Microsoft Officially Pulls The Plug On Windows Live Messenger

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
More than two years after acquiring Skype, Microsoft is officially pulling the plug on Windows Live Messenger, announcing Thursday that the venerable instant messaging client would no longer be supported starting in November.
Windows Live Messenger, originally launched in 1999 as MSN Messenger, was switched off for most users in 2013, according to BBC News. However, users in China continued to use the service, which had as many as 330 users as recently as 2009. Those individuals will have their service transferred to the recently-acquired Internet telephony provider by October 31, the media outlet added.
MSN Messenger first arrived in China and was renamed Windows Live Messenger in 2005, and anyone still using the service will have their contacts automatically moved to the recently-acquired telephony service, HotHardware’s Sean Knight said. Users attempting to download the software through Microsoft’s official website are being greeted with a message notifying them of the service’s impending termination and advising them to download Skype instead.
When Messenger launched, it was a real-time texting service designed to rival services such as ICQ and AOL’s AIM clients, and according to Tom Warren of The Verge, Microsoft raised AOL’s ire by reverse-engineering AIM’s chat protocol to allow their clients to sign into AOL’s program. In the years that followed, Microsoft added custom emoticons, the ability to play games against friends, and a series of other features intended to enhance the IM service.
“Though the messaging platform currently has relatively few users, its official closure marks the end of an era, of sorts, for many millennials who came of age while chatting on MSN,” said Mashable’s Karissa Bell. She added that former users took to social media “to eulogize the instant messaging client that once ruled dial-up Internet,” but added that Microsoft is offering users free Skype credits to help ease the pain.
In an obituary to the service, the BBC’s David Lee said that it “touched the lives of millions of teenagers who, in an age before real social networking, were just getting accustomed to what it was like to live on the internet. MSN Messenger heralded a new era: a time when chatting up a classmate no longer meant the terrifying prospect of actually having to say something to them.”
“Other sites, smarter and better looking, would see Messenger cast aside. In an age of exciting digital discovery, Messenger became the web’s wooden toy,” he added. “After a long career, it spent its final year enjoying a comfortable retirement in China. Its less well-regarded relative, Windows Messenger, still battles on on work computers the world over.”
In October 2011, Microsoft announced that their $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype had been finalized. As part of the deal, the Internet telephony provider was established as a new business unit within Microsoft, and Skype CEO Tony Bates was chosen to be president of the newly-created Skype division.
“By bringing together the best of Microsoft and the best of Skype, we are committed to empowering consumers and businesses around the globe to connect in new ways,” Bates said in a statement at the time. “Together, we will be able to accelerate Skype´s goal to reach 1 billion users daily.”
“Skype is a phenomenal product and brand that is loved by hundreds of millions of people around the world,” added then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “We look forward to working with the Skype team to create new ways for people to stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues – anytime, anywhere.”
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