Web IM finally available to US, Canadian Live Hotmail users (and more)
Instant messaging from your web based inbox? GMail users have had that for eons. Heck, they've had voice and video chat capabilities since last Novemeber. Live Hotmail devotees, however, have had to wait patiently for similar features to be rolled out.Users in France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, the UK, and Japan have been enjoying IM in Hotmail for about a month, and the Live team finally decided that the feature was ready for a second rollout. Starting yesterday, Web IM also became available for users in North America, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Brazil, and China. It's a gradual deployment, so don't be alarmed if the option hasn't appeared for you yet - it's on the way.
If you're still on the outside looking in (hello, India!), Microsoft promises the service will soon be available to you as well.
One slick feature is the ability to log in to different accounts. My passport (which I use for Messenger access) is much older than my mostly-unused Hotmail account, and it's got all my IM contacts. I can simply sign in to Messenger with my passport and not worry about re-adding a slew of IM-only contacts to my Hotmail account.
For more information, check out the official blog post from the Live Mail team.
