aMSN

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aMSN

aMSN 0.97 running under Ubuntu
Developed by	aMSN Development Team
Latest release	0.97 / December 25, 2007 (2007-12-25); 172 days ago
OS	Multi-platform
Genre	Instant Messaging client
License	GPL
Website	www.amsn-project.net

aMSN is a Windows Live Messenger clone licensed under the GPL. Its main objective is to assist users who are new to the GNU/Linux operating system keep in contact with those who use the Microsoft program which is available only on Windows and Macintosh. To achieve this objective, aMSN attempts to emulate the look and feel of Windows Live Messenger, and supports many of its features.

aMSN has features not present in Windows Live Messenger. Users can set alarms, are able to see others who have removed them from their contact list, and are able to open many profiles at once. It is also very customizable, with extensions and themes available at the main site. aMSN also allows functions not available in Microsoft Messenger for Mac (the Macintosh counterpart of Windows Live Messenger), such as webcam support, and the "nudge" feature.

aMSN is available for any system that supports Tcl/Tk 8.4 or higher. This includes Microsoft Windows, Macintosh and any UNIX variant including Linux.

Since SVN version 20070216, the default user interface has been changed to reflect more of Windows Live Messenger. This includes graphics, sounds and some icons.

1 History
2 Features
3 Criticism
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

aMSN was based on a previous software named Compu's Messenger (ccmsn), released on September 21st, 2001 by Dave Mifsud. Features in this application were quite limited and development seemed to be stopped. Alvaro Iradier made a fork of the development with his own version, aMSN (Alvaro's Messenger). Didimo E. Grimaldo joined the project, and first version of aMSN was released on May 22nd, 2002 on Sourceforge.

More developers joined the project, like Philippe G. Khalaf and later Youness Alaoui. Today the project keeps going thanks to the effort and help of an increasing number of developers, translators, and designers.

[edit] Features

Official Client Features:

Support for the MSN Protocol 15 (development release only)
Personal messages
"What I'm listening to" personal messages (from a third-party plugin; includes support for music programs like Amarok or XMMS in Linux)
Contact list and display name retrieval from Microsoft servers
Offline messaging (fully functional in development release)
Logging in under any status
File transfers, sending and receiving
Replication of Windows Live Messenger's look and feel
Nudges (included as a plugin where you may adjust various options)
Winks (from a third party plugin)
Sending and receiving of voice clips (full voice conversation being worked on)
Webcam send and receive
Display pictures, including a manager that saves old display pictures like the one in the official client
The setup options of the original program are almost completely replicated.
Chat logging
Support for email checking. A plugin allowing the program to check non-hotmail POP3 addresses is also available.
Complete emoticon support, including custom emoticons
Group conversations

Extra, non-MSN Features:

Custom statuses that can include auto-messages for when user is away
Skins
Tabbed chat windows
Games that can be played between two aMSN clients (from a plugin)
Plugins offer various other features as well
Shows when contacts don't have you on their list

[edit] Criticism

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aMSN appears a little more dated than some other messenger software. The software depends on the Tk graphics toolkit, which does not have the same refinements as other more modern toolkits like Gtk+ or Qt.

The developers defend themselves by saying that the whole interface is fully customizable, allowing users to download themes that modify the appearance of the program. The most recent release of aMSN (0.97) contained a revamped skin.

Also, the most used windows (the contact list and chat windows) all use custom widgets and canvases which don't make use of the Tk widgets. But the (lack of) look & feel of the Tk toolkit can still be seen in other windows, like the preferences or "Add contact" windows (for example). However, customization does not necessarily mean beauty and some disparity remains over the interface.