Microsoft Ratifies Instant Messenging Standard

Redmond (NBp) - Microsoft and America Online have been battling over whether their competing Internet Instant Messenging products should communicate with each other, and how they could accomplish that. Microsoft today got a leg up over AOL by creating the Microsoft Standards Board (MSB) and then ratifying a new "Windows Instant or a Little Delayed Messenging System (WILD MS) standard".

"Creating a standard on the Internet before today could take months or years," stated Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates at a press conference today. "Microsoft has smoothed out that process considerably with the creation of the MSB. This is just one more way in which Microsoft is a true leader in Internet technology."

The new standard is based upon Microsoft's MSN Messenger protocols and is only available for the Windows platform. The decision to make the standard Windows-only was based on the fact that the MSB had ratified Windows as the standard platform a few minutes earlier.

The MSB is a five-member panel that includes Gates and four other Microsoft employees. In a whirlwind first ratification session, the MSB ratified dozens of standards within two hours. These include:

• Standard Mail Transit Protocol - This standard replaces the existing email standard and is based on Microsoft's Exchange protocol. Anyone not using Microsoft Exchange, Outlook or Outlook Express will need to change email programs.
• World Wide Web Protocol (WWWP) - This protocol is the one that makes web browsing work. The current version is compatible with HTTP and existing servers and browsers. Microsoft has announced plans for an enhanced protocol (WWWP2) that will first appear in Internet Explorer 6.0 and Microsoft's Internet Information Server.
• Spreadsheet File Format (SFF) - Based on Microsoft's Excel files

Microsoft has also announced that they will be making their products smaller and more efficient by removing support for non-MSB ratified standards.

"The MSB is a big win for consumers," insists Gates. "These are open standards, that anyone can purchase the documentation to if they purchase one of our Microsoft Standards Kits. So, there will be more development and innovation than ever."