Hi guys.
If you have or are considering WindowsLiveMessenger, consider MessengerPlus! It's a plug in for WindowsLiveMessenger, that allows you to do a lot of cool things, such as sounds, custom status, lock (make messenger disappear) and unlock (make it reappear).
Also, it has the power of scripting--one of my favorites, is called usay. Look at it for yourself if you use WindowsLiveMessenger. You can also change your status or name within an IM window, so there's no need to alt-tab back to the main window and sign out, change your status or name etc.
Hope some of ya find this interesting, there's also apparently a website which offers a version of messenger for a thumb drive, if anyone's interested I'll post a link to it.