Changelog

What's new (and old) in Plus!

Messenger Plus! Live 4.82.368 (30/06/2009)

  • Messenger Plus! is now entirely compatible with Windows 7 (RC minimum) :
    • The Messenger Lock feature has been fixed. A new icon is added to the tray in Windows 7 if an unlock keyboard shortcut is not specified.
    • The default Messenger Lock icon in Windows 7 has been changed to blend in better in the new UI (hourglass: shell32.dll,323).
    • Note: the jump list of Messenger will work properly when using the Multiple-Accounts (polygamy) option but  you'll get the options for only one of your Messenger clients.
    • Tabbed chats display a proper preview (peek) picture with a list of currently opened chats. Chats waiting for input are colorized in the thumbnail and Alt+Tab or Win+Tab combinations also display the proper picture.
    • A couple of other minor fixes here and there to make the Windows 7 experience complete.
  • The settings of your scripts and skins can now be exported from the preferences panel and re-imported back.
    • Only the settings of the scripts/skins are exported and not the scripts/skins themselves.
    • As far as scripts are concerned, only the scripts that put their settings where they're supposed to (see MsgPlus.ScriptRegPath) will be concerned by this new feature.
  • This release is contest-ready!
    • In this version, you will see a new golden icon in your Messenger toolbar. Those who participated in the contest 2 years ago will probably remember what this is.
    • A "Play and Win" menu has been added in the contact list.
    • The 2009 Contest is not open yet, it will be in about a week from now. Remember to give it a try in July!
  • The bug present in beta versions of IE8 has been fixed in IE8 Final. The workaround for displaying long chat logs in the Log Viewer has been removed.
  • Navigation arrows are now added in Windows 7 for tabbed chats, below the Aero Peek thumbnail in the task bar. Use them to switch from one chat to the next.
  • Fixed: the background of the title bars of Messenger Plus! windows does not display correctly with bright colors.
  • When a directory is selected in the Log Viewer, the log currently displayed is removed from the screen.
  • Fixed: default Messenger sounds for event notifications and new external emails aren't played by Messenger Plus! in Messenger 2009.
  • Scripts. Fixed: scripts may be automatically started and marked as "running" the first time Messenger is restarted after a script has been updated, even if the script is disabled.
  • Skins. Fixed: new border areas specified in <Dimensions> do not work in Messenger 2009 Final.
  • Skins: Fixed: the <FrameCount> element in <MetaData> is not used if specified without any other meta data.
  • A couple of stability fixes. Runaway, from the river to the street.

Messenger Plus! Live 4.81.358 (22/03/2009)

  • Directories and files in the log viewer are now sorted chronologically, when possible.
  • Added "OverrideImgTransfer" registry setting. If set to true (1), Messenger Plus! forces a JPG file to be sent in a file transfer when a picture is pasted in a conversation. Especially useful if you do not like Photo Sharing in Messenger 2009.
  • Fixed: custom emoticons that are assigned keyboard shortcuts such as "!" prevent emotion sounds to be sent properly.
  • In order to accelerate the uninstaller, scripts and skins removed during uninstallation are now deleted instead of moved to the Recycle Bin.
  • Fixed: Log Viewer does not display long chat logs properly when Internet Explorer 8 is installed (I consider this to be a bug in the way IE8 emulates IE7 for WebBrowser controls with Transitional XHTML).
  • Fixed: pressing Ctrl+A in a multi-line edit box doesn't have any effect.
  • Scripts. ChatWnd::SendMessage() can now be used with an empty message parameter to send the text currently present in the typing area.
  • Fixed: the Emotion Sound panel is not properly placed in the chat window when 20 sounds or more are displayed at the same time.
  • Fixed: some preferences windows and skin option panels may not be properly scrolled with the middle button of some mouses.
  • A new way to support Messenger Plus! will now be distributed in some versions of the setup.
    • Thanks to Ask.com, you now have the option to change your home page and default search options without installing any program on your computer (apart from the uninstaller of Ask which just reverts back your browser's settings, which you can do yourself if you want).
    • The setup of Messenger Plus! can only ask for one of both options: the sponsor program from Circle Developement, or the home page/search engine changes from Ask.com. Both options, of course, are entirely optional.
    • In the next couple of weeks and months, the home page offered on plusnetwork.com will be customized and improved with lots of features. This could turn out to be a very cool addition to Messenger Plus! so don't hesitate to post your comments on the forum!

