Facebook Messenger embeds network into Windows

Facebook has released software that embeds Facebook into the desktop of a Windows 7 computer, giving users another way to access the popular social network.

Facebook Messenger for Windows, released on Friday, is a desktop application that lets people chat with their contacts, receive notifications and access a slimmed-down news feed.

"We’re testing out a first version of the app with a small group of people," Facebook said. "During this trial period, we plan on rolling out changes to the app and expect outages and periods of instability as we make improvements."

The application requires computers with the Windows 7 operating system. It is available from the Facebook website.

The same privacy settings apply for Facebook's desktop application as for the normal website, the company said. The application will appear in the taskbar on the desktop.

Google ran a desktop application for several years called Google Desktop, but announced in September it would discontinue the product and its associated APIs by 14 September. The company hasn't made public any plans for a desktop application for its nascent social network, Google+.