Web IM for Hotmail is here!

Yes, you've been asking us, and we promised you'd get it soon. Well, the moment you've been waiting for has finally arrived — instant messaging through Hotmail is here !

You might be at work, school, or at an Internet cafe somewhere on the other side of the world. Wherever it may be, there's a good chance that if you're sitting down somewhere other than in front your home computer or laptop, you're not going to have Messenger installed.

That's not going to be a problem anymore though, now that Web Messenger has been integrated into Hotmail.

Here's what you can do with it:

• You can sign into and send instant messages from any computer connected to the Internet, even if it doesn't have Windows Live Messenger installed.
  
  
• You can also send IMs to your Messenger contacts from the People page (your contact list). Just click the contact's picture, and you'll see Send an instant message on the dropdown menu.
  
  
  
  
• In Hotmail, if one of your Messenger contacts sends you an e-mail, you'll see their Messenger availability indicated in green, yellow, or red right by their name. If it's green, click it and instantly start chatting.
  
• If you have more than one Windows Live ID, you can sign in to Web Messenger and regular Messenger at the same time, with different IDs.
  
• Don't worry, people can only see your availability if you've agreed to be their Messenger contacts. You can sign in and use Hotmail or any other Windows Live service without signing in to Web Messenger, so nobody can start chatting with you until you decide to let them know you're available.

  Do you prefer to use Web Messenger while you're browsing some of your favourite ninemsn sites? Well, it's available through both DOLLY and Celebrity FIX. We'd say it's time to sign in and try it out.