Yahoo! and MSN to join IM communities --- Wednesday, July 12th 2006

Yahoo! and Microsoft today will begin limited public beta testing of interoperability
between their instant messaging (IM) services that enable users of Windows Live Messenger,

The next generation of MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger with Voice to connect with each other.

This interoperability -- the first of its kind between two distinct, global consumer IM providers -- will form the world's largest
consumer IM community, approaching 350 million accounts, according to the companies.