Can anyone help me; I'm a little bit confused. Is Windows Messenger what use to be MSN Messenger?

Furthermore, I'm kind of lost on how integrated this is with Hotmail. If I go into my hotmail it almost seems like I have an account or that I'm technically logged into Messenger. I just don't get it; the whole thing really strikes me as overkill.

Sorry for the questions, I haven't used an IMer in years (texting kind of replaced it, didn't it?) but it would really come in handy to talking with a certain friend.

Does that answer your question, Ashley?