Windows Live Messenger Add-ons: Safe or Dangerous?

[Tom.K]

I'm having a heavy dilemma. I want to add some more features to my WLM, by installing add-ons, but all of them seem to have malware issues.

Messenger Plus! Live:
It contains optional Sponsored progam which is Swizzor or LOP trojan. Even if sponsor is not installed, the EULA and Privacy Policy look strange and I don't know should I install this add-on.

WOT yellow mark for website: http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/msgpluslive.net

Messenger Discovery Live:
The website seems to be dangerous altough WOT marks it green: http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/live.msgdiscovery.com

The main address is worse:
http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/msgdiscovery.com

I this add-on doesn't seem to be safe.

Stuff Plug:
WOT marks light green, altough again reviews give red status: http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/stuffplug.com

Please give reviews about this one.

BuddyFuse:
I have no idea. Softpedia shows it as freeware (not ad-supported)
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Intern...ng/BuddyFuse-for-Windows-Live-Messenger.shtml

No WOT website results for this one.
It seems useful only for adding Facebook and Gmail accounts.

If you have found some useful and safe add-ons for WLM, please post it here.

 

[drragostea]

Your query is a bit... vague in general. To be blunt, I can just say, do you really need the add-ons? It is deem necessary?

WOT itself is probably reliable in general, but not enough if you should proceed to install the add-on while ignoring the site feedback.

I say, it is the red ratings for some of the sites you have referred too are pretty credible. I doubt you will have 10+ [dishonest] users giving the same, negative feedback.

I'm having a heavy dilemma.

Feel free to test out the features these sites offers with their add-ons.

If you have found some useful and safe add-ons for WLM, please post it here.

I can "spam" this thread with hundreds of redundant, legitimate add-ons for Windows Live Messenger and it won't make a difference.

 

[honda12]

Hi Tom,

Personally I would try using a more feature-packed instant messaging client rather than an add-on because AFAIK Windows Live Messenger does not have a specific framework for developing add-ons and therefore compatibility issues are more likely to arise. Alternative IM clients that I like are Pidgin or Digsby. Both have support for multiple accounts, with Digsby also having support for Facebook and Myspace social networks. Pidgin has a large directory of add-ons which extend this already capable messaging client further.

When installing Disgby make sure you look for a crap-free installer as there was a big kerfuffle about their regular installer serving up adware... :fear:

Reputable download sites like Majorgeeks and Filehippo should have the crap-free version of the installer, so I would look on those sites.

You can find a good comparison of the most popular instant messaging clients in this article: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-instant-messaging-client.htm

Hope that helps a little! :bigthumb: