Basically a RANT. I come up home from school. First thing I do? Throw all my stuff on my bed, glass of water, and then homework. Being a citizen of a world that's almost moving at the speed of life, our life pretty much DEPENDS on electronic devices to keep in touch. But as the world revolves, everyong starts to evolve and start making things more convenient for everyday life.

You could argue that technology has made our lives less sociable (but that I mean, "what happened to the good old days where we just called eachother up or walked to eachother's houses?") and MORE complicated. And yes, I would have to agree. Inventors and engineers, people in GENERAL who work on electronics are getting mistaking that just because this new product has new FEATURES, it does NOT mean the product is convenient nor easier to use.

What I'm getting at is, in the evenings when I need help with homework. What do I turn to? My messenger, specifically Live Messenger. Yes, I've already upgraded it from Msn to Live, and the change was definately HORRID. But I've learned to live with it for a couple of year now and it's been loyal.

I get home to find a message that I MUST install the new messenger and I cannot login! RIDICULOUS!!! I am FORCED to change from something that worked PERFECTLY for me, and did it's job for no more or no less. I refuse to have someone DICTATE what I want. I downloaded and KEPT this for a reason.

I have tried the new messenger but vista just REFUSES to cooperate and I had to system RESTORE my computer to get the old messenger back.

Quote from their article, "To ensure that we are protecting customers, those who do not administer the upgrade will not be able to sign in to Messenger after this time."

What exactly are you protecting us from? Viruses? Predators? What makes YOUR poduct so safe that you must FORCE use NOT to sign in. Do you think just because you've updated you product that these people won't find a way to harm our computers?

You've also added unecessry "features" to this new messenger. Features that we DO NOT need. If people need them, well go get a different program. A messenger should do what a messenger does.
• Personalization. Add a profile picture or video, display a personal scene in the chat window, update the status message with your news, add a favorite link, or add what song you’re listening to.
• Integration of “What’s New” feed. With the “What’s New” feed in Messenger, you can stay in touch with the latest updates from your circle of friends at a glance, without any need to log in across multiple destinations.
• Photo sharing. Photo sharing lets you share and comment on pictures while you’re chatting.
• Favorites. Identify your most important contacts and they will appear at the top of your Messenger window, for easy access. It’s like speed dial for your Messenger contacts.
• Groups. Create groups on the fly and chat simultaneously with up to 20 members at the same time.

Do we REALLY need these things? Seriously...