MySpace has announced the official beta release of its MySpaceIM instant messaging service which soft-launched informally a year ago. According to a release from MySpace, over 17 million of the social networking site’s 180 million members worldwide have installed the downloadable client.

MySpace, which was acquired by News Corp. in 2005, used to operate a browser-based instant messaging service, which it has since phased out.The MySpaceIM service competes with other ubiquitous and well-established instant messaging clients, like Yahoo Instant Messenger, Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger, and AOL Instant Messenger. But MySpaceIM hopes to set itself apart from the pack with tight integration to the site’s homepage and member profiles, as well as media-heavy features like a music player and drag-and-drop image sharing. Also included is a system to alert members when they have new messages in their MySpace inboxes, comments on their profiles, or new friend requests. Localized versions of the tool have been created for all 16 global regions that the company operates.

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