REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Microsoft and Yahoo! announced Wednesday they will join forces to provide free instant-messaging services online.
The plan will bring together the world's biggest software manufacturer and the Internet search-engine giant to compete head on with America Online, which has dominated the instant-messaging sector worldwide.
In a news release, the two companies said they hope to have about 275 million users and create the "largest consumer (instant messaging) community in the world by allowing users to send messages via Microsoft's MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger."
Microsoft and Yahoo! did not, however, indicate any plans to work together on the Voice over Internet Protocol that enables users to talk over the Internet.
