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http://webmessenger.msn.com

One of the annoying things about using a different computer is that you can't use your Windows Live Messenger to chat.

WebMessenger, run by Microsoft, is a webpage that lets you sign on to, and use, Windows Messenger from any computer.  Once you connect to the system, you can access all your contacts and chat in real time just as you would with your normal chat program at home. 

However, the computer you are using must have Internet Explorer 6 or above, or so it says, yet the software works fine with FireFox (although not with Opera) and you must disable popup blocking.  The only operating system supported, it says, is Microsoft Windows, meaning it will not work with Unix based machines often found in Universities.  However it did work with our Linux machine so it is worth a try (anyway Linux systems have their own chat client that works with MSN).

From the main page, click the blue 'Start MSN Web Messenger'

From the main page, click the blue 'Start MSN Web messenger' button and you will be presented with the familiar sign-in screen that appears as a popup.  Once signed in, the window looks just like your normal chat window and can be resized if you wish.  The window in the picture above was resized to a square window to enable the screenshot to be taken.

In use, the system works just like your chat client at home.  You can send IMs, emails (the system loads Windows Live email for you) and access your address book on the Windows Live server.  It is, in fact, just like using your own machine.

You cannot, however, use audio or webcams, nor can you play games, use the whiteboard or, of course, get at anything stored on your home computer such as backgrounds and similar.  That said, however, the system, when we used it, worked perfectly and connected just as fast, making us forget that we were not at home.

But this is not your home computer and you must take the usual precautions when using any foreign machine and not allow it to remember passwords or login names once you finish.

Provided you remember security, WebMessenger is a very useful service, allowing you to get at your MSN contacts even when away from home or on the other side of the world on holiday.  In today's age of easy and frequent travel this makes it an essential bookmark.

If you have Yahoo Messenger don't despair but look out here for a similar article soon.

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