Greetings Les,
Not at all -- they are entirely separate products. 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 if you're simply using the
most basic functionality, connecting to the public .NET Messenger service) and a matter of
personal choice. 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.).
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources -
http://messenger.jonathankay.com
All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2004 Jonathan Kay.
You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.
