Journal #1209
Posted 19 years ago2004-12-18 20:06:29 UTC
Rant of the Week
I might incorporate a section similar to this in my website on stuff that annoys the living hell out of me.
This week we take a look at MSN Messenger 7 BETA, the long awaited next version of the popular MSN program. Now, I have the beta, which is freely availiable on the Internet, and after extensive use of the latest Beta (which is version 7.0.0425 no less) as well as previous versions, I've come to the conclusion that the program is, to put it very simply, absolute crap.
Now how did I ever come to this conclusion about ol' faithful MSN? Let's go through it then:
1. Addition of 'Features' - The program has been upgraded with a new GUI as well as a bunch of added features. The GUI is nice, so no worries there. However, let's turn to the new features. First off, we have the 'Nudge', which, when clicked, will shake the receivers message window. While this can seem cute at the start, it eventually annoys the shit outta you as you start a 'Nudge War'. There is no option to turn off the receival of nudges which leads to patching which a few helpful members of the Internet have decided to release. Bad Feature Number 1.
Bad Feature Number 2 is the inclusion of little Flash animated 'Winks' which are supposed to be the next step up from generic emoticons. These are large and very annoying. Although you have the choice whether you wish to accept them or not, they are intrusive and cannot be stopped once started.
Bad Feature Number 3 would have to be the consistent push to get the user to purchase stuff such as Emoticons, Display pictures and Background Images. These are littered everywhere: in the emoticon window, the menus on the main Messenger window and elsewhere. Frankly, this is a pathetic move for the so called 'free' program. It's very easy to be deceived by the advertisements, as they usually say something like "Click here for more emoticons" which sends you to a purchase page. Frankly, if you're stupid enough to buy emoticons, then you'll love MSN Messenger 7.
2. The Ads - And you thought previous versions were bad: you ain't seen nothing yet. The amount of ads in MSN Messenger 7 is mind boggling: be it the overfilled side tabs, the large bar at the bottom, and even small ads in the actual conversation themselves, there is nearly no escape for the montage of pathetic advertisements. Once again, the helpful, unofficial (thank goodness) patches help to alliviate this problem. However, on this point, I must express my outrage at these rather intrusive and annoying advertisements. Microsoft, the grand debonair of all things computer related, have converted MSN, like all Microsoft products, into a commercialised, useless shell of a program. With all the ads, it almost seems like the product now has to be registered so that the ads will disappear like some shareware program! Not happy!
3. Annoying Idiots that use it - With the 'appeal' of a fresh faced MSN Messenger as well as new dynamic features, the entire mass of a bloated population has jumped on the bandwagon and downloaded the new program with no idea about how bad it really is. Since a lot of people who use MSN Messenger prefer to ignore any sort of fiddling and/or fixing, most remain ignorant to the absolute idiocy that has gone into the creation of this program. What really ticks me off is people who advertise the program as is: that is without any patches and/or fixes. This is unacceptable. People who spam its crappy features should be jailed for life. It's utterly pathetic and pointless, especially by those who've no idea what the hell a monitor is let alone know how to fix a program.
My version of MSN Messenger 7 has had applied to it copious amounts of patches to get it running at an acceptable level. Microsoft's changes to the software show just how uncaring it is to the general public who don't know better. This program accentuates Microsofts greedy stranglehold on the 'user friendly' aspect of the world, a stranglehold that should not, in any circumstances, be there at all.
I might incorporate a section similar to this in my website on stuff that annoys the living hell out of me.
This week we take a look at MSN Messenger 7 BETA, the long awaited next version of the popular MSN program. Now, I have the beta, which is freely availiable on the Internet, and after extensive use of the latest Beta (which is version 7.0.0425 no less) as well as previous versions, I've come to the conclusion that the program is, to put it very simply, absolute crap.
Now how did I ever come to this conclusion about ol' faithful MSN? Let's go through it then:
1. Addition of 'Features' - The program has been upgraded with a new GUI as well as a bunch of added features. The GUI is nice, so no worries there. However, let's turn to the new features. First off, we have the 'Nudge', which, when clicked, will shake the receivers message window. While this can seem cute at the start, it eventually annoys the shit outta you as you start a 'Nudge War'. There is no option to turn off the receival of nudges which leads to patching which a few helpful members of the Internet have decided to release. Bad Feature Number 1.
Bad Feature Number 2 is the inclusion of little Flash animated 'Winks' which are supposed to be the next step up from generic emoticons. These are large and very annoying. Although you have the choice whether you wish to accept them or not, they are intrusive and cannot be stopped once started.
Bad Feature Number 3 would have to be the consistent push to get the user to purchase stuff such as Emoticons, Display pictures and Background Images. These are littered everywhere: in the emoticon window, the menus on the main Messenger window and elsewhere. Frankly, this is a pathetic move for the so called 'free' program. It's very easy to be deceived by the advertisements, as they usually say something like "Click here for more emoticons" which sends you to a purchase page. Frankly, if you're stupid enough to buy emoticons, then you'll love MSN Messenger 7.
2. The Ads - And you thought previous versions were bad: you ain't seen nothing yet. The amount of ads in MSN Messenger 7 is mind boggling: be it the overfilled side tabs, the large bar at the bottom, and even small ads in the actual conversation themselves, there is nearly no escape for the montage of pathetic advertisements. Once again, the helpful, unofficial (thank goodness) patches help to alliviate this problem. However, on this point, I must express my outrage at these rather intrusive and annoying advertisements. Microsoft, the grand debonair of all things computer related, have converted MSN, like all Microsoft products, into a commercialised, useless shell of a program. With all the ads, it almost seems like the product now has to be registered so that the ads will disappear like some shareware program! Not happy!
3. Annoying Idiots that use it - With the 'appeal' of a fresh faced MSN Messenger as well as new dynamic features, the entire mass of a bloated population has jumped on the bandwagon and downloaded the new program with no idea about how bad it really is. Since a lot of people who use MSN Messenger prefer to ignore any sort of fiddling and/or fixing, most remain ignorant to the absolute idiocy that has gone into the creation of this program. What really ticks me off is people who advertise the program as is: that is without any patches and/or fixes. This is unacceptable. People who spam its crappy features should be jailed for life. It's utterly pathetic and pointless, especially by those who've no idea what the hell a monitor is let alone know how to fix a program.
My version of MSN Messenger 7 has had applied to it copious amounts of patches to get it running at an acceptable level. Microsoft's changes to the software show just how uncaring it is to the general public who don't know better. This program accentuates Microsofts greedy stranglehold on the 'user friendly' aspect of the world, a stranglehold that should not, in any circumstances, be there at all.
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