Microsoft has announced that Windows Live Messenger will be moving away from it’s own proprietary system to use XMPP (the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol). This means that it’s far easier to create apps that work well with Windows Live, or even integrate it directly into devices.
XMPP’s also behind a number of other instant messaging services in use today, including Facebook Chat, Google Talk, and Jabber, so the work done to support one platform will be easily transferred to the rest.
This builds on our perspective that you should simply be able to:
- Choose the services you want, without re-spamming your friends with invites—More than 300 million people actively use Messenger every month. The vast majority of them also actively use other services like Facebook and Yahoo, where they have contact lists that they build and deepen every day. Because of this, we’ve steadily connected Messenger to other services, so that your Windows PC, Windows Phone, and Hotmail make it easy to sign in to your existing services and chat with who you want, without having to re-spam all your friends and force them to join yet another network.
- Choose the devices you want, without having to switch services—Similarly, Messenger has been available for many years on a wide range of devices, using apps built both by Microsoft and through our broad partner program. In addition to the classic Messenger desktop programs for the PC and Mac, Messenger clients are available for most mobile phones and mobile operators around the world, including Windows Phone 7, iPhone, Android, Blackberry OS, Nokia Symbian, Samsung Bada, and many more.
