Yahoo! Messenger working with Windows Live Messenger became big news, it meant millions more could communicate in what are two of the biggest giants in the world of instant messengers. Microsoft chose Yahoo! for a reason, not because they thought it would be better for business, but because Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger work in the same way.

It's all down to the protocols, and because I am not a wiz in this area, despite touching on the subject before, it's the only reason why it works. Google and AOL have also teamed up, and they use a different protocol to that of Yahoo! and Microsoft.

Michael Miller has explained how to get Google Talk to work with many different IM networks, going through each step in what is a rather large article. If you are interested I suggest following the link below and giving it a read.

Read 'Hacking Google Talk to Work with AIM, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger'