Mac Mojo: The Office for Mac Team Blog

After a long effort, I am pleased to announce the beta release of Messenger for Mac 8 which supports audio and video calls.    

Have you have ever wanted to do an audio call or a video call from your Mac with a contact on the Windows Live network? Starting today you can! Using your Live ID, Messenger for Mac users can now make AV calls to each other. Messenger for Mac 8 is also the first and only Mac-desktop client that can do calls with Windows Live Messenger 2009. Customers with an account on a corporate network that uses Office Communications Server should continue to use Messenger for Mac 7. The Messenger for Mac 8 Beta is for personal accounts using the Windows Live Network

Why did it take so long?

We have been working hard on this feature for a long time so the answer is not a lack of effort. The honest answer is that AV calls are a lot harder to implement than one would think and after we got things working last year, we had to postpone the release because of significant protocol changes we needed to support in order to stay compatible with the latest version of our Windows Live desktop client.  

Why is this a beta release?

This is a beta release because we are still putting the finishing touches on the full application and some things are not finished yet. However, we are very aware of how patiently you have been waiting for AV support so we decided it was better to get it into your hands now as a beta release than to make you wait even longer.

The official release of Messenger 8 will happen with the next version of Office for Mac – Office for Mac 2011. When Office 2011 is released later this year, beta users will be updated to the finished version.   

Are you still here reading? Head to our downloads page and start making AV calls! We hope you are as excited about this new feature as we are.

Posted by: Keith Vaitkus in Announcements, Messenger

21 Comments

Comments | Who's Blogging This

[Paracazer]

Paracazer

Mar 24, 2010

3:04pm

I'm speechless.

I love you guys.

[Hawkins, Anna]

Anna Hawkins

Jun 08, 2010

10:09am

Useless

I can't even sign in while my old friends Adium and Trillian (and even WLM in Windows) can. (Yes I closed those two apps before open Messenger Mac and I was sure my connection was good and password was correct.)
And there is no option to configure the connection, port, etc.

And since I am not IT guy, I can't even understand while it takes so much effort getting things work for Messenger Mac. WLM video chat for Windows and other rich features has been there for years. And if one says it's different for Mac, why Skype can do?

By the time Messenger Mac has a *working* video chat, I think Skype for Mac will have 3D video chat already.

[rusty_buckle]

rusty_buckle

Jun 10, 2010

3:31pm

Thank-you!

Thanks for your efforts guys! I can hardly wait to see the polished version later this year. Appreciate the release to play with in the mean time

[R-Flow]

R-Flow

Mar 24, 2010

3:04pm

Interface

Good work on bringing A/V support to the Mac platform. However, I'm amazed by the fact the window still uses the same old Panther/Tiger design. Is a modern borderless window design too much to ask for?

[qysh]

qysh

Mar 24, 2010

3:04pm

Nice!

You guys finally pulled through! Just downloaded the beta and video chatting works great, at last the Messenger world of Mac has changed for the good. This is indeed a milestone, and it could only get better when the full version is released. Great job, you made a lot of people happy.

[giancarloromeo]

giancarloromeo

Mar 24, 2010

3:04pm

First impressions...

OMG, it's full of BUGS!
Now, I just come back to 7.0.2 and I'm waiting for a REALLY STABLE release.

[raymondrewalker]

raymondrewalker

Mar 24, 2010

3:04pm

another lame duck beta?

Well, checking the release notes for this "beta" is seems that it's completely useless for us that use Messenger exclusively for office communications (OCS, etc.) I'd say that's a pretty lame duck release if you're ignoring a huge population of your user base!

I also hope you folks figured out how to beta test software, I know my experiences in submitting beta info for the last Entourage BETA was horrible to say the least. I've since switched to Mail.app due to still standing bugs that I reported were either close or simply ignored.

[rolandjyoung]

rolandjyoung

Mar 24, 2010

3:10pm

Thank You

Thank You

[anandman]

anandman

Mar 24, 2010

3:10pm

Corporate/OCS Support?

I realize most users waiting for this were clamoring for consumer-level A/V chat support and will be happy to see this beta, but I was really hoping for better corporate support as well, including LiveMeeting, which we use extensively at my workplace. Unfortunately, LCS/OCS support has taken a backseat in this beta, including disabling all support for it. I'm assuming that's just for the beta and not a general indication of the direction the corporate features are going.

[steelblue]

steelblue

Mar 24, 2010

3:10pm

Disappointed

No other new things?
MPOP? Groups? newer protocol? sending offline message? Nudge??

