According to Microsoft Watch, Microsoft's next generation Operating System, Windows Vista may ship with Windows Live Messenger!

It is not yet clear to what extent Live Messenger will be integrated into Vista: Messenger could be pre-installed in Vista as a replacement for the aging Windows Messenger or Vista could simply contain a link to the Live Messenger website.

Although most Live Messenger users would welcome this, owners of other competing Instant Messaging services (e.g. AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, etc) will probably not be so pleased.

You can check out this early screenshot of the Windows Live Messenger icon in Vista by clicking here (credit: TheVista).

It is estimated that many of the Microsoft Live services will be deeply integrated into Vista, with Release Candidate 1 expected sometime this week.