General Questions

You saw it mentioned on the web, a friend sent it to you, and now you're wondering what it is all about? Messenger Plus! Live is an add-on for Windows Live Messenger (MSN Messenger 8 and above), the popular Instant Messaging software from Microsoft. It is also known as "msg plus" and incorrectly as "msn plus" (MSN being a trademark of Microsoft). Messenger Plus! adds different features to Messenger to make it more enjoyable, day after day. A list of the main features can be found in the features section of this site. Remember that Messenger Plus! is not a chat program, it only adds functionalities to Messenger, it can't be used as a standalone application.

No, Messenger Plus! is not an official add-on from Microsoft. Microsoft is aware of its existence, it tolerates it, but you can't contact the Messenger support team to get help on a Messenger Plus! feature. Also, Messenger Plus! has nothing to do with Windows Plus! or MSN Plus!, both of these products are from Microsoft. That being said, Messenger Plus! is still, by far, the most popular and respected add-on for Messenger and thus, since the year 2001 :).

Yes, you are allowed to send Messenger Plus! to your contacts as the software is entirely free. Messenger Plus! is a freeware, which means that you can redistribute it to whoever you want, directly or indirectly, as long as you distribute the original setup package as downloaded from this web site (and not some of its files separately). If you want to promote the software on your web page, banners can be found here. If you want to include the software in a magazine or a public CD, you are also free to do so without asking for my permission, although, I'd like to know about it if possible (just notify me by making a post on the forum). Of course, we reserve the right to prevent any person or company to redistribute the software if it is thought that the distribution method is damaging the software's reputation in any way.

If you have a problem that is not listed in these pages, you can search in the forum or make a new post to request some personal assistance. You can also check in the Live Chat, there may be someone to help you there, in your own language. Please, do not send me any personal message to get some help, either on the forum, by email, or on Messenger. The development Messenger Plus! takes most of my time so I can't spend too much of it giving direct support to my users (the whole Messenger community is here to help you, don't worry :).

Thank you for trying to improve Messenger Plus! :). You should know however that I already have enough ideas and features written in my todo list to continue the development of Messenger Plus! for a couple of years! If you want to give your opinion you can use the forum, I read most posts, even if I don't always have time to reply and feedback is always appreciated.

Some features are not included in Messenger Plus! for several reasons. Privacy is the first one: no feature will ever be added that could compromise the privacy or the security of your contacts (like block detection schemes). The second reason is conviviality: preferences panels with too many options are not very user friendly, that's why some minor settings are available only through the registry. And the last reason is "politically correctness": I use my own judgment to decide whether or not a feature should be added in Messenger Plus! (like "open window notifiers"). I'm doing my best to take good care of my users and some options just don't fit in my targeted audience, sorry.

Messenger Plus! Live can be uninstalled like any other software on your computer. Click on "Start\Control Panel" and select "Add/Remove Programs" (Windows XP) or "Programs and Features" (Windows Vista). In the list that will be displayed, select "Messenger Plus! Live" or "Messenger Plus! Live & Sponsor", click on "Remove" or "Uninstall" and follow the instructions. Messenger Plus! will be uninstalled quickly from your system along with the sponsor if you previously installed it. Some files will be removed only after you restart your computer (note: chat logs won't be removed automatically).

No, there will never be a Macintosh version or a Linux version of Messenger Plus! Live due to several reasons, including the fact that I have absolutely no time to put in such kind of project.

Messenger Plus! scripts are based on the JScript language. Messenger Plus! skins require to know how to create XML files. You can easily create new scripts and skins from the Scripts and Skins sections of the Preferences panel. All the documentation concerning those parts of the product can be found in the Scripts section and Skins section of this site.

Users of Windows Messenger (the Messenger client distributed by default with Windows XP) may want to continue to use it for different reasons (like SIP connections). Note that if your only reason for using Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger together was to be connected in two accounts at the same time, we recommend that you use the "Multiple accounts" feature of Messenger Plus! Live instead which lets you open as many Messenger windows as you want. Upon installation, Messenger Plus! Live disables (but does not uninstall) previous versions of Messenger Plus! present on the system. You can however, if you desire, download the latest version of Messenger Plus! 3 and reinstall it on top of everything. Messenger Plus! 3 and Messenger Plus! Live will then coexist together, however, some limitations will apply, including improper detection of some events depending on the order used to launch the clients. Signing out of Windows Messenger may also sign you out from Windows Live Messenger.