It was the late 90s, social media platforms like Facebook didn't yet exist, texting was in its infancy, email was very popular, instant messaging was up for the taking and Microsoft took notice.
What Ever Happened to MSN Messenger?
- Thread starter Shawn Knight
- Start date
Dimitriid
Posts: 2,644 +5,377
When this was going on I was much younger so I remember being much more of a snob about computers (If you can believe that) and back then I basically had 2 main forms of communication: IRC for general purpose chat stuff and ICQ for closer friends instant messaging. Even had a 5 digit ICQ number which was relatively early and kind of a flex on people like "Yep: only 5 numbers, I've been here a while!"
I even remember I explicitly did not want to get MSN messenger at all even though many of my friends were quickly dropping ICQ for MSN and I was only convinced to move to MSN to pursue a girl.
IRC would later fall out of fashion with most people once everybody started using forums as their new method to chat instead of IRC and also the very early social medias like Myspace and Photobucket were starting to come around but none of the hit it so big as Facebook did eventually.
I even remember I explicitly did not want to get MSN messenger at all even though many of my friends were quickly dropping ICQ for MSN and I was only convinced to move to MSN to pursue a girl.
IRC would later fall out of fashion with most people once everybody started using forums as their new method to chat instead of IRC and also the very early social medias like Myspace and Photobucket were starting to come around but none of the hit it so big as Facebook did eventually.
First time I used MSN messenger was in 2004. it was version 6.2 iirc. teens in my regions either use MSN or Yahoo Messengers, so I maintained both.
at the time computers were still relatively expensive, and shitty 56k dial up were still common. we found ourselves using Windows Messenger often, because sometimes we're using PC that has no MSN messenger installed, and downloading the MSN messenger client took more than 15mins.
the landscape quickly changes when mobile phones are getting smarter. I remember plugging my 2G phone into the USB port to make it a "hotspot" so I can use msn messenger when I'm in a car. soon there's ebuddy java app for mobile phones. and before you know it bbm, whatsapp and skype took over.
at the time computers were still relatively expensive, and shitty 56k dial up were still common. we found ourselves using Windows Messenger often, because sometimes we're using PC that has no MSN messenger installed, and downloading the MSN messenger client took more than 15mins.
the landscape quickly changes when mobile phones are getting smarter. I remember plugging my 2G phone into the USB port to make it a "hotspot" so I can use msn messenger when I'm in a car. soon there's ebuddy java app for mobile phones. and before you know it bbm, whatsapp and skype took over.
I wonder why it was replace by Skype, when I found those Window Essential software package actually useful and simple
QuantumPhysics
Posts: 6,306 +7,262
Facebook pretty much killed off MSN messenger and AOL Instant Messenger simultaneously.
The only thing I was using MSN Messenger for was to communicate with friends in countries who their governments had blocked Facebook: I.e. a Chinese girlfriend living in Shang Hai.
The only thing I was using MSN Messenger for was to communicate with friends in countries who their governments had blocked Facebook: I.e. a Chinese girlfriend living in Shang Hai.
Vanderlinde
Posts: 646 +437
Still dont understand why Microsoft would kill such a commonly wide adopted chat application like that. It was the messenger of what whatsapp is today.
I was a heavy user of ICQ and msn messengers back in the late 90's early 00's.
Miss those days, once msn messenger was merged into skype I never touched it again.
Miss those days, once msn messenger was merged into skype I never touched it again.
Ah yes, Windows Essentials. I used 4 of those apps (well, programs back then), but I sorely miss Live Mail (2012).
But, that’s a story for another time.
arrowflash
Posts: 646 +800
Wow, a 5-digit UIN! You're being modest, that's VERY early and VERY leet. A 7-digit ICQ number like mine was already good enough to flex, and I only ever had one person on my contact list with a 6-digit number.
I was also dragged kicking and screaming from ICQ to MSN. Only made the switch when pretty much the only sound that came from my ICQ would be crickets, and by that point MSN had already been rebranded to Windows Live Messenger. It really grew on me though, even after it became Skype, and it's a shame people once again abandoned it to FB which has never been a proper replacement.
Never used IRC very much. Before forums I was all about newsgroups, both Usenet and private servers. In my country, most popular private news servers became forums, and in more recent years sadly they either shut down for good, or moved to Fakebook, I think only one is still around in forum form.