Messenger Plus! Live 4.80.356 (31/01/2009)

  • This version is entirely compatible with the final version of Windows Live Messenger 2009 (build 1202). Yes, that includes chat logging, emotion sounds, skins, scripts and so on :-).
    • The "Show contacts as Idle" option will properly display "Idle" for your contacts' status in chat windows but not in the contact list. For that reason, an "(Idle)" indicator has been added in the contact list's tooltip (Messenger 9 only).
    • The Messenger Plus! menus displayed by buttons added in the windows of Messenger are more properly aligned.
    • Skins: when a skin that redefines the shape of a window in Messenger is loaded in Messenger 9, the window frame present in Vista is properly removed.
    • Skins: vertical gradient colors cannot be created for Messenger 9, only horizontal gradients are supported.
  • The new UIB encoded version of the windows' styles and definitions is completely supported by Messenger Plus!.
    • For skinners, this means that Messenger Plus! will decode the files automatically when extracting the resources and will re-encode them automatically when added in a skin. For everybody else, it means Messenger Plus! will still rock in 2009! :-).
    • Notes about UIB decoding: in order to make things as simple as possible for the skin developers, Messenger Plus! generates definition files and style files almost identical to what you used to see in Messenger before. One of the differences you'll notice is a <*PlusSkin*/> tag on top of each file: do not remove it or alter it.
    • Skins: if you used to write some strange exotic syntax in your windows' files which was previously accepted and parsed by Messenger, Messenger Plus! may not be so tolerant. The opposite is also true as Messenger Plus! may accept things that Messenger did not (like character escaping in strings such as "\n"). In the end, most developers won't ever notice a difference though.
    • Skins: Windows Definition files and Windows Styles files can still be included separately in your skins. If one of the two files is missing, Messenger Plus! will decode the internal UIB file in order to get the missing piece before re-encoding everything (this may slow down Messenger a little at the first occurrence).
    • Skins: the skin trace file will now include more precise information when a loading error occurs as Messenger Plus! is doing the parsing itself. Also, note that if a window file cannot be parsed properly, the original one from Messenger will now be used instead.
  • Information for all add-on and patch developers working on Messenger: in order for you to keep on working on your software, I have decided to allow you to encode and decode UIB files for your own use.
    • "MPTools.exe", which is available in the Messenger Plus! directory, will take care of your UIB needs. All you have to do is specify the source and destination files and MPTools will do the rest.
    • You have two ways to use this feature: if your add-on/patch requires live modifications to the windows files based on some user options, Messenger Plus! will need to be installed on your users' computers and your software will need to call MPTools before and after you modify the file. If you only need fixed changes to be applied on one given version of Messenger, you can decode, modify and re-encode the files yourself and distribute the final UIB file which won't require Messenger Plus! to be installed.
    • Although both solutions will work perfectly fine, doing live encoding and decoding with MPTools will always be the recommended for many reasons, the first one being that your add-on will benefit from all the future update automatically and will stay compatible with the next versions of Messenger. Note that MPTools.exe cannot be redistributed and used on its own though, Messenger Plus! needs to be installed for the tool to work (you can either link it from your software or download/install it automatically, with the /Silent switch or not, you decide).
    • Check out the new "Encoding and Decoding UIB" section of the skinning documentation for more details.
  • Compatibility with all previous beta versions of Windows Live Messenger 9/14/2009 has been removed (more than a year of betas for this one!).
  • Contacts from Yahoo! Messenger are now handled better by Messenger Plus!.
  • Messenger Plus! now displays many of its windows using the specific color selected for each contact. Display pictures are also displayed in contact related popup notifications (can be turned off in the preferences).
  • The Contact Information window now displays an animation for animated display pictures.
  • When chatting with more than 2 people, the size of the header in chat logs is now reduced.
  • When chatting in a group in Messenger 2009, whenever possible, Messenger Plus! creates a single chat log file associated to the group.
  • The "enhance copy/paste" feature now doesn't do anything with pictures and lets Messenger handles it.
  • A new icon is displayed in tabbed chats for group chats.
  • Windows 7 is now properly reported by (!VER). Messenger Plus! is currently reported to work on this OS.
  • The Multiple Accounts option (polygamy) is now compatible with the Windows 7 jump list tasks (tasks are sent to the Messenger that was launched in last).
  • A couple of things have been improved internally to ensure the reliability of the sound modules in Messenger Plus! (especially when using emotion sounds).
  • Emotion sounds are not automatically played anymore when Messenger is locked.
  • The Greek language is now part of the official distribution.
  • Setup is now faster if many of scripts and skins are installed.
