Hot on the heels of Google announcement that they have released a Google branded Instant Messenger client, Microsoft has released Instant Messenger 7.5. This is the latest instalment in delivering instant messenger capabilities spanning over 10 years of continuous development.

The announcement has been lost in all of the hype surrounding the Google launch. Version 7.5 adds such enhancements and improvements as:

• Increased security through improved configurations options. Such things as file sharing and hyperlinks can be disallowed.
• Addition of voice sharing, by allowing users to record up to 15 seconds of text which can be sent to their IM buddy
• Improved audio quality with enhanced “echo-cancellation”

As a Microsoft Instant Messenger convert from ICQ over 5 years ago, none of these features are going to give me any reason to upgrade now. The same goes for installing Google Talk. Until there are enough people to make me put it on my machine, I simply won’t install it.

Microsoft has over 170million MSN Messengers customers and support 26 languages around the world. Google has a long way to go before it can boast anywhere near this penetration and force me – and a lot of other people – to make the move.

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