I’ve been using Messages Beta since its release and I’ll go ahead and post my thoughts below:
- Being able to iMessage my friends and especially my wife has been really handy
- There is no major distinction between people you are chatting with with an IM account or using iMessages
- The window is large, but I have grown accustomed to it
- I do not find the moving pictures to be distracting … but I usually have the application minimized
- It has worked really well for beta software from Apple
Now, I’m not a heavy user of IM and I mainly use it for messaging my wife and a couple of close friends and family members, but I have been really impressed with Messages Beta so far and am looking forward to its final release in Mountain Lion.