  • Fixed: the Messenger Plus! icons may not be added in the Messenger windows if a skin is enabled but failed to load.
  • Fixed: spin controls in the emotion sound wizard are inversed.
  • Fixed: Messenger Plus! windows don't look good when a very bright color is selected in Messenger. The color of titles in all windows has been darkened too.
  • Fixed: in Messenger 8.5, the names of contacts that are using Messenger 2009 may be displayed incorrectly by Messenger Plus!.
  • Fixed: Messenger may crash on startup if a hooking error occurs (problem introduced in version 4.70).
  • Fixed: when several user sessions are active and Messenger Plus! needs to restart Messenger (when importing a skin for example), the Messengers of all the user sessions are closed.
  • Fixed: "Format Codes" button not added in the the Chinese Messenger options.
  • Fixed: the password parameter for command line encryption with LogViewer.exe requires password that have a minimum length of 4 characters.
  • Fixed: /PlusSkin="" is ignored and does not prevent the current skin to be loaded.
  • The "Use the default scene" option available in chat windows is now supported by Messenger Plus!. Note however that Messenger 2009 has a bug preventing this option to work properly sometimes when changed and requiring the chat window to be closed and reopened. Messenger Plus! always sticks to the option as you selected it.
  • Scripts: Image elements now support GIF pictures. Use the new AllowAnimate attribute to automatically animate the picture on screen.
  • Scripts: MsgPlus.DisplayToastContact now supports an additional "Contact" parameter to allow Messenger Plus! to colorize the toasts your script display according to a contact's profile.
  • Scripts: added a new "ProfileColor" property to Contact objects. You can use this to know what color is currently associated to a specific contact (according to its Messenger profile).
  • Scripts: added a new "BaseColor" property to PlusWnd objects. Use it if you want to modify the base color of your windows, for example, to match contact specific colors.
  • Scripts and Skins: the <AllowAutoUpdate> element now also takes effect if no Build Number or Update Id is specified.
  • Scripts. Fixed: DataBloc::ReadInterfacePtr() does not work as expected.
  • Skins: the Resource Extractor has been improved for Messenger 2009.
    • The "rcanim", "rcbmp" and "rcchar" resource identifiers are now recognized and handled properly.
    • Cursors are extracted.
    • Strings from "msgres" are extracted.
    • Added basic consolidation mode (third check state in the Resource Extractor window, looks like a square). Use it to produce consolidated windows files that can be used safely in your final skin. Things like strings are not replaced in this mode (for localisation reasons).
  • Skins: the skininfo schema file has been modified for Messenger 2009.
    • Strings from "msgres" can now be modified.
    • The cursors specified in "msgres" can be replaced.
    • Remember that the version number of the new Messenger is 14.0 and not 9.0 (keep that in mind when writing your <Restrictions> elements).
  • Skins. Fixed: Metadata is not applied properly when replacing pictures that did not any Metadata in the first place.
  • Skins: the tabbed chat bar can now be skinned with the picture of your choice, displayed in mosaic and colorized if required. Check out "PlusSkin\ResGroup\TabbedChatBar" for more details.
    • Note: the "MessengerPlus\TabbedChatBar" option element has been deprecated and it is recommended that you do not use it (it may not produce good results in Messenger 9).
  • Skins. Fixed: Build and Revision can be inversed when reading the Information\Compatibility element.
  • Skins: thanks to research done by Willz, a new element named "FrameCount" has been added to picture's Metadata. You can use it when replacing or adding animated pictures.
  • Skins: the Resource Extractor now supports the new resource types introduced  in Messenger 2009 (which are used transparently while consolidating the windows data).
  • Skins: the color map file generated by the Resource Extractor now specifies "ref" for color ids that are references to other colors.
  • Skins: the number of encrypted RLE files the Resource Extractor was not able to process fell from 158 in the last beta to 2 in Messenger 2009! (and it's because those two produce an empty result so for now, I prefer considering them as un-processed). This special kind of RLE file has a variable size, the content is generated dynamically with the size requested by Messenger at any given time. Once decrypted, "_var" is attached to the name of the file to make sure you don't forget about it when modifying the resource (if you replace those by pictures, make sure your pictures are big enough to avoid looking pixelized).
  • Skins: added "ResetUserScenes" value in the "Options\Messenger" element. It's considered to be "true" by default and is used to remove the currently selected scene from all the user profiles when a skin is selected. Disable this option if your skin is meant to be used in conjunction with scenes.
  • Skins: you can now add a "SkinOptions" element in "PlusSkin" resource groups. Use it for conditional skinning of Messenger Plus! resources based on the skin's properties.
  • Skins: because Messenger 2009 restricts the command ids that can be sent from sub-windows to parent windows (like the top toolbar in the contact list), a work-around has been added to Messenger Plus!. Instead of adding a "cmdid" attribute, you need to add a specially formatted "accvalue" attribute. For example, instead of cmdid=7460 you'll need to add accvalue="Messenger Plus! CmdId: 7460".

