Windows Live Messenger Vers 8 ...too much...too complicated

As an individual (57 yrs old) not brought up with, or around computers until
approx 2 years ago, and of average intelligence, i find that Live Messenger
has too much added onto it, and is too difficult to understand the purpose of
some of the newer functions. If this is the case for me, how can i complete
the Setting Up details for that new function, if i dont understand that new
function??
EXAMPLE 1: Adding a Contact, nice and simple on Version6 but now we get a
complete page with all sorts on it which doesn't tell you, for instance, when
you have made a correct entry or an error to a new Contacts Address. I made
an error of one letter in the Contact Address and that error address was
added to my Contact list for some reason. Bring back an indication (like in
Vers6) of a successful or unsuccessful Contact.
EXAMPLE 2 : Pending Requests, i see i have 4 Pending requests (what are
these??) so i click on the subject and a Page appears requiring me to select
"things" which i don't know about eg. "your space "(??) and "contact info(??)
I still don't understand the purpose of this Page eve after reading the Help
!!
There needs to be a very Basic version which people can add too as they
become familiar with the various new systems and not assume a level of
understanding that , in my opinion, is at a level too high for Mr Average.
If i did the correct thing and had to read all of the Help Pages to
understand what to do, and how the subject matter interrelated with each
other i would have to pack my job in for at least a couple of weeks !
Or maybe, i'm just old and stupid and i shouldn't bother my backside in
trying to keep up with things anymore ??? (of which there will be many who
may agree !! lol)
Anyone else like me...i would really like to know ??

Greetings,

Regarding Example 1-- I completely agree with you about the Add a contact dialog, it's
completely overkill but it's really just trying to expose to you all the new contact
functionality in this version. There is a tiny Help link at the top right which will present
you with some information about the dialog, but it is a bit lacking. Personally, I think
some corners were cut there in the usability department. I'm sure this will be addressed in
the next major release.

Now, the Pending Requests in Example 2 are part of the new Live Spaces Friends/Live Contacts
functionality. Basically people can request your contact details and then subscribe to them
so they'll be notified when they update. There's a little intro here and link to get you
started if you're interested:
http://spaces.live.com/profile.aspx?...activecontacts

If you're not interested in it, just ignore it and/or decline pending requests. It's not a
requirement to use Messenger.

Like all software there needs to be a balance between power user functionality and those just
new to the product. In the past Microsoft has done this quite well but in the last little
while the balance has been slipping somewhat.

--
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.
--



"Atttim" <> wrote in message
news:F338CF22-FA36-480C-852F-...
> As an individual (57 yrs old) not brought up with, or around computers until
> approx 2 years ago, and of average intelligence, i find that Live Messenger
> has too much added onto it, and is too difficult to understand the purpose of
> some of the newer functions. If this is the case for me, how can i complete
> the Setting Up details for that new function, if i dont understand that new
> function??
> EXAMPLE 1: Adding a Contact, nice and simple on Version6 but now we get a
> complete page with all sorts on it which doesn't tell you, for instance, when
> you have made a correct entry or an error to a new Contacts Address. I made
> an error of one letter in the Contact Address and that error address was
> added to my Contact list for some reason. Bring back an indication (like in
> Vers6) of a successful or unsuccessful Contact.
> EXAMPLE 2 : Pending Requests, i see i have 4 Pending requests (what are
> these??) so i click on the subject and a Page appears requiring me to select
> "things" which i don't know about eg. "your space "(??) and "contact info(??)
> I still don't understand the purpose of this Page eve after reading the Help
> !!
> There needs to be a very Basic version which people can add too as they
> become familiar with the various new systems and not assume a level of
> understanding that , in my opinion, is at a level too high for Mr Average.
> If i did the correct thing and had to read all of the Help Pages to
> understand what to do, and how the subject matter interrelated with each
> other i would have to pack my job in for at least a couple of weeks !
> Or maybe, i'm just old and stupid and i shouldn't bother my backside in
> trying to keep up with things anymore ??? (of which there will be many who
> may agree !! lol)
> Anyone else like me...i would really like to know ??

Greetings,

The reason you feel this way, is because Messenger's target market is people
between the ages of 13-30 I believe, which I totally diagree in.

I have requested to Microsoft to create a Lite version of Messenger in which
the user can decide, on install, which features they would like in
Messenger, unfortunately, they decided that they would not like to do this.

There are other third-party applications which you can use, the simpliest, I
believe, below Trillian, which may be a bit complicated to configure, is
Miranda, which is an open-source LITE version of Trillian.

