From neowin.net:

Sources close to Neowin have confirmed an earlier rumour that the public preview of MSN Messenger 6 beta is due this thursday.

Over the past month we've been going a little Messenger 6 mad, originally we first posted exclusive screenshots of the upcoming client, launched our very own MSN Messenger 6 tab and since then various versions of MSN Messenger 6 have found their way onto the internet.

This thursday everyone will have the chance to officially download and use MSN Messenger 6. Although we're unsure of what the build number will be or whether games will be turned on for all countries outside of the USA, we've been informed that we will see a public preview on thursday.

Here's to thursday

Hi there Guys

Here is a couple of links...

Site: http://www.msnmessenger-download.com...w/default.aspx

Direct Download Link : http://g.msn.com/7MEEN_US/PREVIEW/EN/SETUP.EXE

Enjoy

Today sees the release of MSN Messenger 6.0 Beta to Public Preview. For over a month the beta has been trialled both externally (non-officially) and internally (officially) and has knocked up 2 million downloads according to a leaked Microsoft memo.

With the wide spread release of MSN Messenger 6 Beta and the already popular uptake it looks as though Messenger 6 is set to rocket to the top to be the number 1 Instant Messaging client.

If you haven't had the chance to try the new client then here's your chance, the build number is 268 making it slightly updated than the leaked builds (250, 256 and 263).

If you're interested in customising your MSN Messenger 6 then head over to Mess.be or ilovemessenger.com where an arrangement of custom emoticons, backgrounds and various downloads can be obtained.

Stayed tuned to Neowin for more coverage on MSN Messenger 6 and it's product lifecycle as well as MSN Explorer 9, coming

Download MSN Messenger 6 Beta Build 268 - Windows XP:http://g.msn.com/7MEEN_US/PREVIEW/EN/SETUPDL.EXE
Download MSN Messenger 6 Beta Build 268 - Windows 2000 :http://g.msn.com/7MEEN_US/PREVIEW/EN/SETUPNT.EXE
Download MSN Messenger 6 Beta Build 268 - Windows 98 :http://g.msn.com/7MEEN_US/PREVIEW/EN/SETUP9X.EXE
Neowin's Messenger 6 screenshots:

Thank You Alpine

Just a note there is Posts already made about this topic.

Thank You - Merging Topics.... ;)

Thanks for the info.

Hi Guys,

After the upgrade to build 268 I get this when I try to sign into it:

"We were unable to sign you in to .NET Messenger Service, possibly because of a problem with the service or with your Internet connection. Please make sure that you are connected to the Internet"

It was working fine with bld 250, and the Windows Messenger client works fine. I'm not running through a proxy (and I am connected to the Internet ;)). Anyone else get this error? Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks,
E3

Hi E3

I had that problem with the Beta before, but corrected itself the next day. Must have been a connection problem between me and the server. I have no problems with the new version. It works 100% so far.

Good Luck though

Well figure this one out... I was getting that error when I didn't have Zone Alarm running. I turn ZA on and Messenger connects without the error!?!?!... :blink: :rolleyes:

thanx for da nfo all

hope I dont get any error messages :lol:

Hi

With reference to the 'official' M$ MSN Messenger v6.0 Public Preview; I downloaded and installed this and it seems to be working fine but can anyone please confirm that the online games "don't" yet work in this public preview?

I have tried this on three pc's and when I click on "Play a game", I get something like, 'not available'.

Regards

Brave01Heart

The play game is working on that version ;)

I just install it today :lol:

Hi Bads

Well that's unusual and I don't know why it's not working here?

What setup did you download and install?

I downloaded SETUP from a link I saw on one of the sites I visit and that file was 7.91MB in size.

Then yesterday, I saw a link to the official Microsoft download and that file was called "SetupDl" and it is 4.65MB in size.

I don't know why they are different in size but the File/Product version is 4.71.1015.0 and the version in HELP/About MSN Messenger is v6.0 (6.0.0268).

Anyone else find that the "Play a game" does not work for them or is it just me?

Regards

Brave01Heart

Hello

I think the game play only works for certain countries. I know there is a "hack/patch" you need to do to get it to work. Use this website http://web.wanadoo.be/msn6/ and click "Patch for games".

You will need to overwrite this file in C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Microsoft\MSN Messenger\YOUR_MSN_E-MAIL_ADDRESS\ConfigCache.Xml .

You can manually edit the file aswell, but the patch should do the trick.

Good Luck

Hi

With reference to the patch for playing online games; the games are set for users with a US .net passport but for other users across the world, you can simply edit the file configcache.xml:

X:\Documents and Settings\<Your username>\Application Data\Microsoft\MSN Messenger\<your email>\configcache.xml

(BTW - with reference to <your email> above, I don't know about in the US but in UK this is shown as a long list of numbers, just open it and you'll see the configcache.xml)

Open the configcache.xml with notepad and look for this line:

http://appdirectory.messenger.msn-in...y.aspx?L=en-??

(?? denotes your two letter country country code)

Simply change the "??" to, for example "uk" and save the changes, then launch messenger again and choose a buddy and click on the launch site.

One other thing to note; at the top of the configcache.xml, you'll notice an expiry date, just change to something greater than "2" and save it.

Hope this helps

Brave01Heart

@ Brave01Heart

I have update a beta version with this one :

official Microsoft download and that file was called "SetupDl"

has anyone else had this prob with MSN 6 preview, 'start webcam' works, when you make and recieve a connection but 'start video conference' doesnt!!
does the conference option use a different port?

im usin a router with firewall disabled, on the router and windows, UPnP is enabled

MSN 6 beta video conference worked ok, but for some reason preview refuses to work for me, it waorks for other people not usin a router

completely confused as to why it wont work, anyone wanna try and help me out?

any and all help appreciated, TIA