The writer as well as most readers seem to miss the most important point here: People are stupid- especially in technology, when the fate of one brand over another is dictated by a popularity contest, the least common denomenator wins out! That's why we always end up with the worst. Case in point, I just had to replace a broken windows phone, and since that's no longer an option had to settle for an Android one... What a disaster! I can't believe the majority were so stupid as to pick this piece of crap of an OS over windows mobile.
Dimitriid
Posts: 2,644 +5,377
I remember newsgroups but sadly, most newsgroups were not very good for file transferring without paying a premium and as a teen I was understandably broke as a joke and irc channels were great for file sharing of both music and games which was what I did most of the time, mostly lots and lots of mp3 files on irc channels.
For me that was the main draw but similar to what you mention, lots of irc stuff started also drying up and while you couldn't share files anymore you at least could talk to people on forums and torrent and p2p (After the short lived Napster there was good stuff on things like the edonkey/emule protocol) for continuing with the music collection and also started adding lots of arthouse type movies and creating a dvd collection for myself then.
For me, MS basically kicked me off their messenger platform. I was very happy with MSN messenger before the forced migration to Skype happened. The migration actually moved my entire contact list into blocked contacts, and even today, I still couldn't move them out. So I can only use Skype with people I've added later. If I am going to create a new account for IM, obviously there is no chance I would stay with MS...
They kind of didn't. Alphabet (Google) were brilliant by deciding to give Android free to smartphone OEMs and just rely on the app store to generate revenue. Kind of like how major media suppliers/creators didn't initially see streaming as big revenue generator, Microsoft didn't see a OS locked app store as one either.
Let me ask you a question, if you were a smartphone manufacturer which would be more attractive? A free OS that the supplying company would support virtually forever (or until the phone/tablet couldn't run a newer version), or one based on the older seat license and EoL model? By the time M$ (Nokia and RIM as well) realized that Android was making an end run around them it was too late.
OEMs will always pick the cheapest option they possibly can, every time. The difference between a good company and a bad one is the good company will still consider user experience in the equation. In this case Android supplied a good enough experience for the masses, and helped keep prices at a level where mass smart phone adoption was inevitable.
The only way M$ stood a chance of having Windows Mobile come out on top is they should of done exactly what Alphabet did before they did it. The writing was on the wall, but Steveo was too busy playing office politics to see and react. So they continued with the idea that smart phones were high end products primarily used by professionals.
Now don't get me started on how this one mistake saddled us with "one OS for every platform" releases that serve M$ more than the end user...
TheFootPerson
Posts: 29 +12
I remember as a 9 year old in 2001 my friends kept on telling me about msn messenger and I always thought, isn't it easier to talk on the telephone. I had a nokia c3 symbian OS phone as late as 2010 I'm sure and back then you had a app called SNAPTU, which you could access yahoo messenger and facebook. Facebook chat was a separate app but at the time, the facebook chat app wasn't and couldn't be as privacy invading on the OS level like the current facebook apps are. Not everyone had computers at the time so for me personally, facebook was the best IM to use. SNAPTU was bought out eventually and shutdown so migrating from symbian OS nokia to a andoid phone was the choice I made. Early android was a privacy nightware because prior to android 6.0 everyone had to accept every app permission asked for by any pre installed or otherwise app, which in facebooks case was horrendous with the app permission requirements. Facebook was for such a brief time the best IM out there. Notice how I say IM instead of communication method, that's because in all these years the one thing that has always stayed consistent and reliable is good old fashioned sms and calls. Every phone supports it and it just bloody works.
Athlonite
Posts: 500 +235
Ah yes, Windows Essentials. I used 4 of those apps (well, programs back then), but I sorely miss Live Mail (2012).
But, that’s a story for another time.
I'm still using Live mail with windows 10 it's working great nice n light like I like it to be I did once try Office mail but found it a heavy program with a lot of crap I'd never use so went back to Live Mail (2012)
arrowflash
Posts: 646 +800
Oh, so this is what you meant. That's what I've always used IRC for: file sharing. Used it a lot for file sharing back in the old days, and I actually still use it occasionally (there are still a few active good channels that cater to some of my interests). However I've never used IRC much for chatting.
Newsgroups, I always used them mostly to actually interact with people and communities, not for file sharing.
