Today the final version of MSN Messenger 7.5 (for now) has been released. The now public, newest version is MSN 7.5.0299. MSN Messenger 7.5 Final, as in the previously leaked BETA versions, is only available for Microsoft Windows XP and newer.

One of the new features in this version are web links, similar to those present in AOL Instant Messenger. For those of you who don't know, this means that links placed on web pages can provoke actions within MSN Messenger, such as opening a conversation with a contact, or adding a a new contact to your MSN Messenger contact list. For example the following link would open a conversation with a contact:

msnim:chat?contact=someone@hotmail.com

For more information on the new web links feature, including examlpe HTML code for placing MSN Messenger 7.5 compatible links on web pages, visit our MSN 7.5 section.

The official MSN Messenger page has been updated with download links for MSN 7.5. However as mentioned above, 7.5 is only available for users of Windows XP and newer. Users of Windows 98, ME and Windows 2000 will be prompted to download MSN Messenger 7.0. For more on the minimum requirements, go here.

For now, you can download the latest version of MSN Messenger from the official MSN Messenger 7.5 website located Here.

We'll keep you updated on developments regarding MSN Messenger 7.5 as they happen.