While all the talk about "Google Talk" (Google's new instant messaging/voice chat program) has been going on, Microsoft has quietly updated its own IM client. In a report by Sean Michael Kerner, Microsoft launched MSN Messenger 7.5 yesterday which is an incremental update to version 7.0 rolled out at the beginning of April.

New improvements include the ability to record up to 15 seconds of sound and have it sent to a "buddy" much like an instant message. This new feature is called Voice Clip. Security has also been updated in that users can now disable file transfers as well as hyperlinks in IM windows.

Was it coincidental that Microsoft chose to launch this updated version at the same time as Google launched their beta version of instant messaging? Maybe an then again maybe not.