Metropol

I've almost given up on Windows Live Messenger (or whatever they're calling it now). When ever I sign on, or when I'm signed in, a regularly get instant messages which are clearly linking to dodgy websites.

Frustratingly, I gave up on any IM technology.

Now I know Skype has been around for a while, but I used to think it was just for video communication. But having downloaded it and trying it out, it's great for IM-ing. Conversations are saved and restored if closed, contact handles can be renamed for easy identification (in my case simple using said-individuals full name) and it has a much cleaner, less cluttered look and feel about it.

Some of my friends have made the jump, but a lot are still faithful to Messenger. So for the next few weeks I will be using both, but hope to phase out Messenger completely in a few weeks.

What IM-ing technology do use, if you use any. And what are your views on Skype?

isn't that more a case of your friends having lax security / passwords rather than a fault with messenger itself?

I kept getting spyware messages from my technically inept mate and as soon as he changed his password they stopped. I suggest you let the people who you get the messages from know about the issue instead.

If you had asked me that question, say, half a year ago, my response would have been "brilliant, I use it for everything".

Since then a number of things have happened that have made me absolutely loathe skype.

The first thing that happened was that my Skype account was cut off without warning. I didn't even realise it had been cut off as I wasn't told so; calls just failed to go through and after a few days of this (yes, I didn't suspect anything because Skype is so unreliable) I finally logged onto their interface to see something saying that "my account is disabled due to suspicious activity" and that I should contact them. (*I* should contact *them*!?)

So, I contacted them and waited about four days before they bothered to reply. I had then entered Skype Customer Service Hell. Skype seemingly go out of their way to employ absolute idiots at the other end. First, they ask me "verification questions" that I can't answer, and they should know I can't answer (they want the last 4 digits of my card number, I pay by paypal). I tell them this, another 4 days go by, I get some new questions. I respond to this, bugger all happens. I send them a message asking them why in God's name my account is not active, they reply with the same questions (oh, and another 4 day gap). I reply saying what's this about and I get a different person who doesn't have a clue what's going on. Oh, no telephone support. Neat, huh, from a fucking telephony company?

Finally my account WAS unblocked but not thanks to the official route, I had to (along with, I notice, quite a few other people) post on their forum about my problem, and wait for some Shatliffe lookalike called Norman Musgrave to deal with matters which to his credit he did. However I was left VERY soured by the experience and had I not been so desperate for a solution and grateful that someone went out of their way to help me I would have given a piece of my mind on their poxy forum about it.

This problem has not reoccured (yet). But a second, more annoying problem has started up. Namely, the problem of contact Spam. Now as any veteran Skype user knows, one must set one's Privacy Settings to "Deny all except from contacts" to avoid being offered hot movies and russian women by IM all the time. However, the spammers have caught onto a new trick, which is simply issuing "Contact Add Requests". Naturally I decline them all, but I don't particularly like having popups endlessly appearing. The way they get my username in the first place is seemingly through the Skype Directory, from which there is no way to delist oneself. Consequently I keep Skype closed at all times unless I actually need it.

My impression of Skype is that they don't care about their customers (and I should like to point out I am a PAYING customer of Skype, not one of those people who just calls other computers). As long as that's the case I think I'll stick with services that actually work. But maybe I've just had a bad experience.

Changing your Skype display name to Skype Test Call is a fun game to play.

Yes also having used it for over a year I find Skype much worse than MSN for spam. Skype really comes into it's own when it comes to group chats and audio/visual conversation whilst MSN is still much better for straght forward IMing.

Very interesting points. It's a problem having morons who give out their passwords on my friends list.

Is there an option on Messenger where you can rename people with their actual name, rather than ~~~~(L)(*) ///@@@ etc etc.

there is a label contacts by first and last name option in the latest version. for manual renaming you need MSN Plus type things.