When MSN Messenger first appeared on the scene about three years ago, it was regarded as far too corny for real computer users and was left to the young ones as a toy for them to play with. Now MSN Messenger is seen as a highly-valued communications tool for business and a real money-saver for the home computer user. Well, after all, MSN Messenger is free and you only need a free .NET passport account, that is, a Hotmail account, to take advantage of what it offers.

MSN Messenger 7 has tidied up some features and added more compared to earlier versions - you'll see these after you've downloaded and installed the latest version. Firstly, if you're running Windows XP, each user should have their own logon account (one person, and one person alone, has to take responsibility as administrator) and then each person can link their XP account with their Messenger sign-in to make life easier.

Beginning at the top left, there's a button to turn off the rectangular window. Clicking this button also turns off the "File-Contacts..." menu bar but you don't need much on this unless you want to get to the Options section to make some changes. When you want to change your display name, display picture or status, click alongside your display name at the top of the Messenger window. Note that you can now set your status before you sign in and that could be handy in some situations. As well, you can access your Personal Settings and decide what information you want others to see about yourself.

One of the time-saving features added last year was the ability to enter a new contact in Hotmail and designate that person be also added to your list of Messenger contacts. This feature also works from Messenger to Hotmail.

Also notice that it's now much easier to contact another person. Click the Messenger icon alongside their display name in your list of contacts and that person's Contact Card pops up. If the person is online, you have the option to begin an instant message or post an email. Obviously if the person is online, you can save time by chatting via an instant message.

Once you've started an instant message with one of your contacts, you have the option of typing your messages, using handwriting (you need to install the free Windows Journal Viewer for this feature but convenient for drawing mud maps for example), or it might be more convenient to talk person-to-person or even video conference if you have a webcam.

For an audio conversation you only require a microphone headset (a $5 one works quite well) and you can leave your computer speakers plugged in if you want. MSN Messenger's audio has been optimised to reduce any feedback and will even work reasonably well over a dialup line. Of course, because the audio is travelling over the Net, it won't cost you a cent to talk to somebody, whether they live overseas or in the next town.

There are many time-saving features in MSN Messenger and once you've used "File Sharing", for example, to pass on a few photos to family and friends to save them from exceeding their email inbox limit, you'll see the benefits of being able to immediately deal with jobs like sharing news, photos, and files with family and co-workers.

MSN Messenger can save you time and effort but rememeber to have some fun with it. Share a game now and then and take a bit of time to add your own background picture and colours. And surprise your contacts by letting them see what music you're listening to when online.