Logos of Yahoo Messenger and Microsoft's MSN Messenger

    BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Microsoft and Yahoo's Messenger users may be able to chat to each other across their instant messaging services, which marks a major breakthrough in instant messaging services.

    Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. announced on Wednesday they have begun a limited public test to allow users of their Windows Live Messenger, an upgraded version of MSN Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger services to share messages and online presence data, according to a Reuters report. 

    Executives said the two companies were initially testing how to allow their vast audience bases to trade text messages. IM users eventually will be allowed to make voice calls between the two systems, but no specific timeline has been set.

    The agreement to work together marks a long-awaited breakthrough among major instant messaging services, which include AOL's pioneering AIM service, Microsoft and Yahoo, along with more recent upstarts including eBay Inc.'s Skype and Google's Google Talk.

    These instant messaging software, which includes text messaging, file sharing, voice conversations and video chats, has proved enormously popular with computer users but has suffered from a lack of interoperability between systems.

    "This marks a big breakthrough and an unprecedented technical achievement. We expect this to grow demand and adoption of IM globally," said Brad Garlinghouse, communications senior vice-president at Yahoo.

    The companies are creating the world's largest consumer instant messaging community, with nearly 350 million accounts.

    Microsoft and Yahoo announced last October to provide interoperability between their respective IM services. The project was originally scheduled for completion by the end of last month.Enditem

    (Agencies)