14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook Messenger is now ready for the world to use. No, not the Messenger you already have on your phone, Messenger for Windows, a Facebook Chat client which is essentially an IM client for the social network.
That may seem like a throwback to simpler times when MSN and Yahoo Messenger ruled the world. And, while the web may have evolved, IM is still massive and Facebook wants to challenge it to squeeze out every last second that people spend on their computers.
Facebook Messenger for Windows, a Mac OS X version is coming soon, has been in testing for several months now, but it is now being made available, in final form, to everyone.
Users will begin to see notifications in Facebook, urging them to install Messenger on their computers over the coming weeks. Presumably, people that use chat a lot will be the first targets.
"Millions of people log into Facebook every day to keep up with friends. They also browse other websites and run computer programs, so it’s easy to miss important stuff," Facebook explained.
"Maybe a cousin just posted about getting a new job, or a best friend wants to chat about dinner plans for tonight," it said.
"You should be able to stay in touch anytime, no matter what you’re doing. So today we’re introducing Messenger, a new app that brings Facebook to your desktop," it added.
Of course, access to Facebook Chat and your Facebook buddies is great and all, but Facebook cares more about the other feature it built into Messenger, notifications.
All the notifications you'd get on Facebook you now get via the desktop client in real time no matter what you're doing. Unless you get too annoyed with this and remove the app or have really boring friends, Facebook should see an uptick in usage as people will go to the website more often.