Any update on this Microsoft?
Since users started requesting actually useful responses to this query (rather than automated banalities) it's gone awfully quiet on here...
Have you not considered how annoying this new feature is for people trying do read/write email to be constantly bothered by chat messages? It makes using the actual email fairly impossible.
Secondly, it makes people angry - nobody asked for this, while many are asking for it to be removed/given an opt-out mode. It also removes CONTROL over user privacy entirely from your customers and places it solely into Microsoft's hands - this is a fundamental
violation of what people actually want from their web services.
MS have been forcing users into increasingly crappy products for over a year since the Hotmail>Outlook upgrade. I wrote a post about that which went viral as there were so many disgruntled users (read it here http://www.etondigital.com/hotmail-upgrades-to-outlook-first-impressions-not-good/ )
Now it seems, MS are topping it all off with an even more unpopular feature. Even Facebook allows you to turn chat mode off. Is this sheer incompetence (i.e. you didn't anticipate people would actually want to opt out) or blatant disregard for users (i.e.
you expected this reaction but don't care). Either way it's another bit of genius customer care from Microsoft - promotions all round!