MSN Beta Program Closes, Hands Thanks Out To Testers

Microsoft have drawn to a close on one of the largest and most public beta programs in its history. The final result, MSN Messenger 7, was released officially yesterday, and offers several improvements over previous versions.

In a message of thanks to beta testers and to promote one of the new services, Microsoft are giving away a variety of Winks and Dynamic Display Pictures through its partner, BlueMountain. In an email sent to testers yesterday, Microsoft wrote "We want to take this moment to say a huge THANK YOU for participating in the Beta program. It is because of your help that we're confident customers will love this version of Messenger!". The team also gave out instructions on how to claim the free content (see "read more" for instructions), and also announced that they would be sending out a free Logitech web cam to each beta tester.

Microsoft's efforts in the MSN Messenger department, although generous, are undoubtedly self-serving. With more users and massive growth, Microsoft hope the MSN platform (Messenger, Hotmail, Spaces) will generate large revenues from advertising. Microsoft claim that the MSN Messenger network carries over 2.5 Billion messages a day, and sees 155 million users each month.

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