January 11th, 2009
Happy New Year everybody!
It’s now official, Microsoft has released the final version of Windows Live Messenger 2009 on the Live web site. That’s about time. It took more than a year of beta versions to get to this new release but it was worth the wait. Of course, it means Messenger Plus! needs a final update too and I’ve got good news: I just saved a bunch of mon… I mean, the beta version available in the Download page has been updated to support the new Messenger. The new build number is 353. Even better, Messenger Plus! Live 4.80 will officially be released before the end of the month :-).
Two reasons pushed me to refresh the public beta before doing a final release: first, the sooner the better. I know many of you were wondering what would happen with Messenger add-ons with the new Messenger and this beta it meant to be somehow reassuring. After all, everything is fully functionnal again, including emotion sounds, scripts, skins, logs, colors, event notifications, as well as the hundred of other features&options offered in the software. Secondly, I thought some developers may like to benefit from the research I had to do during the past few weeks in the windows files of Messenger; more precisely, in UIB data files.
To make a long story short, UIB files (resource type “4010″ for those who know what I’m talking about) can be entirely decoded and re-encoded by Messenger Plus! and this functionnality is offered to every other add-ons and patches that needs it. So, if you’re the developer of a program that requires to modify the windows’ files of Messenger (previously “4004″ and “4005″), download the latest version of the Skinning Documentation and read the new “Encoding and Decoding UIB” section in “Specialized Subjects”. Three pages of documentation have been written to explain how to decode and re-encode UIB files in your application in a matter of minutes.
I hope this new version of Plus! will be useful, for end-users and developers alike. If you have anything to say about the new features, have comments, suggestions, or things to talk about in general, don’t hesitate to visit the forum. Have fun with the new Messenger!
Posted in General
December 25th, 2008
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas 2008. Stay tuned for the next version of your Messenger add-on and enjoy the holidays with your family and friends :-).
Posted in General
October 31st, 2008
Happy Halloween!
If you’ve been using the latest beta version of Windows Live Messenger lately, I have some good news: Messenger Plus! is now fully compatible with it! Although I don’t like releasing anything that’s not “final”, the growing popularity of this new Messenger made it clear something had to be done on my side. For that reason, Messenger Plus! Live 4.79 has been added to the Download section and the Change Log has been updated accordingly.
Keep in mind that this is beta material so no support will be given for it. Some of the improvements (display pictures in notification popups for instance) are global to all Messenger versions so if you like what’s fresh and new, this beta is for you. Also, while you have fun with this new release, get prepared for a very special promotion coming your way for Christmas. Those of you who like action figures and collectibles (yes, you read correctly) are in for a shock :-).
Posted in New Releases
September 26th, 2008
The results are in! After a careful review of all the skins we received during the contest, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the winners:
Deformity Category
1st Place: Crystal Lab by ZOiD winner of a Cintiq 12WX.
2nd Place: SilverGlazz by LuckyMe winner of an Intuos3 6*8.
Originality Category
1st Place: Stormless Messenger by mynetx winner of a Cintiq 12WX.
2nd Place: Beaver and Steve by aNILEator winner of an Intuos3 6*8.
Functionality Category
1st Place: Wii Messenger by Ethan Li winner of a Cintiq 12WX.
2nd Place: Windows Live Messenger 2009 by roflmao456 winner of an Intuos3 6*8.
…and the big winner of this contest, all categories considered is…
Top Place: Oil Slick by Volv who wins the Cintiq 20WSX!
Congratulations to all of you and a big round of applause (queue /sapplause) to every other contestant. 20 million skin packages have been downloaded since last year on this site alone, you can bet your work was certainely not in vain. Enjoy the rest while you can, a new version of Messenger Plus! will soon be released to let you update your skins for the new Messenge 9 Beta. More about that probably next week… :-).
Posted in General
Subscribe via RSS