Messenger Plus! Live 4.70.334 (09/08/2008)

  • Messenger Plus! is now better prepared for the future with several internal changes.
  • New feature: you can now paste very large chunks of text and pictures into a conversation. Messenger Plus! detects pasting operations that are not originally supported by Messenger and, when possible, generates a temporary file to send to the contact.
  • Emotion sounds played by Messenger Plus! are now played in stereo. This fixes problems caused by faulty hardware or drivers that do not handle mono sound files properly (resulting in incorrect playback or no playback at all).
  • New feature: all scripts and skins can now be automatically updated! this will ensure you always get the benefits from the latest versions of the components you use without worrying about them.
    • Almost all the current scripts and skins are supported by the system. Update check is done once a week, as usual, and you can force a manual check by using the /checkupdates command in any chat window.
    • If an update is available, you will be notified once automatically. If you choose not to install a particular update, Messenger Plus! won't prompt you about it anymore unless another update is available. This was done to remove the annoying factor of this kind of auto-update procedure.
    • This feature may be used in the future to offer exclusive new scripts, skins and more for download. This will also help the distribution of minor updates using delta patches.
    • Script and skin developers are encouraged to use the new UpdateId and BuildNumber information elements in their XML file to ensure proper future updates or their products (see updated documentation).
    • Of course, all of this can be disabled in the preferences.
  • New "panel size" option added for the Quick Icons panel. Use it to display more emoticons in each page of the panel.
  • The (!VER) tag now correctly identifies Windows Server 2008.
  • Double-clicking on a contact in the Contact List Clean-Up window now opens the Contact Information window.
  • A new page has been added at the end of the Setup to confirm that installation was successful and to offer a link to download new skins.
  • Security fix: mis-formated URLs saved in HTML chat logs can corrupt log files (fixed previously in build 326).
  • Messenger Plus! now prevents you to specify an encryption password hint equal to the password itself.
  • The Interface Tester program now supports command line arguments (use -? for more details). External programs wanting to display a preview of Messenger Plus! windows may want to use this.
  • Fixed: skin shapes are not always properly applied.
  • Fixed: invalid skin packs may display an error message twice on import.
  • Scripts: added <Size> element for RichStatic controls.
  • You know it's not the end...