Miranda IM is a multi protocol instant messenger client for Windows. Miranda
IM uses very little memory and is extremely fast. It requires no
installation and can be fitted on a single floppy disc. Its powerful plugin
system makes Miranda IM very flexible. Only the most basic features are
built in, but there are currently more than 350 free plugins available for
download that allows users to extend the functionality of Miranda IM.

To download, you can go to http://www.miranda-im.org/download/



--
Jonathan Yaniv
Microsoft Windows Live Butterfly


Visit the ButterflySays Blog at
http://spaces.msn.com/ButterflySays/
"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" <> wrote in message
news:AC45B3DC-D7E3-4A13-8381-...
> Greetings,
>
> Regarding Example 1-- I completely agree with you about the Add a contact
> dialog, it's completely overkill but it's really just trying to expose to
> you all the new contact functionality in this version. There is a tiny
> Help link at the top right which will present you with some information
> about the dialog, but it is a bit lacking. Personally, I think some
> corners were cut there in the usability department. I'm sure this will be
> addressed in the next major release.
>
> Now, the Pending Requests in Example 2 are part of the new Live Spaces
> Friends/Live Contacts functionality. Basically people can request your
> contact details and then subscribe to them so they'll be notified when
> they update. There's a little intro here and link to get you started if
> you're interested:
> http://spaces.live.com/profile.aspx?...activecontacts
>
> If you're not interested in it, just ignore it and/or decline pending
> requests. It's not a requirement to use Messenger.
>
> Like all software there needs to be a balance between power user
> functionality and those just new to the product. In the past Microsoft
> has done this quite well but in the last little while the balance has been
> slipping somewhat.
>
> --
> 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.
> --
>
>
>
> "Atttim" <> wrote in message
> news:F338CF22-FA36-480C-852F-...
>> As an individual (57 yrs old) not brought up with, or around computers
>> until
>> approx 2 years ago, and of average intelligence, i find that Live
>> Messenger
>> has too much added onto it, and is too difficult to understand the
>> purpose of
>> some of the newer functions. If this is the case for me, how can i
>> complete
>> the Setting Up details for that new function, if i dont understand that
>> new
>> function??
>> EXAMPLE 1: Adding a Contact, nice and simple on Version6 but now we get a
>> complete page with all sorts on it which doesn't tell you, for instance,
>> when
>> you have made a correct entry or an error to a new Contacts Address. I
>> made
>> an error of one letter in the Contact Address and that error address was
>> added to my Contact list for some reason. Bring back an indication (like
>> in
>> Vers6) of a successful or unsuccessful Contact.
>> EXAMPLE 2 : Pending Requests, i see i have 4 Pending requests (what are
>> these??) so i click on the subject and a Page appears requiring me to
>> select
>> "things" which i don't know about eg. "your space "(??) and "contact
>> info(??)
>> I still don't understand the purpose of this Page eve after reading the
>> Help
>> !!
>> There needs to be a very Basic version which people can add too as they
>> become familiar with the various new systems and not assume a level of
>> understanding that , in my opinion, is at a level too high for Mr
>> Average.
>> If i did the correct thing and had to read all of the Help Pages to
>> understand what to do, and how the subject matter interrelated with each
>> other i would have to pack my job in for at least a couple of weeks !
>> Or maybe, i'm just old and stupid and i shouldn't bother my backside in
>> trying to keep up with things anymore ??? (of which there will be many
>> who
>> may agree !! lol)
>> Anyone else like me...i would really like to know ??
>
>

