For those of you who swear by Internet Explorer, there is a new extension that you’re probably going to find useful. Messenger Companion is Windows Live Messenger that lives inside of the browser, and the Windows Team Blog gives us the details.
Messenger Companion is part of the Windows Live Essentials beta that has been in public testing for a couple of weeks now. The goal is to have a handy way for you to share, update status and see what your friends are doing, all without having to leave the browser.
Granted, this could get unnerving very fast, but Microsoft seems to have taken some good ideas about how the service should work. Instead of being bombarded with messages inside the browser, Companion will simply tell you when one of your friends has shared things that they’ve found, when you visit the same site.
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Of course you’ll still be able to send messages about shared links, and carry on conversations even across sites. But it’s all in how you choose to do it, instead of being as “in-your-face” as it could be.
Commenting on shared items will be done through whatever site the item was shared. If you’re commenting on a Facebook share, the comment will go back to Facebook, for instance.
One-click sharing seems quite handy, and the service will update your Messenger status with whatever link you’ve shared, as well. Beyond Messenger, your links will be displayed on whatever sites you’ve connected to.
Overall, it could be in interesting service for those who use Internet Explorer and Windows Messenger. Give it a shot and tell us what you think.
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