Microsoft's Smartphone 2002 operating system might have hit a few snags during its launch, but the system already has several developers poised to deliver supplemental instant messaging apps.

Out of the box, phones based on the Smartphone OS will support Short Message Service as well as a custom version of MSN Messenger. In addition to cosmetic changes from the PC version, the Smartphone Messenger will let users send short canned responses -- a boon for IM fanatics, since initial Smartphone models will require that users tap out their messages on the dialpad, which is often a cramped, time-consuming experience.

Now, developer Mov Software has taken the wraps off a version of its IM application that is compatible with the Smartphone platform.

The JabberCE product, naturally, operates in tandem with open-source Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) servers, but also supports America Online's AIM and ICQ networks, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Instant Messenger.

Aimed at enterprises, JabberCE offers 128-bit SSL encryption and SASL authentication, as well as RJabberCE also includes an offline mode, in which messages can be composed and queued while a live wireless connection is unavailable -- say, when it's being used in a subway. Once a connection is made, the software will automatically deliver its messages.

Similarly to MSN Messenger, the application also offers a feature called QuickPhrase, which enables users to quickly string together phrases. SS feeds.

Mov Software isn't the only third-party looking to add their own brand of IM to the Smartphone, however. In September, Antepo said it plans to release a Smartphone 2002-based IM client for its mobile messaging platform, Advanced Converging Communications and Enhanced Presence for the Telecom (ACCEPT).

Likewise founded on the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocols (XMPP), ACCEPT is aimed at wireless carriers, who then, in turn, offer compatible applications on their handsets to subscribers. And like JabberCE, ACCEPT's Smartphone 2002 IM client offers interoperability with other Jabber communities, through the applications' XMPP underpinnings.

The developments come as Microsoft is in the critical early stages of its closely-watched launch of the operating system.