Well, that didn't take long. Only yesterday, we reported on Microsoft's plans for the future of its instant messaging services, and today, the company has announced Skype and Windows Live Messenger will indeed be "coming together".Microsoft has confirmed that Windows Live Messenger will be retired worldwide in the first quarter of next year "with the exception of China where Messenger will continue to be available". The process of bringing together the hundreds of millions of users from across both services has already begun, with the latest release of the Skype client for Windows and Mac (version 6.0) allowing users to sign in with a Microsoft account (formerly known as a Windows Live ID).The company has promised those Messenger users moving to Skype that it will introduce "some special offers later this year as you join your Messenger friends in the migration", and if you haven't done so already, encourages you to "download the latest version, sign in with your Microsoft account and experience it for yourself".