Messenger Plus! Live 4.60.324 (19/03/2008)

  • You can now filter yourself out from event logging.
  • Mobile Device chat windows are now fully supported by Messenger Plus!.
    • Features like Quick Texts, commands, smart tags and previous message recall are now accessible the same way as they are in normal chat windows.
    • Logging is fully functional.
    • Mobile chat windows are now tabbed too. If you prefer keeping your mobile chats separated from one another, you can use the new TabMobileChatWnds registry setting.
  • If too many Plus! notification popups try to be displayed on screen, Messenger Plus! queues the extra windows to be displayed later, when possible (so that notifications aren't displayed out of screen).
  • WMA sounds can now be selected for event notifications.
  • Fixed: some animated GIF display pics (Messenger 9) display improperly in the Contact Information windows.
  • Fixed: /font does not work in Messenger 9 Beta.
  • Fixed: some of Messenger Plus!'s own resources are loaded before the currently enabled skin, preventing them to be modified.
  • Fixed: a couple of bugs that could cause Messenger to crash in some specific occasions. More stability! always a good thing.
  • Fixed: external libraries distributed with scripts that need registration on import (OLE or .NET) fail to register in Windows Vista with UAC on. Messenger Plus! also makes absolutely sure now that the libraries are properly registered before trying to start the script for the first time.
  • Fixed: notification popups from Messenger Plus! may steal the focus.
  • Fixed: notification windows from Messenger Plus! don't animate depending on your Windows settings.
  • Fixed: Messenger may not lock or unlock properly when using several Messenger accounts (polygamy) with the same shortcut specified for locking or unlocking.
  • Scripts: a new function called Interop.GetCallbackPtr() has been added. It allows the creation of callback parameters for Windows API calls to functions like EnumWindows.
  • Scripts: mobile chat windows are now supported. The following property has been added: ChatWnd.IsMobileChat. A new MENULOC_MOBILEWND enumeration has been added to OnEvent_MenuClicked() and OnGetScriptMenu().
  • Scripts: you can now upload files to FTP servers using the new MsgPlus.UploadFileFTP() function. Success or failure is indicated through a call to OnEvent_UploadFileComplete(). This new function can also be used to check an FTP connection without uploading anything.
  • Scripts: a new PlusWnd::Button_SetElementText() function has been added to change the text of text elements defined in "custom look" buttons, check boxes, and radio buttons.
  • Scripts: added a new PlusWnd::GetElementPos() function to get the current position of an Element (such as a Place Holder) in a window.
  • Scripts: some small improvements made to the new built-in editor.
  • Scripts: MsgPlus.DownloadFile now accepts two additional parameters: Username and Password. They can be used when downloading files from ftp servers that need authentication.
  • Scripts: added a new MsgPlus.ExtractFromZIP function to allow easy extraction of files from a ZIP archive.
  • Scripts: you can now set Messenger.MyDisplayPicture to an empty string to remove the display picture of the current user.
  • Skins: the Metadata\File element for replaced images now works properly (replaces resources of type 4006).
  • Skins: a new DateRange restriction type has been added.
    • You can use it to make your skin change automatically depending on the current day, month, or year.
    • Remember that the date is analysed only when Messenger starts.
    • It is recommended to use the PlusVersion restriction as well to prevent the date restricted groups to be automatically included in older versions of Messenger Plus!. You can also set the top level "Version" attribute of "SkinInfo" to 2 to prevent the whole skin from being loaded in older incompatible versions.
  • Skins: extracted pictures placed in Graphics\Pictures are now named differently if the picture is actually a reference to another one. This mean that for example, picture 4000_91_ref600.png is a reference to 4000_600.png and that only the later needs to be modified in Messenger's resources.
  • Skins: a new "Colorize" boolean element has been added to RGBA "Color" resources. It allows more advanced users to enable colorization for a given color instead of specifying an intensity (useful so that the default associated color does not end up being grey).
  • Skins: a new top-level "Fonts" element has been added. You can now distribute custom font files with your skin and use them in your definition and style files. These fonts are not installed system wide, they are only made available to Messenger and Messenger Plus! windows.
  • Skins: gradient colors can now be specified in "Color" resources. These colors are to be used in backgrounds only. Note that in the current version of Messenger 9 Beta, horizontal gradients will be displayed vertically.
  • Skins: a new "Rectangles" resource type has been added in "Replace". You can use it to replace rcrect styles more directly.
  • Skins: additional flexibility and features added for custom option windows:
    • Any number of link controls can now be added in custom option windows. The caption of the control is used as link, http and https is supported. Note that the caption can only contain a link, no extra text is permitted for the web site's address to be detected.
    • You can now add a button or a link control with id "AboutWnd" to trigger the display of a second, separate about box for your skin. To id of your about box windows are defined in SkinInfo, OptionInterface\AboutIds elements.
    • The About Box window cannot contain any option control. It can, however, contain link controls (as specified above).
  • Skins: A new "Environment" kind of <*PlusSkin*> tag is now supported. It allows conditions based on the current version of Messenger or Messenger Plus!, or the language of Messenger.
  • Skins: the interface color used by the current user can now be reset to any custom color of your choice when a skin is enabled. This can be specified in the new Options\Messenger\ResetUserColor element of skininfo and is useful if your skin looks better in a given color. If the skin supports colorization, it is recommended to keep blue as the default in your files and use this setting to choose the substitute a default color on installation.

