Design Evolved Community Forum

APRIL FOOLS! - APRIL FOOLS! - APRIL FOOLS! - APRIL FOOLS! - APRIL FOOLS!

Well there we go boys and girls we finally have a reason for the delay in the next build of Windows Live Messenger 9.0. Microsoft has been working on a new feature which will change things drastically in the skinning world. Just a couple of minutes ago I received an email from the Windows Live Messenger team which has invited me to test the upcoming Windows Live Messenger 9.0 beta version which will feature none other than skins.

Ill share these details now since they didn't say that I couldn't post this but I'm sure they'll catch on soon enough and I will have to remove this post. So listen up!

Microsoft has been watching skins closely for quite some time now, in fact they started observing my stuff when I released the first version of Ev0 (yeah its freaky people at Microsoft actually tried something that breaks their own EULA..... irony).

Anyway after seeing Messenger Plus! 4.50 launch they saw how much interest there was in skinning and decided to try and implement an official system. At this point their system is apparently working and a new version of WLM 9.0 beta will be offered to butterflies within the next 2 weeks.

But don't think it is good news now, because there is more to this than meets the eye. Whilst official skins may be coming they come at a cost. Yes a cost. Microsoft will be implementing the same system they used for Winks and Dynamic Display Pictures where only developers who pay the license fee for the digital signature will be able to create skins.

So could this mean skinners could implement flash content into their skins? Quite possibly. But sadly this means the average person will not be able to make skins (apparently I will be able to get my hands on a license though because of my history with skins).

Furthermore new "Premium skins" will also be introduced for paying customers which will feature a Windows Live Messenger without ad's.

Yep thats right Microsoft has been keeping tabs on how people remove ads and have come to the conclusion that people want a client without ad's. So they have come up with this new premium Messenger system to allow this (but hey we will get around that too huh )

So how does this affect Plus! Skinning? From what I have been told, the next Windows Live Messenger 9.0 is built from the ground up so all the techniques I know will be obsolete which could possibly impact the current skins dramatically.

Anyway I will be talking with Microsoft later today with regards to me trying out this new system. All I can say is they better have Aero implemented.

Stay tuned for more developments.

Willz.
Edit by dotLou: added joke alert to top and bottom.

APRIL FOOLS! - APRIL FOOLS! - APRIL FOOLS! - APRIL FOOLS! - APRIL FOOLS!

Wow, this is brilliant news... Shame about the paying tho, I hope they're not too expensive or there's some decent free ones about. Or Plus! skinning will continue

I'll always stick to WLM, but paying for it is another issue. I sort of kind of understand a small fee for a skin for them to get revenue for the continued support and development of messenger and the like, but if yahoo remains free, though it sucks, and WLM starts to try to charge for all winks, emoticons, skins, etc, I think that is a bad move. I think they should look at how you and MPL have started this skin movement and added it as the feature that is easy to adopt, if you start making people pay to create a skin for it, you'll drive more away then bring them on. Also tell them to make WLM work even better with yahoo and start working with AIM, ICQ, though I hear they are trying. Hope to hear more about what you learn with them...

so patchou's skinning engine will disappear??? my good this are big news... I can't even breath...

At least we know that the Messenger team is still working...

Too bad...$$ is what the world is about...

And I don't want to learn how to skin all over again with Smile a Mile...

this sucks. by the way jose how did you get the status icon to show in your nickname like that?

I use the following script with plus to create the image you see, including the status icon next to my name: http://www.msghelp.net/showthread.php?tid=82049

oh i see, well it would be cool if you could do this with skinning though.

April fools kids.

yes we know it was an april fools joke however it seems to have got us all thinking about the possibility of it happening one day, that day may be distant but who is to say it will never come?