Sam H. just sent over this link from Small Business Computing about Microsoft Windows Live Messenger to enter the crowded IM landscape…I am still digesting this one, but I still hang my hook on Skype.
Microsoft Windows Live Messenger came out of beta yesterday to join a voice-enabled IM landscape that’s already strewn with AOL, Yahoo and Google. But Skype isn’t worried.

Like Skype, Microsoft’s offering lets people make PC-to-phone calls using cordless phones from Motorola, Philips and Uniden America. The phones employ the Windows Live Messenger contact lists.

According to a statement, Messenger Live customers can sign up for Verizon’s Web Calling service. Within the IM client, you can purchase prepaid blocks of time that let you call more than 220 countries at rates starting at two cents per minute.

Along with VoIP, the also IM client improved its collaboration and sharing tools. Windows Live Contacts notifies you whenever contact information, such as e-mail address or phone number, changes. And the new Sharing Folders feature allows lets you distribute files simply by dropping an item on a name in the contact list.

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