What Ever Happened to MSN Messenger?

guest · Dec 6, 2021

November 26, 2021

It was the late 90s and social media platforms like MySpace and Facebook didn’t yet exist. Texting was still in its infancy as very few people actually owned mobile phones at that point. E-mail was a popular method of communication among those with access to a computer, but it lacked the real-time feel that makes in-person conversation so appealing.

Microsoft’s entry launched on July 22, 1999, which was already late considering ICQ had been around for nearly three years and AOL had followed with AIM in the spring of 1997. Even Yahoo’s messaging client beat Microsoft’s to market by over a year, but as Microsoft proved, you don't have to be first to reach the top.
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A key decision at the time was Microsoft's integration with Hotmail, leveraging the sheer popularity of the web email service owned by the company, to offer those millions of users the ability of instant communication.
Waging war with AOL [...]
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As sure as the wind blows, Microsoft started phasing out Windows Live Messenger in April 2013. China was the lone exception, but eventually, the app was pulled from this market as well on October 31, 2014.

If Microsoft could do things all over again, they'd probably not want to miss Windows becoming a major player in the mobile OS arena. In similar fashion, MSN Messenger could have been today's WhatsApp or Snapchat, but a lack of focus, the loss of trust from its immense user base, and a poorly managed transition to Skype landed Messenger in the technology graveyard.
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EASTER · Nov 27, 2021

ICQ & Yahoo Messenger were the going fads back in the earlier days here too. Very little MSN was of much interest but still had a platform.

Then EVERYBODY ELSE who could, pulled off a major copycat bonanza.

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What Ever Happened to MSN Messenger?

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