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Waffle House · Mar 4, 2003, 01:58 PM

At mactopia today they posted a tour of the new MSN for mac. Also there are desktop downloads and icons to down load.

OptimusG4 · Mar 4, 2003, 02:13 PM

Interesting. Wonder if its better than AOHell?

gorickey · Mar 4, 2003, 02:18 PM

Where's IE 6?

Vanquish · Mar 4, 2003, 02:25 PM

Would that new messenger be a standalone app?

clebin · Mar 4, 2003, 03:09 PM

I wouldn't have thought that if MSN customers have bough a Mac they would necessarily be looking for - much less need - another layer of user-friendliness on top of an already very user-friendly system.

You don't buy a Mac to run one monolithic app that does everything and hides as much of OS as possible... The MSN/AOL/Mozilla/Netscape approach seems less applicable to the Mac somehow. People naturally expect Apple's Mail, iCal, Address Book and Safari apps to be intuitive and friendly. And more importantly they expect the MacOS to nicely glue together whatever apps, Apple or not, they happen to be running. Which covers all the plus points of all-in-one apps (including MSN)

But if you're not against the concept itself, it seems like they've done a better job of it than anyone else has managed to. It's all a matter of taste.....

Chris

ps. Is this open to non-MSN subscribers like the Windows version?

And is that standard Quartz anti-aliasing (I don't use the 'best for LCD' setting on my laptop) or some kind of WinXP import? Seems to have a lot of rainbowing going on.

Graham UK · Mar 4, 2003, 06:20 PM

I've been very disappointed by the lack of coverage about MSN for OSX. Everyone moans about how bad Microsoft's browsing experience has been on OSX so far... so why aren't people asking whether MSN will employ a new faster rendering engine with more features (CSS, SMIL, etc)? In short, is this IE6 and if so will it make it as a future standalone release for the Mac?

The silence on the issue so far makes me believe either: (1) This is nothing but IE5.2 with added-on revenue generating features for MS, or (2) This is something that's going to be so great they've had to keep it secret.

Safari is great, but it would be nice to see Microsoft come up with something great... if only for competition's sake.

Superchicken · Mar 4, 2003, 07:39 PM

Hmm... the tour makes me almost wanna use this thing... but I suspect when I'm spending more time in OS X.... I'll most likely be happy with Safari, Mail, iCal, Adress Book, iChat, and some MSN client.

gorickey · Mar 4, 2003, 08:12 PM

Originally posted by Superchic[k]en:
Hmm... the tour makes me almost wanna use this thing...

I am still waiting for the "*sarcasm*" comment...because surely you are kidding.

daydreamer · Mar 5, 2003, 05:19 AM

Ugh, the bastards even got snow E2 icon set on their website. They know lots of people use that set.

Nathan Adams · Mar 5, 2003, 05:56 AM

Why, if MSN is meant to be for people not so familiar with computers, is the interface soooo non-standard?
Sure - have the drawer, that's adding. But the toolbars are awful. odd sizes, wrong background, text to the right not below. It ultimately is MORE confusing...

daydreamer · Mar 5, 2003, 06:56 AM

That MSN browser is pure Crap, Not even pc peopls use it. All my Pc friends tell me it's crap. There is spyware in it to. It checks were you surf to. Well that's what i heard.

Superchicken · Mar 5, 2003, 07:38 PM

If there's spy ware in it.. wouldn't it make sense for IE to have spy ware too? Or does MSN only expect stupid people to not check for spy ware?

I dono... looks like the interface would be more useful in windows.

On OS X it's kinda redundant to have your list in the same window as the one your'e using to browse... since you probably don't NEED your budy list that often. The so and so says thing in the lil thing at the top is cool I guess... but I like how Adium does it better where it shows their name in the icon. That way it's far less screwy... and doesn't mess up my pallets if i'm working in Fireworks Photoshop or Flash.

Adam Betts · Mar 5, 2003, 10:22 PM

Originally posted by daydreamer:
Ugh, the bastards even got snow E2 icon set on their website. They know lots of people use that set.

Huh? Where is the Icon Download Page? I don't see anything there.

gorickey · Mar 5, 2003, 10:40 PM

Originally posted by Adam Betts:
Huh? Where is the Icon Download Page? I don't see anything there.

Weird, I can confirm I saw this yesterday; however, it's not there this evening. Very odd.

It was under "MSN for OS X Downloads"...

echosphere · Mar 5, 2003, 11:21 PM

It was there, they pulled. I thought, wow, Microsoft got some of their **** together and finally starting to realize that a) there's talent out there other than them and b) they don't always have to buy it (and mess it up). But, sigh, their still the same, ignorant boobs. Oh, well.

ApeInTheShell · Mar 5, 2003, 11:50 PM

There is spyware in IE for Win XP. It shows up everytime my brother loads up a website.
At first we thought it was a service he downloaded but it kept happening.
I would consider the msn service since it can't be as awful as the att service is now.
- poor mac support service if any.
- dialup can go as low as 26400
- frequent changes in billing

TheIceMan · Mar 6, 2003, 12:01 AM

Originally posted by daydreamer:
Ugh, the bastards even got snow E2 icon set on their website. They know lots of people use that set.

Those icons are not Snow E2. I'm using Snow E2 icons right now and those are not it. They look somewhat like it though.

DigitalEl · Mar 6, 2003, 04:20 AM

Originally posted by ApeInTheShell
I would consider the msn service since it can't be as awful as the att service is now.
- poor mac support service if any.
- dialup can go as low as 26400
- frequent changes in billing

Poor Macintosh support... That, I'll give you. They're morons.

Dialup speed has more to do with your local phone company than your ISP. I had this problem in Denver. The phone company explained they're only obligated to ensure you can make voice calls. So-called "dirty lines," which prevent your modem from connecting at a full 56K, are not their problem. Especially since most phone companies would rather sell you their overpriced broadband service.

Frequent changes in billing? Just not true in my experience. I've had AT&T WorldNet service for about three years now and just this month I got notice they're raising my monthly rate, for unlimited connection time, from $14.95 to $16.95. That's the only change or increase since I've been with them.

faragbre967 · Mar 6, 2003, 12:43 PM

MSN for Mac OS X... hehe, it rhymes...
Anyways, I don't think it'll be that good and its MS, but then, if IE looked as good as Safari and ran like IE for Windows, id use it AND recomend it to everyone