Popular, easy-to-use instant messaging offers slight portal integration.

Microsoft may have entered the IM market long after ICQ, but it has surpassed ICQ in popularity. More than 13 million people now use the MSN Messenger service. What's drawing these users to MSN Messenger? The software's biggest advantage is that it integrates with parts of the MSN.com portal. For example, you can view any stock portfolio or stock symbols that you've set up on MSN's MoneyCentral. You also receive alerts when there are new messages in your Hotmail inbox. However, compared to Yahoo!'s IM, this is only minimal portal integration. You cannot, for instance, view personalized news or your calendar.

Last year, Messenger updated its icons to distinctive green and red, 3D angel icons. The buddy and message notification features effectively use the angel icons. Whenever someone from your list of contacts goes online or sends you a message, a box appears above the Messenger icon in the taskbar. A similar alert appears when you receive email in your Hotmail inbox.

MSN Messenger gets high marks for ease and simplicity. Those icons are not only endearing; they are clearly labeled and understandable. The instant messaging window interface lets you see messages from your whole session in a single window. Unlike ICQ, though, it does not archive a history of your sessions. Once you close a chat window, you lose that session forever, unless you save it to a text or Word file. On the other hand, the application's typing indicator tells you if someone is typing a message. On other apps, it's sometimes frustrating to not know whether your IM contact is about to reply or has decided to step away for a coffee break.

MSN Messenger keeps your buddy lists on its servers, so if you install the software on another PC, it immediately retrieves your buddy list. This is an important feature for people who work on several PCs. For example, office workers can more easily use IMs to keep in touch with other members of their work groups. Moreover, when you log in to retrieve your mail on the Hotmail site, the page tells you which of your contacts are online. MSN Messenger updates the software automatically when there are fixes and updates.

Summary: We give MSN Messenger high marks for ease-of-use and some portal integration. However, it does not compare with the integration that Yahoo! provides with its IM client.

Pros: Easy-to-use interface; typing indicator tells you when contacts are typing a reply.
Cons: Portal integration is minimal.