Well the headline is not so shocking, we did expect Yahoo! and Windows Live Messenger buddies to be communicating ages ago now, especially as this has been under development for such a long time. Well it turns out there is more of a problem now:Other reasons could be Microsoft's worse nightmare, Google. Google and AOL are adding integration between their instant message services as well, just something to compete with when it comes to get Yahoo! and Microsoft contacts talking.

Not only is this competition here, there is a competition between the protocols used. Google and AOL support XMPP protocol whilst Yahoo! and Microsoft support SIMPLE protocol. These protocols are rivals and it explains why Microsoft chose Yahoo! to join forces with rather than another instant message client. Still, there is no clear sign of when we can talk to our Yahoo! friends, hopefully more news will arrive soon.