The msn messenger is exactly where it belongs. hopefully skype and teams will follow. the sooner the better for everyone
Rdmetz
Posts: 425 +211
I was around for these days as well and though I knew of irc and used it when necessary (like accessing certain "private" groups) I found the whole idea of it kinda weird and "I'm cool cause I use stuff no one else knows about" as well as a lot of people with this attitude that because youre not as high on some totem pole you're lesser than.
I'm an early adopter of mist things in tech my icq was from the very early days along with my aim and my man messenger days I even used programs like trillian to integrate them all into one.
But I never found it something to brag about and most people I spoke with had zero interest in switching to anything other than the one they were first introduced to (hence me the guy who will always try anything using trillian to talk to them all).
Napster Steam torrents myspace Facebook streaming you name it I'm likely the guy who was there day 1 or at least before anyone else I knew.
I find most of my group is much slower to move on to new tech but generally find once I switch to something within a few years they'll be there as well (with me likely having moved on to something else they still "don't see the need" for)
Lol
I gave up a long time ago trying to convince my friends and family to try new things I've just grown accustomed to the fact they move at a much slower pace in tech than me. They'll get there eventually and I'll still be the guy they go to with all their questions.
Rdmetz
Posts: 425 +211
Not my main email but I too still have a @live.com address it's actually my original day 1 Xbox live account (I was a beta tester before it's official launch) which I believe is where the @live.com address format started, though I'm not entirely sure.
It's essentially just a outlook account (like all of Microsofts email accounts now are) so whether it's a Hotmail a live.com or an Outlook oke they are all basically the same today.
My heat friend has kept his original @msn.com email all this time as his main email and it's essentially treated just the same as my live.com one we both end up with the same interface and features once we sign in.
I use
Rdmetz
Posts: 425 +211
unfortunately for me (or maybe fortunately) the last 5 -10 years have taught me a ton about the people I've grown up with / from my area and what I've learned is most are a## backwards *****s who still think Facebook is the only place that exists online.
They've all been brainwashed by the type of content they get fed there on the daily and have either confirmed my longtime suspicions or have shown how week they are to bias misreporting and are completely down the rabbit hole.
I keep a Facebook page up but never use it I just leave it there so the people who would freak out or I suddenly wasn't on there start blowing me up about "what's wrong".
At this point though I've been gone so long I doubt anyone would notice except those crazy ex's trying to keep tabs on me...lol
I've basically accepted that I'll always love my family (even if they are deep in the muck themselves) and I do have like half dozen people in my life who aren't completely apes#it crazy but everyone I've essentially written off as a lost cause I leave them to their Facebook and their insanity echo chamber for a much more peaceful and purposeful existence.
I'm actually kinda thankful for things like Facebook and Donald trump as president it's allowed me to see in a much clearer way just how screwed in the head so many I've interacted with my whole life are.
Either they were always that way and I didn't notice or they are the type of weak minded sheep I have nothing in common with.
Social media we a whole is a disease of algorithms and echo chambers that I generally wish never existed.
Making the internet "more accessible" to even the brain dead ***** did nothing but make their brains even more into a mush of trash.
I miss the days where only people with at least enough aptitude to program a VCR clock were online.
Rdmetz
Posts: 425 +211
No hate my friend but as a VERY early windows phone user going all the way back to 2004-2005 I stuck with windows for a phone as long as I could but eventually Android became a much more serviceable os for Mobile.
I almost always had to install toms on my windows phones to get them up to a somewhat useful state and while Android too was of similar need early on today I would never give up my pixel 6 pro for a windows phone.
If windows had been treated properly as a mobile os from day 1 instead of an afterthought until they has basically lost the battle already to Android then we might actually still have them around and likely could have been a strong number 3 if not actually number 1 or 2 depending on how you view apples position.
Rdmetz
Posts: 425 +211
I met my first real girlfriend in real life (at school through mutual friend) but we mostly only spoke for the first year of knowing each other on msn messenger.
We only ended up together because of our conversations on there especially when she had been dating a guy and talking with me made her realize just how wrong he was for her (and how right I was... Lol)
Smooth as silk I was on the keyboard even if in real life I was more like a wall (6'9" shy guy whose resting face looked like he might want to kill anyone who crossed him) I definitely took advantage in those early years to not allow my thoughts on myself get in the way of expressing my feelings.
Worked out quite well until my maturity caught up with my physical size and I stopped caring if people though I was a scary giant and just embraced being different.
Turns out women actually LOVE a tall man if he can manage to open his mouth and say hello... Lol
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