Microsoft gets the Messenger

Microsoft will release a preview version of MSN Messenger 6 later day, which will be available here. Microsoft posted information ahead of the preview release here.

MSN Messenger 6 is a significant update, chock full of new features not found in its predecessors. Some of the features, such as message logging, play catch-up with competing products, while others break new ground. Competitors and Microsoft software and content partners should closely follow the preview, which is more behavioral and relationship focused than earlier MSN Messenger releases.

New feature “Launch Site” lets consumers play games with other people in their contact list, including solitaire, checkers and tic-tac-toe. Since the release of Windows XP, Microsoft has been looking for ways to turn its instant messaging products into a platform for interactive gaming. Launch Site is a first step to eventually achieving this goal.

Microsoft also has improved file-sharing capabilities, eliminating some of the problems presented by some consumer firewall or router products. At the same time, Microsoft is more aggressively touting video conferencing, which also should be more hassle-free when used behind a firewall or broadband router.

MSN Messenger also supports Tablet PC inking, so that people using a portable running the XP hybrid can pen instant messages with a stylus. But given that most Tablet PCs are targeted at corporate users, initially, this feature will have limited appeal in Microsoft’s consumer instant messenger.

As with MSN Messenger 5, MSN online subscribers would be able to apply parental controls to a child’s IM account, which would remain active for usage on computers outside the home, say, at a neighbor’s house.

Consumers now can change the background of the messaging client and also choose a picture to represent them. Both features, in some ways, play catch up to the “themes” feature long available in Yahoo!’s instant messenger or AIM’s buddy icons. But the addition of an audio message or clip to go along with the icon is a nice touch.

The new features also more broadly differentiate the product from Windows Messenger, the IM client included with Windows XP. Last month, Microsoft released to select beta testers Windows Messenger 5, in conjunction with the Real-Time Communications Server beta. RTC is a messaging add-on for Windows Server 2003. While Microsoft has not publicly disclosed all Windows Messenger 5 features, screenshots and other information available from enthusiast Websites suggest a more corporate focus for the product.

Microsoft also offers a third instant messenger, threedegrees, which delivers features not found in either MSN or Windows IM client. The product comes from Microsoft’s NetGet division, which is developing products for older teens and younger twentysomethings. Among other features, threedegrees lets a group of people share songs from a single playlist.

Posted by Joe Wilcox at June 18, 2003 10:35 AM