Facebook is currently preparing a desktop app for its Messenger offering, with a limited allocation of users already testing the integrated IM client.
More than just being your bread-and-butter chat application, it will also allow users to check the Ticker Feed and of course, those all-important Notifications.
The perceived idea is to keep users engaged at all times, (great news, then, for those procrastinating students), and prevent the layer upon layer of windows/tabs opening at one time as users stalk get their social networking fix.
There’s no doubt that the desktop-based client has the credentials to become an instant hit, and the screenies don’t look too shabby, either:
After the F8 showcase towards the end of September, Mark Zuckerberg and Co. announced a complete overhaul of Facebook, introducing Timeline amongst other features; and now it seems Phase 2 of the Facebook World Domination bid is in full effect.
Just yesterday, we reported on the news that a HTC-created Facebook Phone codenamed Buffy was in motion, and although that particular move isn’t expected to bear fruit until 2013 at the very earliest, it does emphasize the scale of effort by Facebook to cement its position as far and away the world’s most-used social network.
Having gotten names to profiles, it’s no secret that Facebook’s next big push is to get everybody chatting. The standalone Messenger apps rolled out some months ago for Android, Blackberry and iOS – despite each having integrated chat on their respective original Facebook apps – further indicates Facebook’s IM directive.
With most Instant Messengers (GTalk, Windows Live and the like) all presenting a desktop-based argument, it will be interesting to see – with 800+ million devotees – just how well it catches on – that’s of course, if it does.
If you’re itching to get your hands on it, unfortunately, it’s not a public beta as such – a segment of the Facebook population (through probably not-so-random-sampling), have been selected to join the test group, and are notified via what else but a little red notification from Facebook itself.
As such, there’s no public download link, although as has been the case before, there could be a workaround, and we’ll have the lowdown if someone does find a sneaky way in.
Oh yes, and it’s Windows 7 only.
(via TechCrunch)
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