"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> Regarding Example 1-- I completely agree with you about the Add a contact dialog, it's
> completely overkill but it's really just trying to expose to you all the new contact
> functionality in this version. There is a tiny Help link at the top right which will present
> you with some information about the dialog, but it is a bit lacking. Personally, I think
> some corners were cut there in the usability department. I'm sure this will be addressed in
> the next major release.
>
> Now, the Pending Requests in Example 2 are part of the new Live Spaces Friends/Live Contacts
> functionality. Basically people can request your contact details and then subscribe to them
> so they'll be notified when they update. There's a little intro here and link to get you
> started if you're interested:
> http://spaces.live.com/profile.aspx?...activecontacts
>
> If you're not interested in it, just ignore it and/or decline pending requests. It's not a
> requirement to use Messenger.
>
> Like all software there needs to be a balance between power user functionality and those just
> new to the product. In the past Microsoft has done this quite well but in the last little
> while the balance has been slipping somewhat.
>
> --
> 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.
> --
>
>
>
> "Atttim" <> wrote in message
> news:F338CF22-FA36-480C-852F-...
> > As an individual (57 yrs old) not brought up with, or around computers until
> > approx 2 years ago, and of average intelligence, i find that Live Messenger
> > has too much added onto it, and is too difficult to understand the purpose of
> > some of the newer functions. If this is the case for me, how can i complete
> > the Setting Up details for that new function, if i dont understand that new
> > function??
> > EXAMPLE 1: Adding a Contact, nice and simple on Version6 but now we get a
> > complete page with all sorts on it which doesn't tell you, for instance, when
> > you have made a correct entry or an error to a new Contacts Address. I made
> > an error of one letter in the Contact Address and that error address was
> > added to my Contact list for some reason. Bring back an indication (like in
> > Vers6) of a successful or unsuccessful Contact.
> > EXAMPLE 2 : Pending Requests, i see i have 4 Pending requests (what are
> > these??) so i click on the subject and a Page appears requiring me to select
> > "things" which i don't know about eg. "your space "(??) and "contact info(??)
> > I still don't understand the purpose of this Page eve after reading the Help
> > !!
> > There needs to be a very Basic version which people can add too as they
> > become familiar with the various new systems and not assume a level of
> > understanding that , in my opinion, is at a level too high for Mr Average.
> > If i did the correct thing and had to read all of the Help Pages to
> > understand what to do, and how the subject matter interrelated with each
> > other i would have to pack my job in for at least a couple of weeks !
> > Or maybe, i'm just old and stupid and i shouldn't bother my backside in
> > trying to keep up with things anymore ??? (of which there will be many who
> > may agree !! lol)
> > Anyone else like me...i would really like to know ??
>
> Am i correct ref: when adding a Contact the system it does NOT instantly tell you (like vers6, that does) that it was a Successful or Unsuccessful contact ? I managed to add to my list an incorrect address only to be asked by the contact why i hadn't contacted him. i added his correct contact and all went well...the incorrect address i deleted off my list.....how did the system allow an incorrect Address onto my list ?? Wouldnt happen on Vers 6?

Hi,

You're absolutely correct, you can enter anything any address and regardless if its
registered as a Passport, it will be added to your contact list. This is new behavior
starting with Windows Live Messenger.

--
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.
--

"Atttim" <> wrote in message news:B58D2F01-D9E9-41A5-B345->
Am i correct ref: when adding a Contact the system it does NOT instantly tell you (like
vers6, that does) that it was a Successful or Unsuccessful contact ? I managed to add to my
list an incorrect address only to be asked by the contact why i hadn't contacted him. i added
his correct contact and all went well...the incorrect address i deleted off my list.....how
did the system allow an incorrect Address onto my list ?? Wouldnt happen on Vers 6?

"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> You're absolutely correct, you can enter anything any address and regardless if its
> registered as a Passport, it will be added to your contact list. This is new behavior
> starting with Windows Live Messenger.
>
> --
> 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.
> --
>
> "Atttim" <> wrote in message news:B58D2F01-D9E9-41A5-B345->
> Am i correct ref: when adding a Contact the system it does NOT instantly tell you (like
> vers6, that does) that it was a Successful or Unsuccessful contact ? I managed to add to my
> list an incorrect address only to be asked by the contact why i hadn't contacted him. i added
> his correct contact and all went well...the incorrect address i deleted off my list.....how
> did the system allow an incorrect Address onto my list ?? Wouldnt happen on Vers 6?
>
> Really sorry to labour the point....but from a common sense viewpoint....this "new behavour" is so totally wrong....it doesn't make sense as to why its been designed into the system after highlighting the problems that this now can and has caused which didn't happen before !! Won't comment any more, promise !! lol

Hi,

My apologies, I really should have gone into more detail. This was added mainly for two
reasons, one -- so you can add contacts and they are immediately on list so that when they do
sign up (assuming they don't have an account), you'll instantly know about it. The second
reason it the actual exposure that Messenger and Hotmail contacts are linked and as such, by
adding contacts into Messenger you're also adding them into your Hotmail contacts.

You are right though that it would be nice to still be notified if the person has a
Passport/Windows Live ID already on that account.

--
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.
--


"Atttim" <> wrote in message
news:CA831697-A17C-496B-A95C-...
Really sorry to labour the point....but from a common sense viewpoint....this "new behavour"
is so totally wrong....it doesn't make sense as to why its been designed into the system
after highlighting the problems that this now can and has caused which didn't happen before
!! Won't comment any more, promise !! lol