Windows messenger is now skype

mustmakealist

I occassionally used windows live messenger to chat to a couple of people. When I went to use it the other day it said that I needed to update it. I did and it has now changed to skype :eek:. Can I still use this? Will my friends also have to have skype before I can talk to them and how will I be able to log on and find them.

withabix

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/messenger/messenger-to-skype

mustmakealist

Thank you for the link. I have decided to go with an alternative - Trillian as I can update my old contacts

buglawton

I found Skype a very heavyweight program on a netbook so only start it to use video or speech phone. Being forced to use Skype - and share all contacts together - is totally unacceptable, ditto on my phone, so I've moved to Yahoo Messenger.

Lifeforms

Having used trillian for donkies years there's been no change with msn/windows messenger/whatever it was/is called.

Trillian is a good alternative, based on adverts, albeit it fairly unobtrusive, but it's a much better interface than skype. I did try it prior to the buyout when skype was first introduced to trillian, but it never really worked. not used it since, so might play around with it, except i have both a skype account and msn one separate, and wish to keep it that way.

You could if you wish pay to support trillian and remove ads for a smallish amount. think i did lifetime for about £30 some time ago on one of their offers, but running one chat client (+skype) is so much nicer than running yahoo, msn, icq, and it is far less resource hogging than any one of the three.

NiftyDigits

Mesenger Reviver

Gunstar

People still use MSN? :S

Skype is better than MSN hands down, Microsoft upgraded for a reason, don't fight it.

buglawton

Skype is a different animal altogether from what MSN was intended to be.
I am curious to know if it still does the old tricks it started out with, using your own computer as a node or even supernode, to manage the lookups and initial connections for other Skype users (like Peer to Peer programs do).

What I do know is, Skype on a W7 1GB RAM low powered processor netbook brings the whole machine to it knees. Reinstalls did not solve it. Other messaging programs have no effect on the same netbook.

In any case my employer lists Skype as a banned program due to the network congestion it might create. MSN is (was) not banned and most other messaging programs aren't. If MS could spell out how Skype in its current version does or does not use network capacity, maybe it could be unbanned.