from an email thread:
barclay: Is the MSN server down? I can’t seem to login.
gary: none of us can login here either, messenger must be down while they implement some new "world domination" features in the upgrade
barclay: Right... I read that was coming in the whole “Service Pack Apocalypse Version 5.1 Read Me” file.
gary: Not to worry - it's "opt in."