Oluniyi D.Ajao

I logged-in yesterday to Yahoo Messenger BETA 8 and noticed a tab on top of the messaging software with a notice to the effect that I could now chat with my friends on Windows Live (MSN) Messenger. Hmmnnnn…. How sweet!

Yahoo and MSN announced this way back and according to Windows Live (MSN) Messengers’ blog: Talk to your Yahoo! friends from Windows Live Messenger

Technically, this wasn’t easy; we have been working on this for a while and had to try a few different ways to make it work. We’re pretty excited about the solutions we’ve come up with for our first version of yahoo + messenger. Some of you may be thinking “but there are already other program out there that let me do this. You’re half-right. Our solution is different than the existing ones because you only need one e-mail address to use both networks.  You don’t need a Windows Live & Yahoo! Account to make it work. So if you’re a Windows Live Messenger person, for example, you can keep the same address you’ve always used to sign in, but now have the ability to add and chat with your Yahoo friends.

A click on the notice on Yahoo Messenger leads me to a webpage on the Yahoo network that reads:

Yahoo! & Microsoft have joined forces

It’s a great day for the world of instant messaging. Working hand-in-hand with our friends at Windows Live (MSN), we’ve connected our IM communities, making it even easier for you to stay in touch.

From the new Yahoo! Messenger with Voice, you can see when your Windows Live (MSN) Messenger contacts are online and send them instant messages. Keep all your friends in one place and IM with them anytime, right from Yahoo! Messenger. How cool is that?

It’s really cool I’d say.

Users of the upgraded MSN Messenger, now called Windows Live can now exchange instant messages with users of Yahoo messenger. The partnership has created the world’s largest messaging company with 350 million accounts. The current test is a limited one, users can register to participate at messenger.yahoo.com or at ideas.live.com

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