The service allowed users without administrative privileges on their computer, such as at a shared public computer, to chat with others on their Messenger contact list without having to install the Windows Live Messenger client.

[1] In September 2007, Microsoft began developing a new version of the service named Windows Live Web Messenger.

Windows Live Web Messenger featured the Windows Live 2.0 user interface, integrated Personal Status Message and display picture functionalities, and allowed tabbed conversations in a "conversation workspace".

However many functionalities in the beta version of Windows Live Web Messenger, such as tabbed conversations, were unavailable in the Windows Live Contacts and Hotmail version.

[3] There are other services from various localities (such as China,[4] Taiwan, and Singapore) that are also titled Windows Live Web Messenger,[5] however these versions are only an implementation of the Windows Live Messenger Web Toolkit.