Windows Live Messenger 2011

[Shaz54]

I've installed the new 2011 Messenger and it's missing the handwriting feature and I'm so annoyed it's been dropped.

Is there any way to install this, or something else that works as an add-on please?

 

[Capt.Jack Sparrow]

Hello and Welcome !

Most of them are pissed of because that feature has remove. Here is a response from on of the MSFT Alton

The Ink feature was fun and unique to Messenger. It was a difficult decision but we had to remove the feature in wave 4 for the following reasons:

- After some major layout refactoring work in the product a number of bugs were introduced to Ink that would have been costly to fix. It was simply time we couldn't afford.

- Though the feature was fun to try out, usage data shows Ink was not highly used. It was understanble because the feature didn't really accomplish any scenario very well. Writing words with the feature was difficult and doesn't produce polished results (words always come out as barely readable scrawls). The canvas is also too small to make drawings that are truly expressive or interesting to look at (or really looked like anything). There were scenarios that we thought would have been interesting, like enabling doddling on shared photos (mustache on faces) etc, but as a team we decided that Ink was not an investment area for this wave.


I think Ink has tremendous potential, especially when combined with touch interfaces. We'll definitely be working hard to look at re-enabling the Ink scenarios in the next wave. If you were using Ink in wave 3 for specific scenarios and found it useful, please tell us what those scenarios are, and also ways you think it can be improved.

Alton

Here is a workaround he suggested :

One workaround suggestion - You can draw in OneNote (or Paint), use the Windows snipping tool to capture the picture and then paste it into the IM area. The drawing can then be shared using the Photo Sharing feature. Many extra steps I know, but you'll also be able to do a richer drawing.

Thank you to everyone for providing this feedback. Do know that we appreciate it very much and we are listening.


Alton

Source: Messenger Beta - Hand Writing feature

Hope this helps,
Captain

 

[Shaz54]

Thankyou very much for the welcome and reply Capt.JackSparrow.

I will try that work-around for the time being but I hope they do bring it back again.

I have a son-in-law in another country who doesn't speak the language at all well and whenever I have a problem understanding something he says, or vice-versa, we often used the handwriting tool to quickly draw something to get the message across. Using a translator tool was more long-winded I found than a quick sketch.

 

[smileyjade]

Not only that, the handwriting/ink tool is extremely useful for expressing math and physics functions (all the squares, cubes, functions, free body diagrams!) Imagine the thousands of students who used to swiftly describe problems and solutions in their msn conversations suddenly being robbed of that ability!

I myself feel very disappointed with the loss of the Ink tool. I used to have loads of fun drawing cute cartoon pictures and sharing them with my friends. Most of my conversations will contain drawings because it is easy to write Chinese characters or simply illustrate our experiences and situations that we were discussing at any time.

I do not own a tablet PC, I was using my mouse all this while. Same goes for my friends and family. I just quickly looked at other sites that discuss the same thing and found Messenger Beta - Hand Writing feature

Hope that the dedicated souls at work will take notice of our complaints and bring back the ink tool!