Although I seldom give credits to Microsoft but this one I can’t deny it because I’m an independent honest reviewer. :D
Honestly, Microsoft really screws up in branding. At first, it is called “Windows Messenger” (now still available). Later, it is called MSN Messenger and now it is called “Windows Live Messenger”. What the heck? I think the MSN branding is the most successful branding name. Who the hell people want to call “Windows Live Messenger” instead of MSN? *Sign*
I have been testing Skype, Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger and it turns out that Windows Live Messeger is the best. At first, I thought Skype is the best among these 3 as it used to be an industry leader in VOIP technology but it doesn’t seem so. I tried Yahoo Messenger too and surprisingly it is not as smooth as I expected. At last, Windows Live Messenger is the smoothest in both voice and video. Perhaps you have different experiences?
I recommended to use Windows Live Messenger for video or voice chat. In fact, I'm thinking if I should totally remove Yahoo Messenger since now we can link to Yahoo Messenger's friends from Windows Live Messenger. This probably saves up some of the resources.
You can download Windows Live Messenger here.
[Update: 20 March 2011]
I received a feedback from a reader that video conference is in fact many to one and video call is 1-to-1. So technically speaking, this windows live message only supports video call but not video conference.
P/S: My testing was performed on December 2008 and I have been using Windows Live Messenger for Video Conference call since then and do not encounter any major issues until now.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Best Free Video Conference Call Software – Windows Live Messenger
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7 Comments:
I got a Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000 for Christmas. When I installed it, it hooked me up with Windows Live Messenger. When I try to make a video call, I get the message "We couldn't start your camera device. Please check that your camera is not currently in use by another program and then try again." I have tried numerous HELP advice to no avail. I'm running Windows XP on my Gateway desktop. Can you help?
@dkmccurt
I'm not sure if I can help you on that. Have you confirmed your driver has been installed correctly (e.g. driver conflict)? Perhaps you can contact the MS help center to troubleshoot your problem. Sorry, can't help you much on this.
I had the same problem when I first tried using my Windows Live with my Logitech. Make sure in that the camera is selected and tested under the messenger it's self. To do this go into the messenger and select webcam from the options menu (i think thats the name not sure i'm at not a messenger computer). Once you go through that set up it should work with the messenger.
Wow! this is cool. I was wondering if you could share more of the pictures because I would like to propose the set up to my boss though. The points in this blog is really helpful, especially now that I am working on our website.
What picture you're looking for?
@ChampDog I was browsing for user review for which is the best video conference call software out there and I came across your blog as the first one in the list. But frankly speaking I didnt find a single thing true. Firstly WLM does not have "video conferencing". There is a difference between a "Video conference call" and Just a "Video Call"(Look up the key word CONFERENCE in a dictionary). Yahoo atleast has an audio conference(and in certain way even Video if you use the old way of broadcasting your video). And skype offers both Video and audio conference. WLM IMO has neither and its really the worst in all the three. It offers nothing more then any Web chat service out there. You might either want to change the title of your blog to just Video Call rather then give people a wrong notion that WLM has indeed got conference.
Thanks for your honest feedback. If I get you right, video conference is many to one and video call is 1-to-1? In this case, the windows live message only supported video call but not video conference. Am I right?
Well, this is a good catch. I agree that I've never thought of the differences between video call and video conference. I appreciate your feedback.
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