghelp.net/showthread.php?tid=66353&page=1

Mini Messenger
http://www.msghelp.net/showthread.php?tid=68656

As well as this sidebar gadget for Vista:
http://tinyurl.com/yzfatv

--
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.
--


"hao" <> wrote in message
news:3F1946C4-555F-412E-A6A8-...
> something i would really like to see in windows live messenger is a
> 'mini-mode', similar to wmp mini-mode, a small window which can always stay
> on top: this would probably display your status, your mailbox status and your
> online contacts (not your offline ones). it would be a really convenient way
> to keep an eye on while doing other tasks, since i often miss new mail or
> people signing-in, displayed in the system tray, when i am busy.

these are mucho cool, especially the ability to have it as a vista gadet.
I was hoping there would be a dockable version of the WLM contact list (and
with tabs the conversations!) in the sidebar (similar to some of the attempts
in the resource hogging desktop sidebar or the 'dockable' option in Gaim) -
screen real estate on my laptop is a premium but I like to keep in touch with
folks without having to hunt through a dozen windows!

"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> There's a whole bunch of things people have done to try and get this today, including some
> Messenger Plus plugins that kinda get what you're after like:
>
> WLM Preview Box (I actually use this one)
> http://www.msghelp.net/showthread.php?tid=66353&page=1
>
> Mini Messenger
> http://www.msghelp.net/showthread.php?tid=68656
>
> As well as this sidebar gadget for Vista:
> http://tinyurl.com/yzfatv
>
> --
> 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.
> --
>
>
> "hao" <> wrote in message
> news:3F1946C4-555F-412E-A6A8-...
> > something i would really like to see in windows live messenger is a
> > 'mini-mode', similar to wmp mini-mode, a small window which can always stay
> > on top: this would probably display your status, your mailbox status and your
> > online contacts (not your offline ones). it would be a really convenient way
> > to keep an eye on while doing other tasks, since i often miss new mail or
> > people signing-in, displayed in the system tray, when i am busy.
>
>

thanks!! good add-ons. the messenger plus extension is really useful. it can
display new messages from contacts but none of them seem to be able to simply
display a window of online contacts and new mail. it would be great if
microsoft could build this into a future version of messenger.

"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> There's a whole bunch of things people have done to try and get this today, including some
> Messenger Plus plugins that kinda get what you're after like:
>
> WLM Preview Box (I actually use this one)
> http://www.msghelp.net/showthread.php?tid=66353&page=1
>
> Mini Messenger
> http://www.msghelp.net/showthread.php?tid=68656
>
> As well as this sidebar gadget for Vista:
> http://tinyurl.com/yzfatv
>
> --
> 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.
> --
>
>
> "hao" <> wrote in message
> news:3F1946C4-555F-412E-A6A8-...
> > something i would really like to see in windows live messenger is a
> > 'mini-mode', similar to wmp mini-mode, a small window which can always stay
> > on top: this would probably display your status, your mailbox status and your
> > online contacts (not your offline ones). it would be a really convenient way
> > to keep an eye on while doing other tasks, since i often miss new mail or
> > people signing-in, displayed in the system tray, when i am busy.
>
>

Hi,

You're welcome. The sidebar gadget does the online contacts part which is why I included it
(of course, you need Vista). I believe there's also a gadget for Outlook mail (and you could
add your Hotmail account in there), so that's taken care of. I've tried these myself and
wasn't too impressed with the performance though.

Without Vista, the "Desktop Sidebar" application can do these things too:
http://www.desktopsidebar.com/

But yeah, it would nice not to have to rely on third-party software for this stuff or even
need the next version of Windows.

--
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.
--

"hao" <> wrote in message
news:220AD7E5-25A8-4F85-812E-...
> thanks!! good add-ons. the messenger plus extension is really useful. it can
> display new messages from contacts but none of them seem to be able to simply
> display a window of online contacts and new mail. it would be great if
> microsoft could build this into a future version of messenger.
>
> "Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> Greetings,
>>
>> There's a whole bunch of things people have done to try and get this today, including some
>> Messenger Plus plugins that kinda get what you're after like:
>>
>> WLM Preview Box (I actually use this one)
>> http://www.msghelp.net/showthread.php?tid=66353&page=1
>>
>> Mini Messenger
>> http://www.msghelp.net/showthread.php?tid=68656
>>
>> As well as this sidebar gadget for Vista:
>> http://tinyurl.com/yzfatv
>>
>> --
>> 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.
>> --
>>
>>
>> "hao" <> wrote in message
>> news:3F1946C4-555F-412E-A6A8-...
>> > something i would really like to see in windows live messenger is a
>> > 'mini-mode', similar to wmp mini-mode, a small window which can always stay
>> > on top: this would probably display your status, your mailbox status and your
>> > online contacts (not your offline ones). it would be a really convenient way
>> > to keep an eye on while doing other tasks, since i often miss new mail or
>> > people signing-in, displayed in the system tray, when i am busy.
>>
>>

"hao" <> wrote in message
news:3F1946C4-555F-412E-A6A8-...
> something i would really like to see in windows live messenger is a
> 'mini-mode', similar to wmp mini-mode, a small window which can always
> stay
> on top: this would probably display your status, your mailbox status and
> your
> online contacts (not your offline ones). it would be a really convenient
> way
> to keep an eye on while doing other tasks, since i often miss new mail or
> people signing-in, displayed in the system tray, when i am busy.

The idea is to have instant messages come up as alerts in the system tray
but not open windows in the taskbar, however this functionality is
restricted to other products.