We all do it. We are working hard, doing some important piece of work that needs to be in for tomorrow, it's getting late and you suddenly get a ton of messages from your friends. I've gotten so bad at this I refuse to do any work and be on Windows Live Messenger at the same time.

Gina Trapani, who is a Lifehacker editor, (Lifehacker is big on productivity) has posted their 'IM Survival Tips' giving you a handy guide to chat and socialise with friends whilst working:


View: 'IM Survival Tips: Productivity and instant messenger'

Viruses are everywhere on MSN and Windows Live Messenger. They are so clever and they spread like wildfire. Simply it's near impossible not to come across one while chatting to your friends, and you may just find you have been a victim in the past.

Security Park reports:


Ouch, some harsh facts there. But the question is why Messenger is such a victim. Is it because MSN is ridiculously popular? Is it the fact the Messenger API is vast and easy for programmers to use? Or possibly because security is a major flaw in Messenger?

Anyway I think you should check out the article if you want to read up on more facts and speculate yourself. Viruses are really taking over instant messaging, and with good reason. They target a vulnerable audience, know how to trick people and easily spread.

Read: 'MSN Messenger is the most targeted IM platform'

J.D. Power and Associates surveyed 10,787 residential customers from the USA to find out which messenger client was top in terms of satisfaction. They were measured in a 1,000 point scale and are shown below:


Of course this could be a bit biased, the company never did say the age groups they surveyed, or what they used their client for. MSN Messenger would be something expected to be used by teenagers and Windows Messenger used in business. The survey did not cover that many clients and was only based in the U.S.

However MSN and Windows Live Messenger are second on the list, despite the problems we all know about performance. Maybe new and exciting features are what is powering customer satisfaction nowadays.

Source: BigBlueBall
View the survey at J.D. Power and Associates

Results from a recent comScore Networks survey of instant messenger use in various parts of the world show that there are now more European instant messaging users than in North America. The study also shows that MSN Messenger is the most used instant messenger worldwide.

Acording to the analysis of the survey, the average number of the popualation using instant messaging programs in Europe is 49%, equivalent to 82 millions people, whereas in North America 37% of people are using instant messaging programs, about 69 million people. The survey also showed that the Latin America region is where the biggest use of instant messaging is happening with 64% of the population there using instant messaging programs.

As to the use of MSN Messenger worldwide, the survey showed that 61% of all instant message using users worldwide were using it, with it being used by 90% of users in Latin America and by over 70% of users both in Europe and the Asia Pacific region. However in North America the use of different instant messaging programs was more varied with MSN, AIM and Yahoo! Messengers each taking between 27% and 37% of users there.

However Microsoft shouldn't be thinking they are the winners of this race yet - the survey also showed that other instant messaging programs are becoming more and more popular, with Skype now being used by 14% of instant messaging users worldwide.

View the results of the survey at comScore