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Microsoft and Yahoo Bridge Messaging Services

Microsoft and Yahoo fulfilled a promise made last year, and announced that their instant messaging applications will become one. A new program that bridges over the two application will be released and solve the need to use two different interfaces for the same task. This move singles a continued erosion of the walls diving users of IM and mobile text messaging services

"I think that within the next five years you will see interoperability between IMs, and the text messaging you get with phones," lead analyst Matt Rosoff of Directions on Microsoft told AFP. "That is the best possible world for consumers where I send you a message and it just finds you where ever you are."

The new program is available in as a beta version for more than 15 international markets, and can be found on Microsoft`s and Yahoo`s sites. With the two major instant messaging services becoming one, we will see the creation of the largest online messaging community. "A new era for staying connected with friends and family is here, and the bridge between Yahoo`s and Microsoft`s IM communities is bringing people around the world closer together," said Brad Garlinghouse, senior vice president of Communications, Community and Front Doors, Yahoo.