Messenger Plus! Live 4.50.312 (15/12/2007)

  • Updated language files included.
  • You now get a clear message when importing a skin that's not compatible with the version of Messenger you're currently using. A message is also displayed if an incompatible skin is enabled in the Preferences panel.
  • The script editor is now LTR even with if Hebrew or Arabic is selected.
  • Fixed: some preferences are not re-loaded properly when different users sign-in without restarting Messenger.
  • Fixed: the Resource Extractor does not properly extracts the resources of Messenger Plus! when asked.
  • Some small last-minute issues have been taken care of.
  • Scripts: a new ImageId optional parameter has been added to Combo_AddItem(). This allows you to insert items with a picture in combobox controls.

Messenger Plus! Live 4.50.310 (09/12/2007)

  • The look of all the Messenger Plus! windows has been updated, we hope you'll like the changes! :-)
  • Brand new feature: Messenger skinning. Change the face of Messenger!
    • This new feature allows skins to be applied directly in the memory of Messenger. No file is changed, several skins can be installed and each of them is safe to use: no more installation or update problems caused by hard-patched skins. No more need to patch DLL files, everything is done in a single XML file.
    • Installation of new skins couldn't be easier: download a Skin Pack, click on it and press Import. The same distribution method used for scripts is used for skins.
    • The Messenger Plus! skinning engine is fully documented in more than 30 pages of documentation. Skin developers: all you have to do is read the first sections of the documentation to get started! it is accessible from the new Skins sections of the Preferences panel.
    • Messenger Plus! skins bring many new features previously unavailable to skin developers: user modifiable options, multi-language support and even a way to re-shape the windows of Messenger! all the advantages, for both developers and users, are listed in the "What's a Skin in Messenger Plus! ?" section of the documentation.
    • Messenger Plus! extracts all the pertinent resources of Messenger with a single click, organizes the files in categories, decrypts most of the RLE encrypted pictures, creates maps of which picture is used by which window and rebuilds windows definitions and styles files to include most of the de-referenced data directly inside the file (like color codes, texts, ...). In less than a minute, you'll get everything you'll ever need to customize anything you want in Messenger.
    • Messenger Plus! itself can now be skinned with this system.
    • A new skin database has been added to msgpluslive.net. If you create a skin that you're proud of, submit it to us and show it to the world! be among the firsts to provide new looks for Messenger to millions of users all around the word.
  • Some sections of the Preferences panel have been reorganised, everything is clearer now.
  • Compatible with the current Windows Live Messenger 9.0 Beta.
    • Unless you're an official tester of WLM9, registered on Connect, it is highly recommended that you do not install this new version of Messenger until Microsoft releases something more suitable for general public use. Things like personal message links and custom sign-in sounds are already available in Messenger Plus! anyway.
    • Keep in mind that compatibility with beta versions is never perfect. For example, you won't be able to decrypt RLE files in WLM9 and you may receive an error message about wlcomm.exe when installing Messenger Plus! or restarting Messenger. This is all part of the joy of using beta versions.
  • You can now insert a previously sent message in the text you're typing instead of replacing everything: just keep the Control key pressed when selecting the message in the Previous Messages panel.
  • The Contact List Clean-Up window now has two modes: one that displays information about contacts who are in your list (like before) and another one that shows every contact who have you in their lists, even if you don't have them. From this mode you can add the contacts back in your list or block/unblock them when needed.
  • Added a new "Display event notifications in information area" feature. Enabled by default, this feature notifies you of your contact events in the chat window themselves, in the area where "user is typing" is generally displayed. This is mostly visible if you're using Messenger 8.5.
  • Added a new "Additional Options" link in Messenger's contact cards (Messenger 8.1 and above only).
    • Allows easy access to some of the Messenger Plus! features that related to contacts.
    • This new way to access the features is also a good workarounds if you or your contact specified different emails in the contact's information. This causes most options to be greyed out in the right-click menu of the contact list but every options will work fine in the contact card's menu.
  • You can now record a password hint in your encrypted log files. This hint will be visible to anybody trying to open the log and should be meaningful only to yourself. The hints will be saved in newly created chat log files (or re-encrypted ones) and because they are an integral part of the files, you can count on them even after a computer reformat.
  • Added a new event notification choice for auto-accepted requests.
  • Some general purpose event notifications are now created by default for every user (only when no notification already exists). Currently added: auto-accept requests and contact signs-out when chat is opened.
  • One old-fashioned Quick Text (/slap) is now added by default for every user (when no quick text already exists).
  • The uninstaller has been improved in many ways:
    • Every window is clearer, bigger, and displays more informative text.
    • Added a new "Repair Messenger" feature for maintenance. People can now use this instead of uninstalling Messenger Plus! to do some selective clean-up in case of a problem. The panel allows you to: reset/disable scripts, remove any skin customization, and reset all the Messenger Plus! user preferences. If missing or damaged, the loader is also copied back into Messenger's directory. Note that most repairs only apply to the current Windows user account, you'll need to log in your other Windows accounts to repair Messenger accounts accessed from there.
    • Users with limited privileges who require elevation from a different user with administrator privileges can now erase their Messenger Plus! preferences through the maintenance wizard (complete uninstallation would not erase the current user's preferences in that particular case as the current user is technically the administrator performing the uninstallation).
    • Only some options now require elevation in Windows Vista. This means that the uninstaller can be launched without a UAC prompt and if more privileges are needed for some operations (like a complete uninstallation), the system shield icon is added next to the appropriate buttons.
  • Some global options have been moved to the GlobalSettings registry key, including the AlwaysReloadInterfaces and DisplayWizardFirstStart registry settings. Check the updated online documentation for more details.
  • The setup is now faster in Windows Vista.
  • Added a "Name Filter" edit box in the Emotion Sound Export wizard to find the sounds you want to export more easily.
  • Added a new option to prevent "User is typing" notifications to be sent to your contacts.
  • Added an (!SVER) tag to list the scripts that are currently installed.
  • Added two new filters for the auto-accept feature: "send webcam" and "view webcam". The preferences panel allows these filters to be selected on their own, to combine filters, check the documentation of the new AutoAcceptReq registry setting.
  • The options to add Plus! icons in the contact list and the chat windows are now properly represented as global for every user. This will fix the problems related to icons not showing when several users sign-in on the same computer with different preferences.
