All users of MSN Messenger will be forced to update their software to the Live Messenger 8.1 product within the next few days. The notification will take several days as each old revision is weeded out from the network. Microsoft notes that revisions 6.2, 7.0, and 7.5 are in use, as well as the 8.0 revision, which was the first to use the Live Messenger moniker.

It was also explained that the update was not pushed out as a critical update on a Patch Tuesday because of the way that Microsoft regards the product - it is not considered mainstream.

The change is required due to the defects found in all previous version of the instant message software. For those needing to know the little details, the bug is described as being in the code allowing webcams on the IM network. The original exploit was described in a Chinese-language security mailing list.

The people who use third party products, like Pidgen, and Trillian, should not be affected, either by the exploit, or by any interruption of service on the Live Messenger network.

For those who wish to stay with the MSN Messenger product, there will be an upgraded revision 7 for Windows 2000 users, as it seems Live 8.1 won’t work with Windows 2000. The version, according to a Microsoft insider, will be 7.0.0820.

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[tags] Windows Live Messenger, MSN Messenger, forced update, Pidgen, Trillian, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista [/tags]