I just got some builds from eMule, clammed to be beta versions of MSN 7.X
Just wanted to identify if they're really betas

Versions earlier than 7.0: ?
7.0: ?
7.5: 7.5.0306
8.0(Live): ?
8.1(Live): 8.1.0178

7.0.777 was the first final
then there was a 7.0.813 (second release)
and i think there were more sunch as 816, 819 and 824
I'm not that sure about those ones, but 777 was the first final for sure, and that there wrer mutireleases that doesn't contain the BETA tag and were offer to the public.

The Final WLM 8.0 was 8.0.0787

Thanks for your help

So it should be....

7.0: 777/813/....else
7.5: 7.5.0306
8.0(Live): 8.0.0787
8.1(Live): 8.1.0178

Perhaps I'll make a small checklist of currently known versions.

Another question: is there any way to check the build numbers of MSN 7.X without installing them? I tried to check the installation program's version string and all I got is this:



Completely unrelated....

there's zip exe files, get winrar or something to extract them, then check them

Most Microsoft programs are packed with the genuine Object Packager.
The versions numbers you are seeing are the version numbers of the
Packager used to create the installation packages.

If you extract the main messenger installation package with winrar you
will end up with 3 files.
1 = an installer {InstMsiW} for NT systems, or InstMsiA for 9x systems.
2nd = MsnMsgs installer package = messenger installer.
3rd = bootstrap.exe, this is the file whose properties will reflect what the
build number of messenger is.

There was at least one update in between 8.0 and 8.1. Some people might claim it was a beta, but I got it as an update. Here are the MD5 hashes of the 4 installation files I have on my system (note some of the filenames are my own; they're not official designations):

Install_MSN_Messenger.exe
- md5: d78d48993c76933de530814d251d3bcd
- bootstrap.exe: 7.5.0324 (2006/01/24 11:37)

Install_Messenger 8.exe
- md5: f49ff1afd5df5368b3b06a71a9c0efc6
- bootstrap.exe: 8.0.0792 (2006/06/16 14:36)

Install_Messenger 8b.exe
- md5: 889411bc5c859aaf1ce2ba2972395a02
- bootstrap.exe: 8.0.0812 (2006/09/07 02:07)

Install_Messenger 81.exe
- md5: d0cb7a57ddb91163f4796cfd3c72b194
- bootstrap.exe: 8.1.0178 (2007/01/19 12:54)

I have some of these because I made backups of them from the temp directory during every update

PS. Did anybody notice that explorer uses 3 different ways to display versions in the properties dialog?

1. right underneath the "Version" tab, it says:
File Version: 8.1.178.0

2. other version information, "File Version":
8.1.0178.00

3. other version information, "Product Version":
8.1.0178