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Microsoft and Yahoo Messengers will Work Together

If you are the one of the many those who uses Yahoo or Microsoft instant messengers, you can now contact users of the other company directly. The two firms have released software that connects the two networks together. It is now a huge community of 350 million users. For now, it is only possible to exchange text messages, but eventually people will be able to talk to each other too.

This is quite a change, since up until now operators of the big instant message systems refused to open up their networks. Anyone who wanted to talk to friends using different text chat systems had to keep several separate accounts - AOL, Microsoft or Yahoo.

Now users who use the latest versions of the IM software can sign up for the test software via the Yahoo and Microsoft messaging sites. Eventually everyone will be able to use the software. The users` belonging to one or the other system will be distinguished by icons. Jupiter analyst Michael Gartenberg says: "It does make it easier for many consumers who will need to keep one less instant messaging system up and running now".