Sunnyvale, California - ( The Hosting News ) - October 13, 2005 - Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo! Inc. have announced a cooperative agreement to connect users of the MSN and Yahoo! consumer instant messaging (IM) services.

The agreement will form the world's largest instant messenger community, estimated to be more than 275 million users. This is the first interoperability agreement between two distinct leading global consumer IM providers. The new arrangement will give MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger users the ability to interact with each other.

Being able to instant message between IM communities is one of the features most requested by MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger users, and Microsoft and Yahoo! share a commitment to provide IM interoperability while keeping consumer security and privacy first and foremost. In addition to exchanging instant messages, consumers from both communities will be able to see their friends' online presence, share select emoticons, and easily add new contacts from either service to their friends' list, all as part of their free IM service.

According to Terry Semel, Chief Executive Officer of Yahoo! Inc., ''Yahoo! and Microsoft share a commitment to providing the highest-quality experience possible for consumers, and today's groundbreaking announcement underscores our desire to provide consumer interoperability between our thriving IM communities. This is truly a turning point for the IM industry, and we believe our agreement with Microsoft will help usher in a new era of IP communications.''

Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft added, ''Microsoft and Yahoo! look forward to bridging the divide between our global communities, creating richer and easier ways for our customers to connect. IM interoperability is the right thing for our customers, our businesses and the industry as a whole, and Microsoft is delighted to help lead these efforts with Yahoo!''