A completely new look and also new feature turn Windows Live Messenger into a real competitor for Yahoo! Messenger. 

You can, of course, send an instant message, call a computer, call a phone number, send a mobile message or send an e-mail. You can edit your status display and start a video chat with your friends. 

Customizable skins and new emoticons are only a few of the new features included in Windows Live Messenger. During the installation process, you are also prompted to install the Rhapsody Music Service which allows you to discover, play and share music from the Rhapsody catalog. 

Pluses: You can create custom emoticons by selecting an image on your computer which will be automatically resized. Now, you can send messages to offline contacts so that they will receive them as soon as they log in, but this feature need to be improved. 

Other exciting features of Microsoft Live Messenger are the Whiteboard, Remote Assistance and Application Sharing. These features, only available with Microsoft Live Messenger give chatters the opportunity to share data or be part in a remote assistance session with partial all complete control of the target workstation. 

What's new on version 9: 
So, here is the final version of the instant messaging tool from Microsoft. The kernel of the application hasn't changed too much, but it got lots of new online features, that makes it much interactive with the user. I really got a connection problem that was solved automatically online. I was really surprised because in general the troubleshooting button ment nothing to me. A big thumb up for Microsoft in beginning to solve automatically online problems. The second really improvement is the sound quality of PC to PC call. Much better than the one from Yahoo Messenger. You will get also a very fast and intuitive wizard that will help you set you audio device. The background interface is very similar to the one in Yahoo Messenger, but it will be much better integrated in the new Vista interface. Still let's go back to the new features: 

Multiple Points Of Presence Suport - Now you can sign into Messenger v9 from several different locations and remain signed in, In v8.5 and under, signing in at a new PC will sign you out anywhere else. 
Signature sounds - Make sound signatures instead of just graphical ones. 
Per contact sounds - chose a sound to associate with each of your contacts' actions. 
Animated Display Pictures - now you can use animated .gif files as your display picture. 
Links in Status Message - Links in the status message are now clickable 
SPIM reporting - report and block users who spam you via IM. 

Drawbacks / flaws: I had the feeling that Windows Live Messenger is running slower comparing to Yahoo Messenger, and it might not be so stable. 

In conclusion: Finally a true instant messenger coming from Microsoft. it seems that the latest software from Microsoft are much better (even though the ideas are taken from different other companies). 

version reviewed: 9 (14.0.8050.1202)