Currently in beta, Windows Live Messenger 8.5 would sport a new interface. It looks much beta and cooler and has a more consistent Windows Live branding. Check out some of the screenshots that I included.
The Windows Live Messenger sign in window, version 8.0 on the left, 8.5 on the right. Windows Live Messenger 8.5 seems to have a lot more text that people don’t find useful to see. It’s probably the lawyers’ idea.
And of course, the main window. Similarly, 8.0 is on th left, 8.5 on the right. It’s all looking much cleaner and I love it when the interface designers removed the left and right border, it makes the application feel lighter.
Windows Live Messenger 8.0 is at the top and Windows Live Messenger 8.5 is at the bottom. The chat window has little changes, take a look at the Send and Search button. It’s looking better on 8.5. Previously on 8.0, it’s quite space wasting to put it on the right of the chat box.
During my installation, I was told to shut of Windows Explorer, I don’t have any Explorer windows open and in order to continue with the installation, I ended the Explorer.exe.
There really isn’t much changes. Everything works similarly, the interface change is much welcomed though.
You can read more at Inside Windows Live Messenger or get the Windows Live Messenger 8.5 beta here.
