Everyone loves standard protocols, and now Windows Live Messenger has finally moved away from its own proprietary system to use XMPP (the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol). This means that it’s far easier to create apps that work well with Windows Live, or even integrate it directly into devices. Currently, third-party apps which connect to Live Messenger (like Adium, eBuddy, or Pidgin) use a reverse-engineered library, but this is the first sign of support for unofficial clients from Microsoft. XMPP’s also behind a number of other instant messaging services in use today, including Facebook Chat, Google Talk, and Jabber, so the work done to support one platform will be easily transferred to the rest.
Windows Live Messenger adopts XMPP open instant messaging protocol
Microsoft has announced that it now supports the open-standard XMPP protocol to access the Windows Live Messenger service, having relied on its own proprietary service for many years.
Microsoft has announced that it now supports the open-standard XMPP protocol to access the Windows Live Messenger service, having relied on its own proprietary service for many years.
The Windows Team Blog says that its new direction is motivated by its principles of choice in both devices and services. However, Microsoft’s decision to try and open up the platform could also be motivated by an almost 10 percent drop in active users in the past two years — presumably with the rise of competing services like Facebook Chat.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Most Popular
Most Popular
- Anker’s new window-mounted camera monitors the outside of your home from within it
- Sam Altman addresses RAM comments: People should ‘put as much as they want in their computers’
- Those Jeff Bezos hair transplant photos are very fake
- Discord is ditching Electron and its new app uses less RAM
- The touchscreen MacBook Pro is a winner
