t’s the next-generation MSN Messenger. Along with everything you already love about Messenger—your contact list, emoticons, and instant access to your friends—there are brilliant new ways to connect and share photos (and other stuff). As always, it`s free to download Messenger and use most of its features.

If you use Family Safety, built-in contact approval helps you know exactly who your kids are talking to. You approve or disapprove each new contact for their Windows Live Messenger, and whether they can use Messenger.

With Windows Live Messenger, you can connect with your Yahoo! Messenger contacts. It`s as easy as adding their Yahoo! e-mail addresses. Forget needing multiple accounts to talk to all your friends—you`ll be able to see when they`re online and communicate with them from one place.

Speak your mind: Have a high-quality voice conversation using PC-to-PC Calling. Free.

Those old science fiction movies with TV phones? That`s what the new Messenger will give you, only better: live, full-screen (640x480) video

Drag a file onto a contact’s name. You’ve just created a Sharing Folder. Now you and your contact can get to all the files in the folder any time, even if one of you is offline.
See a little mobile icon next to a friend`s name? Just right click to send a text message.
With Windows Live Contacts, whenever your contacts update their information, it will also be changed in your Messenger address book. Instantly. (Your Windows Live Hotmail address book will be updated, too.)

Headlines, sports scores, traffic, or just about anything else you want to keep up with—get pop-up notifications of things as they happen.