Using with MSN Messenger

The MSN Messenger (also known as Windows Live Messenger and .NET Messenger Service) is an instant messaging service created by Microsoft in 1999. It was the most used IM service in some countries in 2000s, but in 2010s lost its popularity, and in 2017 all servers were shut down.

Nowadays there are a few alternate servers for Windows Live Messenger, allowing to chat using old MSN clients. WebOne Proxy Server can be used to redirect traffic from Messenger application to alternate servers.

Alternate servers

• The most well-done alternate server is Escargot. It is made by a group of developers, and supporting most of MSN Messenger features via almost all versions of client application. The daily contingent of users is near 1000 persons connected. WebOne 0.16.1 and up by default will connect Messenger client applications to Escargot servers.
• Another alternate server is OMessenger. It have less support for client application versions, and is less popular.

WebOne is not affiliated with owners of any of these services in any kind.

How to connect to Escargot

To use Windows Live Messenger application for chat with other people using Escargot server, all is included in WebOne. Just set your WebOne proxy server IP address in Windows Internet Properties control panel. Or set it in MSN Messenger settings window (pre-4.7 versions only).

At moment of write of this article, only a valid e-mail address is required to create a Escargot account. After register you'll get an equivalent of ".NET Passport" in user@escargot.chat username format.

Escargot project supports both original Windows Live Messenger client application and own patched editions. Patched versions are working even without proxy server(s) or any reconfiguration out of box, and original versions are requiring some operations to connect. MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger up to version 4.6 are requiring a registry edit (or a proxy), and unpatched versions 4.7 and up will work only via proxy.

Supported clients

Version	Status	Minimum OS
MSN Messenger 1.0	✔️ Supported.¹ For compatibility, @hotmail.com is equivalent to @escargot.chat. Also you may specify separate password for log-in using MSN 1.0 (due to its insecurityness comparing to 2.0+).	Windows 95
MSN Messenger 2.x	✔️ Supported¹	Windows 95
MSN Messenger 3.x	✔️ Supported¹	Windows 95
MSN Messenger 4.x	✔️ Supported¹	Windows 95
MSN Messenger 4.7	✔️ Supported	Windows 95
Windows Messenger 4.x	✔️ Supported¹	Windows XP
Windows Messenger 4.7	✔️ Supported	Windows XP
Windows Messenger 5.x	✔️ Supported	Windows XP
MSN Messenger 5.x	✔️ Supported	Windows 95
MSN Messenger 6.x	✔️ Supported	Windows 98
MSN Messenger 7.x	✔️ Supported. MSN 7 supports receiving offline messages (OIMs), but can't send them to others.	Windows 98
MSN Messenger 7.5	✔️ Supported	Windows XP³
Windows Live Messenger 8.1	✔️ Supported	Windows XP
Windows Live Messenger 8.5/2008	✔️ Supported	Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista
Windows Live Messenger 2009	✔️ Supported.⁴ Recommended version. 👍	Windows XP SP3 or Windows Vista
Windows Live Messenger 2011	❌ Not yet	Windows Vista SP2 or Windows 7
Windows Live Messenger 2012	❌ Not yet	Windows 7
Messaging	❌ Not yet	Windows 8
Microsoft Skype	❌ Not yet	Windows

1. These versions does not use SSL to log-in. They are working even without WebOne CA root certificate been installed.

2. Messenger versions 4.7 and up requires to be configured to use WebOne Proxy via Windows Internet Properties control panel (MSIE options). Just setting HTTP proxy in Messenger options is not enough due to some bug of the application.

3. MSN Messenger 7.5 can be run under Windows 2000 SP4 by copying C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\ directory from an machine where it's installed.

4. Apps from Windows Live Essentials 2009, such as Photo Gallery, will also successfully log on using Escargot credentials. But none of Internet features, except nice avatar icon at the toolbar, will work. At this moment Escargot does not providing support for photo or video sharing.

5. MSN Messenger for Mac probably would work, but haven't fully tested at this moment.

Half-working applications:

Version	Status
MSN Messenger 2.0 for Mac	✅ It have no option to work via a HTTP proxy. But with a messenger.hotmail.com A 143.198.4.104 HOSTS file for TCP/IP Control Panel (advanced user mode), it's perfectly working with Escargot through a direct connection. Even on MacOS 9.0. 🔗

Applications that don't work:

Version	Status
Pocket MSN (Windows Mobile 5.0)	Not supported by Escargot.
Windows Live Messenger 10.6 [WM5.0]	Not supported by Escargot.

How to connect to OMessenger

This section to be written.

To allow connecting MSN Messenger clients to OMessenger server, remove or clear escargot.conf file in WebOne installation directory or /etc/webone.conf.d/. Then reconfigure using latest manuals for OMessenger.