[SOLVED] MSN Messanger

[lolypopgirl1862]

I tried to download MSN messenger but it didn't work. How can I get MSN messenger on my computer and be able to use my webcam and mic? I tried the Pidgin Internet Messenger that came with Linux Mint 8 but it doesn't support webcams and mics.

[Katzedecimal]

In Pidgin, under Tools > Plug-ins, there is an option to Configure Voice/Video Settings, for microphone and webcam. However, I haven't yet gotten it to work with MSM, though it works with GoogleTalk and Jabber. I think the good folks at Pidgin are still working on MSM and Yahoo Messenger voice/video compatibility, slow-going since those protocols are closed-source so difficult to write code for.

For MSM, I've found aMSN to work, including webcam. aMSN is available in the MintInstall Software Manager application -- just fire up MintMenu > Software Manager, then in Software Manager, select Internet, then find aMSN. Hope this helps.

[lolypopgirl1862]

In Pidgin, under Tools > Plug-ins, there is an option to Configure Voice/Video Settings, for microphone and webcam. However, I haven't yet gotten it to work with MSM, though it works with GoogleTalk and Jabber. I think the good folks at Pidgin are still working on MSM and Yahoo Messenger voice/video compatibility, slow-going since those protocols are closed-source so difficult to write code for.

For MSM, I've found aMSN to work, including webcam. aMSN is available in the MintInstall Software Manager application -- just fire up MintMenu > Software Manager, then in Software Manager, select Internet, then find aMSN. Hope this helps.

Thank you so much! I'm going to try it right now

[linuxviolin]

You could try Empathy:

Empathy is a messaging program which supports text, voice, and video chat and file transfers over many different protocols. (...) Empathy is the default chat client in current versions of GNOME, making it easier for other GNOME applications to integrate collaboration functionality using Telepathy.

(...)

# Multi-protocol: Google Talk (Jabber/XMPP), MSN, IRC, Salut, AIM, Facebook, Yahoo!, Gadu Gadu, Groupwise, ICQ and QQ. (Supported protocols depend on installed Telepathy Connection Manager components.) Supports all protocols supported by Pidgin.
# File transfer for XMPP, and local networks.
# Voice and video call using SIP, XMPP, Google Talk and MSN.
# For detailed list of supported protocol features see here
.................................

aMSN is ok for/with webcam but without the sound...

[lolypopgirl1862]

Well, I started to use amsn but I was having trouble getting my cam to work so then I tried skype for linux and it worked perfectly. >.< I'd recommend skype over amsn but that's just my opinion.

[Katzedecimal]

@Linuxviolin: Empathy is built on Pidgin's libpurple base and does pretty much only what Pidgin can do and much, much less I've tried it and frankly, it sucks, which is why I pleaded for Pidgin's case in Mint 8. Empathy can't even handle file transfers without crashing and it doesn't handle webcam for MSM or YM, either.

@lolypopgirl1862: I didn't know that Skype handled MSM or other protocols. Thanks, I'll have to try it.

[lolypopgirl1862]

Well, I don't know what you mean to that (I'm new to all this tech stuff) but it has nothing to do with msn other then it is an IM app like MSN and you can webcam and talk to people, like MSN. You can make an account with an MSN e-mail though.

[linuxviolin]

@ Katzedecimal: "it doesn't handle webcam for MSM or YM" Ah? This is not what is said, except for YM... But I have no webcam so I can't test. About file transfer, for now the implementation is for "Link-Local XMPP (People Nearby, Salut, Bonjour)" and Jabber, not again for MSN: "Work in progress." See at http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki/P ... %20Support about "Protocol features supported by Telepathy implementations"

For the record, I copy an excerpt from the release notes of Fedora 12:

Empathy
Empathy replaces Pidgin as the default instant messenger in GNOME. Empathy is better integrated with GNOME and provides audio and video functionality for users of the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP, formerly Jabber) with more improvements planned. Empathy supports importing accounts from Pidgin on first run so you can migrate more easily. If you are upgrading from a previous release, you will continue to have Pidgin by default. Pidgin continues to be available in the repository and is actively maintained.
The major advantages and disadvantages of Empathy are:
Advantages

* Better GNOME integration. Passwords are stored in the keyring instead of plain text like in Pidgin

* Voice chat with GoogleTalk. Voice chat requires extra gstreamer codecs and manual firewall reconfiguration and Pidgin now uses the same framework as well.

* Account migration support from Pidgin has been added to Empathy.

* Support for collaboration with Abiword and other programs

* Geo Location (very recent feature)

Disdvantages

* Missing plugin system, so many of the add-on features available to Pidgin (like encryption) are not available to Empathy

* No proxy support

Yes, Pidgin has more features, plugins but don't forget Empathy is not yet as developed as Pidgin ... and theoretically, it is compatible, with some configuration, with the plugins developed for pidgin such as: DirectNet, Battle.net, Skype4Pidgin or Facebook. We should even be able to use it as a Twitter client via the microblogging plugin of Pidgin or tweet.im

I tested both, although not very intensively for Empathy, and yes, for now, I prefer Pidgin but in the future...

Oh, and about Telepathy, you can read at http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki/

P.S.= About audio and video chat in Pidgin, you can read the section of the FAQ at http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/Using%2 ... camSupport:

Does Pidgin support webcams (video)?

Yes, but only for XMPP/GMail.

Does Pidgin support MSN video chat?

Not currently. It is planned. See below.

Does Pidgin support microphones (voice)?

Yes, but only for XMPP/GMail/GTalk.

(...)

Current information on the status of this progress can be found on the vv and GSoC2008/VoiceAndVideo pages.