Shoutbox

Yes.

Although Messenger does run when you login and opens the main window in the background when it signs in, there's no option to choose between running it in the background (minimized) or open in the foreground.

So why does Messenger run minimized?
If you press the Windows key + R to bring up the Run box, type msconfig and click OK, it'll bring up System Configuration. Clicking the Startup tab, you'll see a list of some of the programs that run when you log on to Windows - Windows Live Messenger should be there. If you expand the Command column and look at Messenger, you'll see it has /background at the very end, meaning it runs in the background rather than open in the foreground.

How can I change this?
To change this, we have to go into the Registry Editor. Press the Windows key + R to bring up the Run box, type regedit and click OK. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and you'll find a string value called msnmsgr; double click to edit it, remove the /background at the end, click OK, then close the Registry Editor. Messenger will now open in the foreground when you login to Windows.