James Martin wrote:Windows Messenger on XP is your best bet, I find the Fisher Price interface of MSN 6 annoying also.

Well Search on the net for 6.1 then! You can change all the colours of the contact windows and they go windowless.

MSN 6 is actually better than the older versions. Just try it! And if you want windowless rectangular borders get 6.1 , just search around on the net for it.
There's really nothing wrong with 6.

Flash and shockwave are available in Opera and Mozilla, just click or right click (i forgot) on the place where the animation would be and it should request a download.