Countdown to WLM8.5 Final?

Certainly looks like it. Have a look here. I'm guessing all will be revealed on November 7, 2007.

Heh, now the countdown site says it will come in a day or two, but I've already installed the final version of WLM8.5 myself (v8.5.1302.1018), thanks to the great guys at Mess with MSN Messenger: msn emoticons msn names display pictures download. Please note: you'll have to uninstall your pre-existing WLM version first. To be on the safe side, I exported my contact list to my hard disk, and then went ahead with the install. Everything worked, I've got all my emotes, contacts, etc.

However, if you are not too sure about doing this, then don't, at least for the next few days. As far as I know, this is not a forced upgrade...yet. I'll keep you posted.