Windows Messenger gets my official Lame rating

Windows Messenger is now on my list of Lame-Ass applications to be avoided and removed at all costs. At 80mb for the download you would expect it to do a whole hell of a lot more than just send text messages to people. I would hardly call sending photos and playing stupid games on the web to be beneficial to a CHAT client. Hell, it can’t even connect to multiple services at the same time.

Now, check out these features in my new favorite chat application, Digsby. With a 5mb download you get connection to multiple services (I have MSN, Yahoo and ICQ running currently) plus you can check to see if you have new email on multiple services (I currently have Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail). But you can do more than just check them, I can actually check to see who the email is from and delete it if it’s spam (which is a constant chore with Hotmail) without actually opening anything. If I do want to read it, I just click the link and the site opens, ready for me to sign in.

Umm, where the hell is this functionality inside of Windows Messenger? Considering the number of developers it has behind it and the financial backing it has, this is another perfect example of Microsoft just not understanding what the web and email are all about. Write it down, Convenience, Simplicity.

I could download 80mb worth of bloated chat client that won’t let me see my email or chat with people who aren’t part of Hotmail. Or I could download a 5mb client that let’s me chat with people on multiple platforms and check my email from different services as well.

Not to mention the POP/IMAP, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn intregation which isn’t even a glimmer in Windows Messenger’s eye.

And Microsoft thinks they’re going to rule search?! Really? Seriously? How do you expect to do that when you can’t even make a full featured IM client?