Microsoft is celebrating the tenth birthday of the hugely popular instant messaging client Windows Live Messenger today.
As is to be expected, the software giant has commissioned a large statue of a glass bottle on the side of the Thames and has introduced celebrity Konnie Huq along to mark the occasion.
Why? Perhaps it's best not to ask…
Microsoft has also issued a release detailing the nation's favourite iconic messages, with Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' apparently the nation's favourite iconic message (voted top of the poll by 27 per cent of Brits).
4 billion daily updates
Microsoft's Instant Messenger service launched on 22 July 1999 "and within 60 days 2.4 million people had sent their first Instant Message (IM). Today, over 330 million people use Windows Live Messenger every month and there are over 4 billion Messenger status updates every day."
"Whether it's used in business, friendship or romance, Instant Messaging has swept the nation to become an essential part of day to day life," said Mark West from the Windows Live Messenger team. "This is a real milestone for Windows Live Messenger and we're very excited to see what the next 10 years has in store."
And if you happen to be in the vicinity of Tower Bridge then you can check out Microsoft's 'messenger in a bottle' at nearby Potter's Fields today (aaah, that's why!).
You never know, you might bump into Konnie Huq...
