Windows Live Messenger, apparently, is not just for text anymore.

Perhaps in response to the evolution of social-networking sites like Facebook and services like Gmail, which seem determined to pull every aspect of your digital life under their umbrella (more on that later), Microsoft has unveiled a new version of Windows Live Messenger that bundles into your message stream everything from video chat to Bing search results. Videos and photos from SkyDrive, Facebook and related sites can also be presented via the new and improved interface.

"You can have a high-definition video chat with your friend while clicking through a set of photos, letting you see and hear each other's reactions while you share. We've also made it easier to manage multiple simultaneous conversations by putting each one in its own tab," Piero Sierra, a spokesperson for Microsoft, posted April 28 on The Windows Blog. "And, of course, as part of our deeper integration with Facebook, later this year Messenger will support Facebook Chat, so you'll be able to IM all your Facebook friends from within Messenger."

What's more, Sierra added, "We know your close friends share using e-mail, IM and social networks." Messenger therefore attempts to bring those sites' and services' feeds into a single view: "The status from your Facebook friends who don't use Messenger? Check. The photos your mom sent you as plain old e-mail attachments? Check. The Office docs you're collaborating on with friends in SkyDrive? Check."

The new Messenger can prioritize certain people in your life via specialized tags--which is actually a useful feature, when you think about it, especially compared with how Facebook and Twitter tend to indiscriminately deluge you with posts from near-total strangers. Microsoft also plans on baking Messenger functionality into not only Hotmail, but also applications for smartphones.

A "limited number of individuals" will apparently have the chance to test out the new Messenger "in the very near future," according to Sierra, who offered no firm date for a wider release. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer previewed Windows Live Messenger during an April 28 presentation at the Universidade de Sao Paulo.

Facebook has made me a wee bit paranoid lately about the use of rich content and links within the context of social networking. (That site's constant wheedling to convince me to expose my data to the larger world, I mentioned to some people the other day, is starting to come off like that exceptionally annoying family member who's your only match for a new kidney: You want to hit them with a shovel, but you can't quit them, ether.) So I'm wondering what sort of data Microsoft could mine from a boosted service like this, and how it would ultimately be used.