Anyone trying this out?

http://messenger.msn.com/beta/download/

A couple of us are using this in the office - we've only just started, but so far, it seems the most obvious new features are being able to send pictures in the conversation (not as files, actually appearing in the message window), "Nudges" which make the window shake, and "Winks" which are huge animations that play over the top of the conversation, pretty much totally obscuring any text you're trying to read at that time.

In fact, the only thing i've seen so far that is genuinely useful is the ability to select the status you will sign in as before you sign in, so you can choose to log in as "Appear Offline" instead of signing in (which tells all your contacts you're online) and then appearing offline.

And another thing I've just noticed is that when you get login alerts, it now also includes the display picture.

I might try this @ work since I use MSN to communicate with boss. Other than that, meh.

it's been my experience that you need XP for the handwriting function

If you want a good laugh, bring up Task Manager and check the CPU usage when you nudge somebody, or when you get nudged. :p

Nudge? Like Yahoos thing? That was so annoying.

If it's alright I'll just stick to Trillian... I can see the nudge thing getting removed soon after people start spamming it.

You can disable it anyway...

Trillian > MSN

MSN started being stupid after version 5. That seemed to be when they decided to start making the interface really bulky and adding lots of stupid features that you couldn't always turn off.

what possible use is any of the stuff they added?

Handwriting. Oh my god. Because trying to scribble out something is so much faster than typing.

I can type at 120+ words per minute. Even if I did have a tablet I couldn't write faster.

The handwriting is awesome for diagrams... I use it in 6.2

Is this 7.0?

I think handwriting is fun for a giggle... it's always funny to draw stupid faces and send them