Display picture

[Guest]

Hi... i want to know... if i just came online, why do some people on my list
that are already online (either 'away', 'busy', etc) have their display
picture shown, while some people on my online list is just that 'green msn
person'?

Thanks!!

 

[Kristan Kenney]

MSN Messenger caches your contacts display pictures, so sometimes when you
sign in you may see an online contacts old (or new) display picture.

 

[Guest]

But i don't understand why MSN would selectively show some people's display
picture and some would just be the 'green msn person'?
What does it mean if a person's display picture is not shown and just
appears as the 'green msn person' on my online list (unless i open their
conversation window and start talking to them)?

Thanks!

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings,

Messenger loads display pictures "on demand". As such, if you open someone's conversation
window, it will grab the display picture. If they sign out and back in (thereby creating a
toast/alert), Messenger will grab the display picture. If you look at someone's contact
card, Messenger will grab the display picture.

But, if you've just logged in it does not grab the display pictures of everyone signed in
(obviously due to the bandwidth issues involved) -- it simply uses the cached versions of the
display pictures (where available) as Kristan has already mentioned.

So to answer your question directly, the "green man" simply means that either they don't have
a display picture or your client hasn't grabbed it yet and there is no cached version
available on your PC.

--
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger/MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2006 Jonathan Kay.
You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.

 

[Guest]

Thank-you Jonathan.
In response to your " But, if you've just logged in it does not grab the
display pictures of everyone signed in (obviously due to the bandwidth issues
involved) -- it simply uses the cached versions of the display pictures"....
well, i was in 'appear offline' mode, and during that time, someone signed-in
and they appear with the 'green man' and not their display picture (i'm sure
they'll use a display plcture). So, is the situation the same when someone
signed-in AFTER i signed-in (even though i'm in 'appear offline' mode)?

So to clarify... whether i'm in 'appear offline' or in online mode, if/when
the person that signs-in put up a display picture that is different from the
one that i saw the last time i opened up their conversation window/contact
card, then my pc would not have cached that new display picture (therefore,
they appear with the 'green-man'), right? (in other words, the 'green man'
only occur among those people that put up a new display picture?)

One more thing... when you said "your client hasn't grabbed it yet and there
is no cached version available on your PC." How does that person 'grab'
their display picture? When that person chooses to put up a new display
picture, does that not equal 'grab'?

Sorry for asking many questions, and...thanks again!