Windows Messenger Moves IM, Conferencing in New Direction

Windows Messenger combines the instant messaging (IM) capabilities of the MSN Messenger client with many of the conferencing and data-sharing features of NetMeeting. It blends these products with the help of a new real-time communication protocol, the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which is driving an important strategic shift for Microsoft’s conferencing products and technologies. Windows Messenger will also be the client for an enhanced version of the MSN Messenger service that will sharpen competition with AOL.

The first version of Windows Messenger is not an adequate replacement for NetMeeting for “virtual meetings” involving multiple parties: it has no multicast support and cannot be used as a client for Exchange Conferencing Server 2000. However, it could be useful for enterprises that want to encourage advanced one-to-one collaboration between employees (such as videoconferencing or application sharing) without investing in an expensive infrastructure. It will be further enhanced as Microsoft expands its support for SIP, a nascent Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard. (See the sidebar “Session Initiation Protocol“.)