New Leap in Instant Messaging 網路及時訊息大躍進 by Pushkar Sane, General Manager - SMG IP Asia

Dream of client independent messaging is becoming a reality -the great wall on the Internet is broken. After waiting for 6 odd months of hype &expectations finally we can now use our Windows Live Messenger to talk to ourYahoo! contacts. We don't need to create multiple accounts -we don't need to maintain different messaging clients & upgrade them constantly. We can use only one account to talk to all our friends on MSN & Yahoo. And in order to do inter messenger messaging -all you need is the latest version of Yahoo Messenger with Voice Beta (version 8) and Windows Live Messenger 8.
即時訊息溝通無界限的時代終於來臨了–網路間的高牆已被鏟除。經過了六個月的宣傳與期待，我們終於可以經由Windows Live Messenger與雅虎即時通的好友們說話了。我們再也不需要擁有數個帳號–也不必時常的更新使用者。只需擁有一個帳號，我們就可以同時與MSN及Yahoo的好友們聯繫。為了達到跨網路的即時傳輸–你只需要安裝最新版本的Yahoo即時通8.0版及Windows Live Messenger 8版本。

The only problem it is going to face is that interesting elements like Wink & Nudges will not be available in the inter-messenger conversations. But I think it is a matter of time before we get over this barrier & exploit full potential of messaging. Most people think that now MSN & Yahoo can sit back, relax & not worry about loyalty to their messenger, but I think that’s not true. In fact now it becomes even more important that they come out with superior products because as an ordinary user my cost of switchover is going to bevery very minimal. So I think it will be an interesting battle to watch.
唯一將要面對的，是談話中活潑有趣的動畫快遞及來電震動將無法在跨網路即時通中被使用。. 但我認為這只是時間的問題，我們將突破障礙，把即時訊息的潛力發揮到最大。多數的人認為, MSN跟Yahoo現在大可鬆一口氣，不再需要擔憂使用者忠誠度的問題，但我卻不這麼認為。事實上，現階段對他們來說更需要研發出更加優質的產品，因為對於普遍的使用者來說，決定更換使用的軟體所需的費用是非常少的，所以我想我們將拭目以待一場有趣的戰爭。

It will also be interesting to see whether it affects Google or Skype. Will they continue to have barriers or will they open up their messengers?Will we ever move towards Client Independent Unified Messaging? The answer isYes and it is likely to happen sooner than later.
同時，Google與Skype是否會被其影響將也是一件有趣的觀察項目。他們將持續維持彼此間的隔閡，還是會來個大融合呢? 我們將會朝向即時訊息溝通大一統的階段邁進嗎?答案是肯定的，而且即將發生在不久的將來。