  • Added 4 new registry settings to customize the buttons displayed by Messenger Plus! in the Messenger windows: ScriptIconContactList, FormatIconChatWnd, SoundIconChatWnd, ScriptIconChatWnd.
  • If some scripts are installed but a third party software is blocking JScript or the scripting engine of Windows is damaged, a warning message is displayed when opening the script preferences panel.
  • You can now disable personalized status auto-messages in specific chats from the main window's Plus! menu. Note that auto-messages are automatically re-enabled for every chat windows when a new personalised status is activated.
  • Added an option to automatically separate the chat logs of different accounts by creating a subdirectory with the user's email address.
  • Added an /exit command to close all the current chats and exit Messenger.
  • New random sounds can now be added directly from the Sound Library window. Categories are picked at random in that case.
  • Internal material related to the 6th Anniversary Contest has been removed.
  • Emoticons inserted with Messenger's emoticon selector window (when clicking on the emoticon button in the toolbar) are now properly handled by various Messenger Plus! functions (thank you Matt :).
  • Optimizations were made in the way Messenger Plus! handles some of the text sent and received during a chat (less memory and cpu used).
  • Floating windows do not lose their position when Messenger is disconnected and reconnected while playing a DirectX game that changes the resolution of the screen.
  • Added a "AllowDirectXCheck" registry setting to fix errors caused by invalid codecs installed on a system (causing error message boxes to appear before notification popups are displayed, known to happen with some versions of Real Player).
  • The destination folder for log files is automatically reset to its default after a preferences import if the imported setting is not accessible.
  • The cursor does not scroll automatically to the end of the text anymore when closing the "find text" window in a chat.
  • Automatic word wrap in plain text chat logs has been improved to prevent words from being cut in half.
  • Many improvements made in the log viewer to get an overall better experience with the software.
    • A default instruction page with the Plus! logo is displayed when the log viewer is opened.
    • The log view box can be enlarged to cover the controls on the left side for maximum visibility of the log files on screen.
    • When opening a chat log from Messenger Plus!, if a log viewer is already showing the same log, it's activated and refreshed to prevent multiple windows to display the same thing.
    • Added a "Print Preview" menu.
    • The viewer opens much faster on slower systems. Sub-directories are now analyzed asynchronously after the main window has been displayed.
    • 4 levels of directories are now supported. Special icons associated to files or folders are also always properly displayed in the list.
    • You can now perform a file search to find what you're searching for more rapidly. The search is done on plain text files, html log files, xml files and also works with encrypted files (both old and new systems). You can search in specific directories only and you can do multiple searches on the same result subset for precise filtering. Search is multithreaded so if you have an hyper-thread of multi-core processor, results will be displayed faster (note that searching in lots of encrypted files can take a very long time).
    • If a file cannot be accessed because of its security attributes, a proper error is displayed instead of a blank or error page in the IE control.
    • Clicking on the same file to refresh its content re-actualizes the log's sessions as well.
    • Event Log files use a new XSL translation file which displays events from the oldest to the newest (older versions displayed newer events first). Event Log files display much faster with the new XSLT and display properly in every language (some additional text will always be written in English when viewing the logs). Sessions are recognised properly and are now displayed in the log viewer's session box instead. Note: the new XSLT file is compatible with old event files and can be copied in your old log directories ("current user" events won't be formatted differently in the old logs though).
  • Compatibility fixes in tabbed chats for people who use software like WindowBlinds.
  • Custom sections created for the Quick Icons panel can now be rearranged to be displayed in the order of your choice.
  • The Personalized Status window now allows the selection of any status (with the exception of Appear Offline). Some tooltips have also been added to help users who are not familiar with this feature.
  • Internal improvements in the way chat windows are managed. Messenger Plus! is now more resistant to future unknown Messenger versions as well as patches that do important modifications to the layout of chat windows.
  • Added two previously registry-only options in the tabbed chats preferences: "close button closes all tabbed chat windows" and "display contact emails instead of names".
  • Added "disable sign-out confirmation when chats are opened" option in the Customize section of the preferences.
  • A new SafeHook registry setting is now documented (moved from HKLM to HKCU). It can be used to force Messenger Plus! to hook the functions it needs, even if another software or driver is already hooking them in an incompatible manner.
  • A new option has been added in the "Software Not Loaded" window. If a program installed on your system causes incompatibilities with Messenger Plus!, try enabling "Disable safe mode" and restart Messenger (it will enable the SafeHook registry setting). Note that this window is accessible from the main Plus! menu of your contact list only when a loading error occurred (no Plus! icon is added in this case).
  • Events recorded in event log files can now be filtered by contacts as well. The filter is different from the one used in the Event Viewer.
  • When a personalised status is set from the window that automatically appears after changing one's status to away, the previous status is properly restored after the specified timeout (if any).
  • Personalised statuses are now accessible from the systray menu.
  • Chat logs for anonymous Messenger users (when using the new Messenger web applet) are all saved with the save file name.
  • The setup never restarts Messenger in Windows Vista anymore. This fixes problems some people have when Messenger is launched with admin privileges from the setup (like "current media" not working properly).
  • The Contact Information is now more useful.
    • The window can now be resized on both sides and maximized.
    • The information displayed in the window can be refreshed.
    • You are now notified if the contact doesn't have you in his list or if you do not have him in your own list.
  • Various improvements to the internal Messenger Plus! interface sub-system (the thing that displays all the Messenger Plus! window) :
    • Transition animations in Windows Vista now work properly everywhere when a Messenger Plus! window is shown or hidden. This also fixes similar but less visible graphical limitations in Windows XP.
    • Resizing operations are smoother.
    • The title bar of the window becomes visible when the window is maximized (similar to Messenger's own behaviour).
    • Less problems caused by software that do global changes to every popup window displayed in the system.
    • Windows are now centered more conveniently (on the screen that has the mouse cursor) in multi-monitor configurations.
    • Pictures can now be re-colorized to blend more with the rest of the background when needed (scripts can use this in their own windows as well).
    • Child windows are displayed transparently over their parent window.
