There has been a number of small things going on in the Messenger world in the past couple of weeks. Below is a summary of some of the news that we have failed to cover, or too small for its own post:

1. IMO is a small, stable, compact web Messenger has undergone major changes this week. The development team have been working hard to improve services and have recently launched a new and improved imo.im, along with eight cool new features. IMO now offers a number of options that allow you to personalize your contacts list and prioritize your buddies. Click here to check IMO out!
2. This week has seen an update to the Messenger protocol (common when new versions are released). However, there has been implementation problems, freezing some 3rd party IM clients out from signing into the Messenger servers. Although the issue has now been claimed to be resolved, there is an update for Pidgin and Messenger for Mac users to download
3. Rebelsean has recently had the opportunity to interview some Windows Live directors. Having recently moved to Neowin, Sean has not forgotten his Messenger roots and has brought up the issue of tabbed conversations and what we can expect from Windows Live Wave 4. Generally he got a good feel for the direct Windows Live is heading in, and although is not Messenger specific, it still provides a useful insight to what's going at the live front

Although there are only three relatively small pieces of news to cover, I thought it may be in your interest to know about them. There are a few other stories that should pop-up in the next couple of days, but with most of my admins currently busy or disappearing, don't count on us to cover everything until February starts.