Microsoft® Office 2008 for Mac® Bible

Chapter 32. Using Microsoft Messenger

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Setting up Messenger

• Adding contacts

• Sending messages

• Sending files

• E-mailing others

Microsoft Messenger is a communications resource you can use for instant messaging, file transfers, e-mailing, and more. As a counterpart to Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft Messenger for Mac lets you chat instantly with other users across platforms. You can chat with people using other messaging services, such as Yahoo! Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, and iChat. Messenger is the perfect tool to connect live with friends, family, and coworkers in a variety of ways.

Connecting people live is a boon for companies, and it's great for personal use as well. For example, your office can conduct a live video conference with another office across the country, or your project team can talk live with each other from spots around the globe while you all examine the same document. Not only can you chat live, you can also use Messenger to swap Office documents, including Word reports, Excel charts, and PowerPoint slide shows.

In this chapter, you learn how to get started with Messenger by jumping through the setup steps to create an account. After you've established an account, you learn how to add contacts, send instant messages, send files, e-mail contacts, and tweak the preferences a bit to customize the program. This chapter focuses on using Messenger for personal messaging rather than corporate messaging; however, the techniques are the same in either setup. ...