I thought of several possible answers, related mostly to the differences between public IM services (which tend to focus on glitzy features and are often ad-supported) and corporate IM implementations. One of the attendees at my INTERACT2008 session asked me why Microsoft hasn't released a combined Windows client for Windows Live Messenger and OCS. The first option Microsoft might try would be to produce a single client for both public and private IM. The answer is simple: The Messenger for Mac client points out several possible ways that Microsoft can make OCS and Office Communicator more attractive business propositions. Now, you might be wondering why I'm writing about a Mac instant messaging client in this column, even if it does supports OCS. It's another good piece of work by the largely unheralded Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU) at Microsoft. I've been using a beta version of Messenger for Mac 7.0 for a few months now it combines support for OCS audio, video, and enhanced presence with a polished Mac-like interface. The new release, version 7.0, supports Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 and its enhanced presence model.

I was stuck with no column topic-until I got an unexpected nugget of good news: permission to disclose that Microsoft is very close to releasing a new version of Microsoft Messenger for Mac. Unfortunately, virtualization interfered, and I was stuck in a ballroom rebuilding virtual machines for my INTERACT2008 sessions during Myerson's address.

Myerson is corporate vice president of the Exchange team at Microsoft.

Then I changed my mind and decided to cover Terry Myerson's keynote at the INTERACT2008 event. My original plan this week was to write about Exchange virtualization and why Microsoft won't come out and say what everyone already knows about it. Each week, I have to come up with a column topic-ideally, more than a day or two before the column is due.

Microsoft messenger app for mac