[jmesaunders]

jmesaunders

Mar 24, 2010

3:11pm

Not enough.

I would like to say finally, but I can't even do viewing/sending webcam .. I have to do a whole video call, which requires me and friends to stop all other people who are viewing our cam, just for a call, if we wanted that .. we would use Skype.

[Jeff2525]

Jeff2525

Mar 24, 2010

3:11pm

Congrats- and 2 questions

Congrats, I honestly wasn't expecting it anytime soon, but am so glad it was finally released. I JUST opened it up and hope that the time spent on this gave us more than just A/V (which is a great feature). Ie, Offline Messages?

The first thing I noticed is it says (Blocked) after my nick name, is this normal because I am appearing offline right now? Shouldn't it say "invisible"? and also I can click on my nick in the main box but it doesn't allow editing (but it looks like it should). Is this normal? I usually use aMSN or Adium so I am not too sure.

[bombil]

bombil

Mar 24, 2010

3:11pm

Re: Announcing the Messenger for Mac 8 beta release

thanks for the joke guys.... now, where's the real Messenger 8 beta??

This thing has so many bugs that admires me that i can even IM someone...

No photos, no sharing files, etc... I thought an update was suppose to improve an older version. I've never seen a Windows Live Messenger update so lame like this one.

Thanks for letting us down one more time...

[sibe]

sibe

Mar 24, 2010

3:11pm

isn't working for me...

Hey guys,
I'm sorry but Video isn't working for me... quite a shame if you ask me.
Maybe it's just me but hopefully you'll be able to fix that till Office2011 arrives. PLEASE make it work properly that time!!
Greetings from Liechtenstein (yes, that's a country;)

[StuartCH]

StuartCH

Jun 08, 2010

10:09am

Why is there no PowerPC version?

Seriously Microsoft, you've just P*ssed me off really badly with this, I've waited 4 years for Messenger for Mac with webcam to come out and then you screw me by making it intel only, why is there such a massive spec bump just to add video functionality, which both AIM and Yahoo! already offer to all Mac users with video functionality. Microsoft if you want to keep customers, you better stop doing stuff like this.

[Naassan, Paul]

Paul Naassan

Jun 08, 2010

10:09am

Re: Announcing the Messenger for Mac 8 beta release

this is really not good.
no display pictures. no file transfers.
so basically if you improve something, you have to take off something that already existed.
audio video is nit a serious update, it's a basic requirement.
updates would be a better interface, offline messages, i mean seriously. offline messages, yahoo had in that 10 years ago.
messenger for mac is really a disgrace. and it's really bad that we mac users dont get a decent client.
we never get any decent update nor any decent program coming from you guys. office doesnt even compare to the windows version.
sadly everyone i know uses messenger, i wish i could use my hotmail account with ichat, it would make my life so much easier. think i'm stuck with you guys. having to use messenger, adium and skype, for basic things that the windows version does without any hassle.

guess, it's thank you for nothing. and it's been two years that i come to this blog.
you're not going to see my buying the next version of office.
disappointed.

[brandscill]

brandscill

Jun 08, 2010

10:09am

cheers guy

I've been forced to go back and use the existing msn because basic features just aren't working, and adding AV support as the only new addition, christ that really does suck

[will_col]

will_col

Jun 08, 2010

10:09am

thank you

gotta hand it to you guys, you said you'd release it in March, and you did! and with working a/v!

hopefully, the full version will have offline messaging and automatically reconnect after the internet disconnects

[jalberto400]

jalberto400

Jun 08, 2010

10:09am

very disappointed

this does not seem an application of the giant of software Microsoft.

[iwod]

iwod

Jun 08, 2010

10:09am

UI Updated needed

I honestly think the whole Messenger for Mac needs to be rewritten from Ground up. Is it using Cocoa? To me it looks like a Mac apps from 90s.

Not to mention the current beta looks like an Alpha status to me.

scotty321

Jun 08, 2010

10:09am

Mac Office Team: Do you think we're idiots? A/V calls are not that much more effort than text calls. Apple nailed it 7 years ago -- in 2003 -- with iChat. You've had it for years for PC users. The truth of the matter is that Microsoft wants to do everything possible to cripple Mac users. Now if you would've said THAT in your blog entry, then we would've believed you. Anyways, hope you enjoy working for a company that is sinking like the Titanic. Can't wait until Microsoft dies completely.