Need Some Advice

[crossover_chick]

So -- it's finally happened. After dodging it for a good two weeks after it was supposed to expire, my Windows Live Messenger has stopped working and is insisting I upgrade to Skype.

Now, this would not be that much of an issue if I used WLM for chatting purposes (which I haven't in years). I'd just uninstall the damn thing. However, what I do use it for is e-mail alerts. I find it invaluable to have those pop-up notices to let me know I've got mail, and where from. Especially when it comes to RPing on sites like these. I briefly upgraded to Skype simply to keep those alerts.

Only to discover SKYPE DOESN'T HAVE THAT FEATURE.

Since I just got my period today and am thus very prone to getting easily upset, I cried for a bit, then restored my computer to last night to remove the installation and see if I could somehow keep Messenger. Nope -- upgrade or nothing. I went onto the Outlook.com forums to see if there was any solution. Not really -- just moderators saying stuff like "notifications are being considered" and offering solutions that won't really work for me (beyond using Windows Live Mail the application -- it's got a sound that plays if you've got new e-mail) and people getting furious about the loss of their alerts.

And then I see a name that looks vaguely familiar -- Trillian. Apparently it's an IM program, but it also says it does e-mail alerts. Hmmm.

Now, I think at least one of you guys have got Trillian -- can you tell me if it's a decent program? And something I could use to get the sort of e-mail alerts I like best back?

Seriously guys -- if you want to keep playing with me in any decent time frame, you've gotta help me here.

Comments

[martyfan]

Yeah, mine did that today too. I actually got Trillian for the same reason. It's actually more of an IM manager - you tell it your logins for various chat programs you have, such as AIM, and it lets you be logged in to all of them through Trillian at once without having to have all of them open. And it tells you when you get your emails, just as soon as you get them (so far as I've seen). It's a good solution but it's super shitty that it's necessary.

[crossover_chick]

Ahhh, okay! Yeah, I think I saw something about that, and I'm pretty sure one of the people on my friendslist has or had it. . . Moose, maybe? At any rate, that's another "for" vote, so I'll definitely be checking it out.

And yes, it is super shitty. The Outlook.com forum thread I found had ten pages of complaining from users about how they didn't want their alerts to go away. >.< And how many of them didn't want Skype in the first place. . . I was so hoping that maybe I could just keep the older Messenger. . .

[clark_luthor]

I started looking into it weeks ago when they announced it, and saw forum posts of people asking whether Skype did email alerts and, when they got a no, whether they would be supported in the future. And the answer was basically "lol nope, suck it up and deal with it." I am only slightly surprised that they're backpedaling on this now, with the amount of people who only used Messenger for the alerts (count me as one, too), but I will be very surprised if they actually do anything instead of making all the right noises and hoping people will forget about it and see how ~awesome~ Skype is (never mind that it doesn't at all fill the same need).

[crossover_chick]

*shakehead* Joy. That's crazy, really. A lot of people on that thread were talking about how convenient it was and how pissed they were that it was going away. And how pissed they were that Microsoft wasn't giving them answers that they could use. (Though at least the Windows Live Mail thing is giving me a little noise when I get new mail. Better than nothing.) I don't really expect much from them on that front either. Ah well. Hopefully Trillian (or something) will give me the happiness I seek.

[clark_luthor]

I've been using Windows Live Mail and Trillian in tandem - I used to do that with Messenger, but since they were linked, Mail would update as soon as Messenger realized I'd gotten a new email. With Trillian it won't, but as soon as I see the notification flash up I just hit the send/receive button in Mail, and bam, emails arrive.

[crossover_chick]

Huh. Yeah, I never even touched Windows Live Mail -- Messenger always just scooted me off to Outlook.com. Sounds like a decent system -- and I do like that Windows Live Mail has the little "ding" to tell you you've got mail. I guess I just miss the actual notifs.