MSN Messenger 6 Allows IM Lovers to Express Themselves With Style

MSN Messenger 6 Allows IM Lovers to Express Themselves With Style: "MSN Messenger 6, available beginning today at 11 a.m. PDT from http://messenger.msn.com/download/v6preview.asp, helps users create their own online identities through customized display pictures, backgrounds and emoticons. They also can share more of themselves -- silly or serious -- with IM contacts by competing at live online games, sending photos to their friends, or sharing animated emoticons that breathe life into that sad old :). In addition, MSN Messenger 6 lets users connect in fresh, new ways -- via a webcam, a multitude of mobile devices or a Tablet PC -- while blocking spam and helping protect privacy."

What you won't find in this press release (or the corresponding Q&A):
1. A reference to Windows Messenger, the IM client bundled with Windows XP and Microsoft's strategic offering for enterprises
2. Any references to standards such as SIP and SIMPLE

Obviously Microsoft's consumer- and enterprise-focused product teams have different priorities.