Windows 8 Bible

Using the Messaging App for IM

Windows 8 includes a simple app for IM called Messaging. Figure 17.1 shows the Messaging app with a small number of sample messages.

FIGURE 17.1 The Windows 8 Messaging app

If you logged into Windows with your Windows account (formerly Windows Live), Messaging will already be configured to use the app with your Messenger. If not, you can click Add More to add the account. Or you can click the Facebook link near the bottom right corner of the app to add your Facebook account, enabling you to IM with your Facebook friends.

Note

At the initial release of Windows 8, Messenger and Facebook are the only services supported by the Messaging app. However, other services will no doubt be supported in the future. So when you open Messaging, you might see account options in addition to Facebook.

Sending and receiving messages with Messaging

The Windows 8 Messaging app works in conjunction with the People app, enabling you to send and receive messages with the contacts in People. Because both the People app and Messaging app support different types of accounts, the key to successful access to contacts in Messaging is to make sure you’ve connected in People all of the services containing contacts with whom you want to chat. For example, if you want to chat with your Facebook friends using Messaging, make sure to add the Facebook service to People. You’ll ...