Greetings Perry,
There are several differences between the two. Most notably, MSN Messenger 6 has support for
display pictures, custom emoticons, has a different interface, etc. whereas Windows Messenger
supports SIP-based communications services, Exchange IM Server, etc. Which one you use is up
to you, and a matter of personal choice (and based upon your needs and likes), however one
thing to keep in mind, Windows Messenger must still be installed on
Windows XP in order for MSN Messenger to retain full functionality (Remote Assistance,
Whiteboard, Application Sharing, etc.).
MSN Messenger is centered around MSN technologies (Hotmail, MSN Member Profiles, MSN Mobile,
etc.) whereas Windows Messenger is centered around Windows technologies (Exchange Server,
Office Live Communications Server, Windows Netmeeting, etc.).
Both clients however can make use of Microsoft technologies, like the .NET Messenger service,
..NET Passport and .NET Alerts.
Which one you use is a matter of personal choice, based upon what functionality you need and
how you want Messenger to look. Assuming you just use Messenger as per normal, you can
choose whichever client you like.
In terms of Netmeeting, MSN Messenger on prior versions of Windows before XP has a 'Start
Netmeeting' option but will not display this option on Windows XP. Windows Messenger (5)
will however display this option, on Windows XP, with a registry change. As well, the
"Application Sharing" and "Whiteboard" functionality are derived from Netmeeting, but don't
actually start the Netmeeting application. Other then that, it doesn't relate to Netmeeting
(for instance, the voice and video functionalities of both MSN Messenger and Windows
Messenger are separate).
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources -
http://messenger.jonathankay.com