Microsoft released the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 today.  After installing it and having some time to see some of the new features in Windows 8, I found the messaging hub to be something unexpected and very useful.  We all have our favorite devices with messaging to communicate with others such as BlackBerry instant messaging, AIM, Facebook, Skype, and a slew of others.  Microsoft has integrated a solution to use your favorite messenger, all from one simple hub within Windows 8.  The connectivity to other services is a little limited at this point, but hopefully will have the majority of messaging software integrated once the final build is released.  

When you first open the messaging hub, you get a simple messaging dialog that allows you to message whoever you might need to contact.  You are also shown your own profile pic, based off of Facebook in my case.  You can switch between Facebook and Messenger at this time, but there should be more to come.

When clicking on accounts you are presented with a simple window that slides from the right to reveal what accounts you currently have.  You have the option to add an account, but this area is a bit lacking at the moment.

You can see the potential of the having all of you accounts conveniently in one place.  I would love to have twitter, FaceBook, Aim, Skype, Blackberry Messenger and Skype all in one convenient place.  Hopefully in the future this will be the case.