The following is a sidebar accompanying an article published by Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm focused exclusively on Microsoft strategy & technology. Each month we make one or more key articles available to non-subscribers.
In Aug. 2005, Microsoft released MSN Messenger 7.5, an incremental update to its consumer instant messaging (IM) client.
The update includes the following enhancements:
Improved echo-cancellation for better audio quality on voice calls—Microsoft claims better quality than Skype and some hardware-based Voice over IP (VoIP) services
Voice Clip, which allows users to record up to 15 seconds of audio conversation and send these clips to their contacts
The ability to turn off file transfer and "live" links for security purposes (e.g., to prevent contacts from inadvertently sending links to insecure pages); this setting applies to all contacts and cannot be customized by contact
Dynamic (animated) backgrounds, which offer a new opportunity for advertisers
Interoperability with Vodafone Messenger, a service available in Europe that lets Vodafone subscribers exchange text messages among PCs, handheld PCs, and cell phones. (For more details, see "MSN, Vodafone Sign IM Deal" on page 24 of the Aug. 2005 Update.)
Unlike MSN Messenger 7.0, which was available for Windows 2000 and later, MSN Messenger 7.5 is available only for Windows XP.
MSN Messenger cannot be used as a client for Microsoft's corporate IM and presence server, Live Communications Server (LCS). The preferred client for LCS is the recently released Office Communicator 2005; Windows Messenger 5.1 can also be used with LCS.
