Facebook just announced the official release of its Facebook Messenger for Windows application, a desktop program for sending and receiving messages via Facebook without needing to open the social network in a web browser.

The announcement follows a preliminary release at the end of December. The final version is rolling out to users around the world over the next few weeks.

The app, which also includes the Facebook ticker and notifications, was developed in Facebook’s engineering office in Seattle.

A company representative says Facebook Messenger for Mac is in the works, as well, also to be developed in Seattle. No release date has been set.

Facebook Messenger is also available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry.

The company’s Seattle engineering office now has more than 60 engineers, after starting with three in August 2010. Other Facebook products developed in Seattle include Video Calling and Facebook’s iPad app.

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