Usually, mixing Microsoft’s and OS X’s doesn’t turn out well. Lets take a few examples; iTunes and Safari beautifully on OS X but unfortunately leaves a lot to be desired back on Windows, Microsoft Office runs beautifully averagely on Windows but unfortunately leaves a lot to be desired on OS X. The pattern doesn’t stop there and well… as you’d expect… Windows Live Messenger runs pretty well on Windows (if not a little cluttered) but leaves a lot to be desired on OS X.

First up, heres my advice to you, use iChat if you can.It runs beautifully on the Mac, looks beautiful on the Mac and just fits in. If this really isn’t an option, e.g. if your in a position such as mine where everyone uses Windows Live Messenger, then the solutions are going to be a lil’ bit uglier.

So lets take a look at Microsoft’s Port of Windows Live Messenger to Mac, dubbed Messenger for Mac.

Messenger for Mac

So have a look at that… yeah… now keep that image in your head while you click the link to read on.

Windows Live Messenger

Now look at this one. Remember the last image? See any similarities? Good because I don’t either. Consistency doesn’t seem to be a big deal over at Microsoft, and you can certainly tell that when you compare the two Messengers together. In fact, the only similarity that I can spot in the two versions is the fact that they actually both have a login screen. Now this would be okay if Messenger for Mac looked good, but in my personal opinion, compared to Adium it just doesn’t.

Even the feature list is different in the Mac version, in favor of Windows Live Messenger. In Messenger for Mac, you can send messages to people, send files, use custom emoticons, set your personal message as your currently playing iTunes song and… well that’s about it. Now let’s be all negative and look at what it can’t do-

• Offline Messages
• Handwritten messages
• Screen sharing
• Nudges
• Winks
• Photo backgrounds on current conversation windows
• Games that can be played with another contact
• Some built-in emoticons, including the rabbit emoticon
• Contact details such as Addresses
• Integration with Windows Live Spaces
• Windows Live Today
• Color schemes
• Audio and Video chat for Personal accounts (this will be featured later in the 8.x series)
• Emoticons viewable on messenger nicks

(referenced from Wikipedia.org)

Quite a big list isn’t it? So by now it’s pretty obvious that Messenger for Mac isn’t the best solution for messaging using the MSN network. So lets take a look at the competitors. First up, Mercury.

Mercury Contact List

Mercury Messenger has pretty much got all of the ‘useful’ features of Windows Live Messenger, plus a few other goodies. These include Custom Emoticons, Offline Instant Messaging, Winks, Nudges and Voice Clips, all of which are features that Messenger for Mac doesn’t have. In addition, I think the actual application is not a complete eye sore, excluding the logo, and Mercury also includes multiple skins. Furthermore, Mercury has a few features that you can’t even get on Windows Live Messenger, without installing Msg Plus! Live, such as Tabbed Chatting, Growl Support (lets you view notifications), add-ons, multiple connections at once and even Messenger Plus! Live colours.

The only draw back I can find about Mercury is also an advantage. It is written in Java. This means it has various ports over various operating systems but with the disadvantage of requiring a lot of CPU power and memory in certain situations. Secondly, we come to Adium…

Adium Contact List

Adium is lacking in features on the MSN IM Network, such as webcam, voice messages, custom emoticons etc., but what it does have going for it is that its completely native to Mac, meaning good performance, and its completely customizable. There are hundreds of skins you can use on Adium to make it match the style of your Mac and blend in perfectly, unlike Mercury which has rudimentary skins and Messenger for Mac which you can’t do anything to whatsoever. I’ve noticed a few crashes with Adium, but ultimately these can be overlooked and are sure to be ironed out in future releases.

If you simply cannot live without the fully fledged Windows Live Messenger, you can always use virtualization software (such as Parallels or VMWare Fusion) but I would use this as a last resort as it’s expensive and slows down your workflow because it uses a lot of system resources.

To conclude, choose Mercury if you require features, Adium for speed and appearance and Messenger for Mac if your crazy.