I often work on client site behind a firewall which doesn’t allow instant messaging (IM) traffic through and want to chat with my mates (of course, I really mean “discuss business with colleagues elsewhere on the ‘net!”).

Now Microsoft have come up with an answer in the shape of MSN Web Messenger. There are alternatives, that have been around for longer, like eMessenger and some of my colleagues have expressed concern that Microsoft will now take over the niche that eMessenger had found, but personally I prefer the MSN Web interface, which closely matches the full client interface.