So, it’s the end at last, is it? It’s been an interesting last 15 years but Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger is finally reaching the end of the road.
Not too long ago anyone who had a long distance relationship or had moved away from friends and family would have had this chat service as one of their main methods of communication. However, after a long and drawn out period of decline it is finally being switched off in China in October.
The service was first brought out in 1999 under the name of MSN Messenger, and was a basic chat service. At the time it was up against rivals AIM and ICQ. The likes of games, video calls and photo sharing were later added onto it, as its success grew over the years.
Most Users Switched to Skype Already
However, its days were numbered when Microsoft bought Skype. Most of the system’s users moved over to Skype in 2013 and the system was switched off in their countries.
Now it is just China that is left, and it is reported that many people are still registered as users there. They will be switched over to Skype by then end of October and the service will be switched off for good on the 31st of the month. It first arrived in China in 2005 but recently users in the country got emails telling them that they will get given Skype credit when they switch over to it.
Over 300 million people used Messengers as late as 2009 but the rise of the likes of Skype meant that the number of users fell, with Skype itself reaching over 300 million users in 2012.
Were you a regular Messenger user?
