It's time for the IM wars to return.

The main feature of this market battle over the years hasn't been features, but alliances. As a result the world has divided into two warring camps, that of AOL and that of Microsoft.

Both are making moves again. This time they're going in two different directions. AOL is aiming at a bigger user base, Microsoft is aiming straight at the wallet.

AOL's latest move, ironically, is integration with Microsoft software, specifically its Outlook Express e-mail client. (Of course, all PC software developers have to deal with Windows.) This makes sense, since both IM and e-mail are communication tools. If you know your e-mail correspondent is online, you can avoid a ton of e-mails and have a text discussion instead.

Microsoft's move is called Instanbul. It's a new corporate IM server based on "presence," the software's ability to tell where someone is and route data accordingly, either to a desktop or mobile device.

Both these moves make sense, but I have the feeling that IM is a technology well past its prime. Once it is fully integrated into mobile phones it will all be over, and we'll be moving on to higher-levels of communication.