    • The saturation, brightness and hue of the colors used in the windows are computed more accurately. Variations on the base color can now be done with powers as well as percentages.
    • Better RTL support for some controls so that windows look as good in RTL than they look in LTR.
    • Added a TitleBar\DefaultBackground option in interface files. It allows people who want to create customized interfaces for Plus! (skins or scripts) to prevent the drawing of the default gradient background in Messenger Plus! windows.
    • And more... scripters: check the updated documentation and make sure your interfaces are up to date (see below).
  • The following command line options can now be specified for msnmsgr.exe (Messenger) :
    • /PlusSkin="name of skin". Launches Messenger with the specified skin loaded
    • /PlusEnabled=0. Launches Messenger without loading Messenger Plus! into it.
  • Fixed: corrupted encryption containers are not properly deleted causing some systems to become unable to encrypt/decrypt files (I'd love to know who at Microsoft got the wonderful idea to create a CRYPT_DELETE_KEYSET definition that has a different value than CRYPT_DELETEKEYSET... fellow developers: be careful with IntelliSense!).
  • Fixed: pressing the Control key when closing tabbed chats sometimes leaves one of the chats opened. Also, now, pressing Ctrl+Shift when closing a tabbed chat group closes all chats except the current one.
  • Fixed: sounds can't be sent from the Emotion Sound panel when commands are disabled.
  • Fixed: some special keys (such as Home or Delete) cannot be used to register global shortcuts for features such as Messenger Lock.
  • Fixed: "Contact added you" windows still show when Messenger Lock is enabled.
  • Fixed: in some rare occasions after signing-in or after experiencing connection problems, the wrong status is displayed for some contacts in windows such as desktop contacts and tabbed chats. This fix applies to Windows Vista and above only.
  • Fixed: some complex combinations of text formatting and color tags are not properly written in XHTML chat logs. Some optimizations have also been made to minimize the quantity of html code written for each tag and improve xhtml compatibility.
  • Fixed: sometimes, contacts added to a chat are not properly detected by Messenger Plus!.
  • Fixed: when "Show custom emoticons" is unchecked in the Messenger preferences, the option can be re-enabled automatically when some special messages are sent, such as emotion sounds. Note that custom emoticons will still be re-enabled automatically in the current chat if normal emoticons are displayed (until the chat window is closed). This is caused by a bug (or rather, a limitation) in Messenger itself.
  • Fixed: the rounded borders of Messenger Plus! windows may be altered after moving a window.
  • Fixed: the text displayed in desktop contact windows may sometimes disappear.
  • Fixed: some events may be recorded by mistake in chat logs when signing-in with opened chat windows or offline messages (the information reported was accurate except for the fact that this was not an event generated at this time).
  • Fixed: script/sound import windows don't properly get the focus when the import is performed from the shell.
  • Fixed: the automatic reset delay is not properly applied when a personalised status is activated from the status menu or with a keyboard shortcut.
  • Fixed: the last character of ANSI coded script files is ignored when loaded in the script editor.
  • Fixed: auto-accept floods the chat with errors if a file is sent in a multi-contact chat. In this case, auto-accept is disabled for the file.
  • Fixed: script commands are not properly executed in the current window when combined with /all.
  • Fixed: imported emotion sounds don't keep their originally assigned language.
  • Scripts: the built-in editor is now much more professional with lots of new features.
    • Better overall editing experience.
    • Files load much faster than before and the current position in the editor is remembered when switching from one file to the other.
    • New option to display debug information right in the editor window (you don't need to display the Script Debugging window if you don't want to).
    • New "Show Line Numbers" option to display line numbers in the left margin.
    • New Outlining feature, give it a try! note than when enabled, an Outlining submenu is also accessible from the right-click menu of the edit control for more options.
    • Errors displayed in the Script Editor window provide a link to quickly highlight the line where the error occurred.
    • New Replace Text feature accessible from the Options menu and with Ctrl+H.
    • New Go To Line feature (shortcut: Ctrl+G).
    • For those of you editing scripts with multiple files, remember that you can use Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab to switch from one file to the other.
    • Ctrl+S can be used to save all the files and restart the script silently.
    • New rudimentary IntelliSense feature. A window automatically pop-ups to help you find global function and property names (no helper is displayed for non-static objects such as Contact or ChatWnd).
  • Scripts: all the functions that take enumerated values as parameter can now use name enumerations directly in the code. For example, you can use STATUS_BUSY instead of 4. All the enumerations are accessible with InteliSense and the documentation has been updated accordingly.
  • Scripts: added MsgPlus.LoadScriptFile to dynamically add new JScript code in the global scope of your script.
  • Scripts: the included HTML documentation of the Interface Windows schema file has been updated with the latest version of the schema. Attributes are now fully documented as well.
  • Scripts: the description of each script is now displayed in the preferences panel, in tooltips.
  • Scripts: added PlusWnd::Browser_GetInterface() to interact with browser controls placed inside your interface windows (change the current page, go back, etc...). This means that your scripts can now display web pages integrated in their windows for whatever reason you may need.
  • Scripts: added ChatWnd::DisplayInfoMessage() and ChatWnd::ResetInfoMessage() to allow scripts to display their own event notifications in the "information area" of chat windows. Check the documentation for more details.
  • Scripts: ComboBox controls can now display images along with their text label.
  • Scripts: this version of Messenger Plus! got a serious face lift. Full compatibility with previous interface files is guaranteed, however, your windows may need to be rearranged a little to look better in this version and future ones:
    • When using colors based on the background color of Messenger, make sure the results still looks good on the new background (the hue/brightness/saturation formulas have been improved internally, you'll most probably have to change your adjustements).
    • It is highly recommended to use the new ClientWidth and ClientArea attributes to specify the size of your windows. This will shield your windows from possible future updates made to the frame created by Messenger Plus!. To keep backward compatibility with older versions of Plus!, you can specify both Width/Height and ClientWidth/ClientHeight. Old versions will only read the former and new versions will prioritize the later.
    • If you were referencing pictures from the Messenger Plus! resources, make sure they are still present in this version (most are, they were updated and kept the same name).
  • Scripts: fixed a problem causing singleton windows to be mixed up with Messenger Plus! windows or other scripts' windows that use the same window id.
  • Scripts. Added Debug.ClearDebuggingWindow().
  • Scripts: fixed messages being overwritten with their original version when OnEvent_ChatWndReceiveMessage is called and processed by multiple scripts.

 

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