Pre-emptive IM Strike from MSN

David Card | August 23, 2005, 08:22 PM

MSN called a quick briefing as a preemptive strike against a rumored Google IM announcement. Microsoft exec Blake Irving even admitted that was the reason for the call -- that otherwise, who'd announce a dot release? When have you ever Microsoft say that kind of thing?

Anyway, MSN Messenger 7.5 has improvements in audio, interoperability, safety, and fun stuff.

- Claims a new stack gives better VOIP quality than VOIP.
- "Interoperability" means the Vodafone connection is rolling out - nothing new on AIM interoperability (the only one that counts).
- Safety means you can turn links and file transfers off (it's binary: off or on, no varying for different buddies).
- Fun stuff is animated backgrounds -- good for sponsored promotions.

Finally, MSN wants to remind everyone that it's got six years of experience in this stuff -- hear that, Sergey? -- and is sticking to its promise of thrice-yearly upgrades, so watch for more goodies in November.

The upgrades are all fine, but I was actually more impressed by Irving's crisp articulation of the IM Big Picture. MSN is trying to move the conversation away from IM (defined as "real-time text messaging," how dull) to "contacts." I think they downplay presence management, but that's okay, presence sounds too much like AOL-friendly talk. As does Buddy Lists, but I can't break the habit.

What's critical about IM isn't real-time text messaging but the Buddy List as a communications/presence management hub.(Link is ancient history for geek/vision cred.) You manage your buddies and buddy groups and their relationships to you (and each other), shifting those according to what persona you're inhabiting (work, home, fun, shopping, etc.) and what communications are available to you or you want to make available to them. Then broadcast that selectively. The company that can teach consumers how to do this, and own that management tool is in a very powerful position. The portals will be duking it out with the mobile carriers for this, I suspect.

MSN's vision is pretty parallel to the one above. Irving claims Microsoft has an "ABCH" -- Address Book Clearing House -- that is a repository for all those contacts, relationships and permissions that come from Messenger and Hotmail. You can imagine how powerful that might be -- we're not just talking "gleams" and sharing playlists here -- and how much grief Microsoft will get for playing Big Brother.

Anyway, MSN gets it.