Greetings Walter,
No, they are different -- there are several differences, Most notably, MSN Messenger 6 has
support for display pictures, custom emoticons, has a different interface, etc. whereas
Windows Messenger supports SIP-based communications services, Exchange IM Server, etc. Which
one you use is up to you, and a matter of personal choice (and based upon your needs and
likes), however one thing to keep in mind, Windows Messenger must still be installed on
Windows XP in order for MSN Messenger to retain full functionality (Remote Assistance,
Whiteboard, Application Sharing, etc.).
MSN Messenger is centered around MSN technologies (Hotmail, MSN Member Profiles, MSN Mobile,
etc.) whereas Windows Messenger is centered around Windows technologies (Exchange Server,
Office Live Communications Server, Windows Netmeeting, etc.).
Both clients however can make use of Microsoft technologies, like the .NET Messenger service,
..NET Passport and .NET Alerts.
The reason why your webcam is probably appear "sluggish" is because you haven't been able to
establish a direct connection between you and your contact, and therefore MSN Messenger is
using a "relay server" to transmit your video. This can occur because you either have a
firewall engaged, or are behind a router. If you use the 'Video Conference' option in MSN
Messenger 6 instead (Actions menu, Start Video Conference), it supports UPnP and get around
some firewalls and routers which support UPnP. The Webcam function does not support UPnP
currently. However, with this scenario, the Video Conference option requires both side to be
using Windows XP.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources -
http://messenger.jonathankay.com