Skype 5.11 Beta Offers Windows Live Messenger Integration

Can't wait to be able to LINK contacts, so I don't have 2 for each. I am going to sign out of Windows Messenger for a couple days to see if I can do without it. I don't need multiple messengers. I could not drag a picture into a contacts messenger window from Skype, but hopefully they will iron this stuff out. Also some confusion as to where the Win 8 "Messaging" fits in to all of this, for example when I get messaged on Skype I don't get notified on Win 8 messenger instantly, nor does the messaging history show up, that kind of thing. They really need to iron out this confusion between the two. Is Skype on Xbox anything that has been "leaked" to be able to look forward to this fall?

Ummm, anyone know how to unlink accounts, tried this using a test account and now I'm stuck with it with no clear way to unlink !

Good stuff. Getting rid of one more overlapping application definitely helps eliminate customer confusion. I already use Lync for Messenger contacts. Can we get Skype and Lync to merge into a single product too?? (Also, the next version of Intune better use Lync for screen-sharing instead of sold-off LiveMeeting/EasyAssist product otherwise I'm just shaking my head) We need to kill Hotmail outright to check that one off the list too. Just FYI: if yu ever wondered about Outlook.com overlap, it had already been used for Office 365's Outlook Web App for a while now. O365's version used the same domain, but used a subdomain in the form of (datacentername).eo.outlook.com. "eo" stands for - you guessed it - Exchange Online. Another thing that makes for some confusion is the SharePoint/SkyDrive overlap. Both are designed for document storage and sharing/collaboration, but some O365 plans include both. Why? Yes, I know Microsoft went through a lot of marketing to push the SkyDrive name, but one needs to be killed. I'm in favour of killing SkyDrive in order to make a "light" version of SharePoint that offers the same functionality for consumers. This makes it a simple choice for where to store your documents as well as a clear upgrade path to a corporate edition, just like Outlook.com, which Microsoft has unsurprisingly missed the boat on so far - most people don't see the connection between the consumer version of Outlook.com and Office 365's Exchange Online because Microsoft has never built messaging to express that, AND THEY NEED TO! I think these steps are necessary to make BYOD a reality.

We're nearing the end-of-the-road for the mighty MSN - I'll miss you - 10 years of great service... Ah well, Sk-hype it is... Hopefully they use the Lync plumbing instead of the horrible Skype plumbing going forward...