Now that Messenger 8.0 supports video and audio webchats, not many users will see the need to use version 7.

However, if neither of these are particularly important to you then version 7 might still be useful to you. Of course, whichever version you choose, you still have to sign in using your Hotmail or Windows Live account. Once installed, the first thing you'll see is that Microsoft Messenger 7 offers a slightly updated interface to version 6.

Messenger 7 offers Bonjour support, so you can detect and connect with users on the same local network as you. Features like sending files, displaying a picture or emoticons are unchanged. You can change your display name and add a personal message just by clicking on them.

One new feature is that you can give nicknames to your friends. Just click on their display name and start typing. We also liked the search feature, which is really handy to quickly find a contact or email address.

It's obvious that this upgrade is aimed at corporate users as they get the most significant updates though. The highly touted audio and video feature, with which you can have video conferences with your contacts, is only available to them.

The same goes with detailed presence information, as you'll need a version of Office Communications Server 2007 to use it.

Corporate users will love the new features in Messenger for Mac 7, like Bonjour Support, detailed presence information and especially audio and video. General users will find barely anything different from version 6 and should download Microsoft Messenger 8.0.

Download Messenger for Mac 7.0.3 in Softonic

Mercury Messenger, previously known as MM or dMSN, is a free alternative to MSN Messenger offering almost all the same features.

Mercury Messenger is a Java based IM client which allows you to connect to your Windows Live or Hotmail account and chat with your contacts. Despite being based on Java, Mercury Messenger is remarkably lightweight, easy to use and allows you to do pretty much most things you can with the standalone client. This includes organizing contacts by groups, use emoticons, send files and activate your webcam during chats.

The interface itself is similar to that of MSN Messenger albeit a bit more basic. Some elements are placed a little clumsily here and there, making Mercury Messenger slightly unintuitive to use but luckily, the interface is interchangeable so if you find a good skin on the developer website, you can use that instead.

Perhaps the most unique feature about Mercury Messenger is the RSS support. Mercury allows you to add and preview RSS feeds. This sounds a bit weird for an IM client and the result is a bit awkward, akin to feed reading on a mobile device. Mercury Messenger also has a tabbed interface which allows you to open and work with multiple accounts although having too many open simply ends up confusing.

Although missing the most recent features of MSN Messengers and despite a weaker interface, Mercury Messenger is a good alternative with RSS and multiple account support.

Download Mercury Messenger 2.0 RC7 in Softonic

MSN Messenger was the original incarnation of the now named Messenger for Mac and it's now been superseded by it. However, if you still have Mac OSX 10.2.8 to 10.3.9 (although Microsoft recommend 10.3.3 or later) this is the only version of MSN for Mac that will work for you.

Firstly, like the latest version of Messenger for Mac, you should know that it doesn't work with webcams. This seems criminal I know, but Microsoft has seen fit only to allow those willing to upgrade to the corporate edition to use a webcam with it. However, the rest of it is pretty much as you'd expect. It is fitted with all the basic functions you'd want from Messenger and the application lets you organize your contacts into different groups, set your status, and use emoticons, etc. New conversations open up in a new window, which you can be moved around anywhere on the screen.

While it's fairly easy to check your Hotmail account thanks to the Mail button at the top of the interface, sending files and images to other users can be a bit slow. MSN Messenger is sufficient as a basic IM client, but we'd recommend upgrading your version of OS X and updating to the latest version of Messenger for Mac. Not only is it more secure, but it will also offer more features and a sleeker interface.

MSN Messenger is a decent if basic IM client for anyone with a Mac OS under 10.3.9 but the lack of webcam function is a major drawback

Download MSN Messenger 4.0.1 in Softonic