Windows XP Hacks

Going Beyond Messaging with Windows Messenger

Share a common whiteboard where you can collaborate on work in real-time over the Internet, and get alerts delivered to your desktop with Microsoft’s instant messaging tool.

Windows Messenger can do far more than merely let you chat with other people. Hidden inside it are powerful collaboration tools for working with others over the Internet, as well as the ability to get automated alerts delivered to your desktop.

Tip

Don’t confuse the instant messaging program Windows Messenger with the XP Messenger Service, which is used to send notifications over local area networks—for example, when a network administrator wants to notify network users that a server is about to go down. They’re completely separate programs with different purposes. The XP Messenger Service has been used by spammers as a backdoor way of sending spam pop ups. To see how to turn the XP Messenger Service off so you don’t get spam, see [Hack #33].

Using .NET Alerts with Messenger

One of Windows Messenger’s more useful features is its ability to deliver to you a variety of alerts called .NET alerts —messages, reports, or bulletins, such as weather reports, stock quotes, breaking news, and traffic reports. I’m a news junkie, and, where I live in New England, weather-watching is considered a contact sport (if you don’t believe me, try making your way through a February Nor’easter with your body intact). So, I use .NET alerts to stay on top of breaking events and get the ...