Messenger Roadmap?

[Trevor Miller]

As an IT Manager wanting to do some future planning does anyone have a
roadmap forward out of the current messenger mess? MSN vs Windows etc? It
seems to me that different development groups are using the messenger core
and the versions must have gotten out of synch. or something.

-trevor

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings Trevor,

There's no public roadmap, if that's what you're looking for. However, both Windows
Messenger and MSN Messenger (which are different product groups) are slated to have new
versions in the future. At the moment Windows Messenger is about 1 version beyond (in
numbers anyway) MSN Messenger, but keep in mind that they are not "clones", each client has a
specific purpose for its target market.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

 

[Picsou]

As an IT manager, you should go for Lotus Notes + SameTime.
Forget about Microsoft : they are way behind when it comes to this stuff.
Some examples :
Outlook and Outlook Express
Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger
They always play on two horses, making it too difficult for the user to make
his choice.
Let them have their internal fights, they enjoy it.
Do not become the victime of these fights, let them be.

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Hi,

I can't say I really agree with your example here, Notes and SameTime are geared toward the
corporate market, there is no "consumer version" as there is with the Microsoft products you
have listed below.

You cannot use Outlook Express to connect to your Exchange server, nor can you use MSN
Messenger to connect to your Live Communication Server, so I'm not really sure how they're
making it more difficult?
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

 

[Trevor Miller]

The problem with the corporate versus consumer approach is that the line
between them is no longer solid. I have corporate people needing to message
with externals and home users VPNing into the network. Different services
with their own restrictions make sense as does ad based versus corporate
licensing but when you have 2 products which overlap so much and are not
mutually exclusive you begin to confuse the heck out of people.

What we should have is a program, let's say "Microsoft Messenger" which is a
simple messaging shell. Into that you install snapins for MSN / SIP / RVP
etc. Corporate installs should be modifiable with GPO which allows admins
to lock down which services could run and maybe a bit of look and feel.

As for Outlook and Outlook Express - those have confused users for years -
gave up on MS changing that along time ago.

-trevor