Filed under: Software, Bugs/Recalls, Internet Tools, Software Update, Universal Binary
Messenger for Mac sign-in problems
Looks like Microsoft's recent upgrading of Messenger for Mac to version 6 didn't go down as smoothly as they would have liked. Microsoft's own Messenger newsgroup is just one of the places buzzing with people having problems logging in.
I found this out while struggling through this jungle of versions myself. Going from 5.1.1 to 6.0.0 locked me out of the service, with only a typically vague error message to guide me. To make matters worse, I was able to log in to the fancy new Windows Live Messenger on PC. Trashing my preferences and going back to previous versions did nothing, and Google wasn't much more helpful. That was around the time I stumbled on to the newsgroup.
In the end, my solution was simple enough - I changed my admittedly weak Passport password to something a little more robust and, voila, I was in.
Are any of you having similar problems? Let me know in the comments if so and what workarounds you've found.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Michael Rogers said 8:54PM on 10-03-2006
No problems here.
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dino said 9:30PM on 10-03-2006
Haven't had any problems myself.
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spil said 9:32PM on 10-03-2006
Does every one use this or something? I have never met anyone with a MSN messenger account, but have heard it is the world's largest instant messaging service.
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josh said 9:34PM on 10-03-2006
yes! been having lots of trouble getting this to work on my girlfriends macbook. tried re-installing a couple of times, but to no avail. works fine on my G5 imac tho... change password you reckon?
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Ryan said 9:40PM on 10-03-2006
spil - everyone in New Zealand uses MSN. I dont think many people outside of the US use AIM, and yahoo just isn't popular here.
Ive heard its the same in europe too. I could use adium, but i dont really see the point as 100% of the people i know who use IM use MSN.
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spil said 9:46PM on 10-03-2006
Thanks, Ryan!
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hesse said 9:51PM on 10-03-2006
use adium.
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Mark said 9:55PM on 10-03-2006
Everyone in Canada uses MSN too. I say it's a scourge on the Internet. I'm forced to use it and hate every moment of it. Luckily I can use Adium, it's not nearly as obnoxious.
I think I really hate it because they've been so lax on upgrades. The last two "major" updates have been completely minor. All the while Ros, head of the MS Mac group practically touts it as the largest accomplishment since Windows XP.
Brutal.
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Jon said 10:15PM on 10-03-2006
I think people use it because it's bundled with Windows and they don't want to look for an alternative. This then ties other users to it because most of the people they know use it.
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Rob said 10:20PM on 10-03-2006
If I leave mine connected for too long it logs me off from some strange reason.. I think I'm gonna get rid of it and go back to using adium
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Ed said 10:37PM on 10-03-2006
Ryan: you're right, MSN is by far the most popular IM in the UK and the rest of Europe. I've never met anyone in the UK who uses another IM network actually...
The thing about IM and social networking tools is they're viral - you get what your friend has (for obvious reasons).
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Faisal said 10:59PM on 10-03-2006
yes been having lots of trouble.. but whene i creat a new account on my computer it works with no troubles in the new account.. but with old one same problem keep siningin without error msg. or stop
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Dan said 11:53PM on 10-03-2006
Have you tried Meebo? It's a really nifty multi-client web-based IM service. Access to all of your messaging services from any web browser. (At least, any modern browser, including Safari!)
And the Meebo Me widget is very cool as well. You can put it on your blog/web site and people can message you directly from the site. People who never message me pop up periodically and talk to me when they're visiting our family blog.
No affiliation with Meebo - I just really like it.
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Andres said 12:49AM on 10-04-2006
# 3. Dude, where do you live?
98% of the people I know uses MSN Messenger. It is IT. Too bad IT sucks.
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Lee said 2:17AM on 10-04-2006
I changed my password but MSN still doesn't let me in. A non hotmail account just doesn't fit in the whole Live concept I guess. Meebo gets teh job done.
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Kyle Nilson said 4:14AM on 10-04-2006
MSN is work critical for me. While some of the features in 6 are nice, none of them apply for the particular SIP corporate server I'm on, as they keep it "barebones".
If you're a corporate user, you don't seem to have a big reason to upgrade.
Oh... Adium doesn't support corporate MSN encryption. (If it does, PLEASE correct me)
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Sean said 5:21AM on 10-04-2006
No problems here on my PB G4.
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Dominic Yates said 5:28AM on 10-04-2006
I use AIM/.Mac for all my cool friends and those who are not cool I talk to on MSN using Jabber within iChat
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Melvin said 10:14AM on 10-04-2006
This sucks!! I have had problems non stop since upgrading. I have to constatly cycle between two accounts to login. File Transfer is horribly slow when it actually works. Strange, if I can't login with the account on MSN it won't login on Adium either for some time. I hope they fix it ASAP.
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mikeWhyment said 10:17AM on 10-04-2006
It keeps crashing every 2 mins. on my PB G4
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