Bye bye WLM/MSN... Only Skype now

[Apith]

Interesting. Looks like skype will have no rivals as to the best way to contact people for business deals.

Microsoft did buy Skype a while back, so they weren't really rivals

I thought there was another thread about his, I also thought I posted. Well, my response is basically it was time, MSN has been getting buggier as time passed by. It doesn't compare to Skype, MSN is especially slow. I'm so glad I made the switch when I did, shortly after I did, I stopped using MSN completely because of how buggy an slow it was.

 

Microsoft did buy Skype a while back, so they weren't really rivals

I thought there was another thread about his, I also thought I posted. Well, my response is basically it was time, MSN has been getting buggier as time passed by. It doesn't compare to Skype, MSN is especially slow. I'm so glad I made the switch when I did, shortly after I did, I stopped using MSN completely because of how buggy an slow it was.

Yeah I know but I was meaning like MSN was very popular for trading on and some people (god forbid) even use shit like aim and all that crap. Skype will now be the best trading method. I've noticed it being used more and more in the last 6 months or so with me even having to make a skype for my market faggery.

I know what you mean about it being glitchy and slow, my MSN takes about a minute just to sign in whereas skype is a matter of seconds.

 

[MegaMatt]

Not sure if this has already been posted, but I figured Sythe would be one of the few websites this would affect a lot.
Article - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20222998

Microsoft has announced it intends to "retire" its instant message chat tool and replace it with Skype's messaging tool.

The news comes 18 months after the software giant announced it was paying $8.5bn (£5.3bn) for the communications software developer.

Microsoft said Windows Live Messenger (WLM) would be turned off by March 2013 worldwide, with the exception of China.

It reflects the firm's determination to focus its efforts on Skype.

WLM launched in 1999 when it was known as MSN Messenger. Over time, photo delivery, video calls and games were added to the package's text-based messages.

In 2009, the firm said it had 330 million active users.
Chat 'cannibalisation'

According to internet analysis firm Comscore, WLM still had more than double the number of Skype's instant messenger facility at the start of this year in the US, and was second only in popularity to Yahoo Messenger.

But the report suggested WLM's US audience had fallen to 8.3 million unique users, representing a 48% drop year-on-year. By contrast, the number of people using Skype to instant message each other grew over the period.

Microsoft highlighted the fact that WLM was still more popular than Yahoo's product in most other territories, but nevertheless decided to call time on the service.

"When a company has competing products that can result in cannibalisation it's often better to focus on a single one," said Brian Blau from the consultancy Gartner.

"Skype's top-up services offer the chance to monetise its users and Microsoft is also looking towards opportunities in the living room.

"Messenger doesn't seem like an appropriate communications platform for TVs or the firm's Xbox console - but Skype does."

He also noted that the firm had opted to integrate Skype into its new Windows Phone 8 smartphone software, eclipsing the effort to integrate WLM into the message threads of the operating system' previous version.

To ease the changeover, Microsoft is offering a tool to migrate WLM messenger contacts over.

The risk is that the move encourages users to switch instead to rival platforms such as WhatsApp Messenger, AIM or Google Talk.

But Microsoft is at least partially protected by its tie-up with Facebook last year. Skype video calls are now offered as an extra to the social network's own instant messaging tool.

 

[Apith]

It's been posted before, but it didn't really go into detail, just looked like MSN was throwing in the towel.

Least now it shows that it purchased Skype. This was pretty much what I thought when I saw the previous thread, I knew the number of MSN users were dropping, but it's dropping harder than I thought.

I'd say they made the right move, with the numbers taking a nosedive, there wasn't really much of a choice.

I wonder how it would turn out, right now there are malicious things that you can do with just a user's skype.

 

[MegaMatt]

Ah okay, I'll leave it up to the mods if they want to close this or not if it's already been posted. I grew up using it extensively for years and years but my MSN use mostly came to a halt when facebook chat was implemented, started using it alteast 90% less last year. It was still always my go to program if I needed to contact someone on Sythe though (albeit as uncommon as that is). I definitely prefer MSN to Skype as far as instant messages go anyway. Hopefully they at least the interface a little more similar to MSN's

 

[Apith]

How long did you use Skype?

One of the frequent posts in the other thread(s) was that MSN was really buggy. I've experienced a problem where every so often all MSN windows go white, people can talk to me, I get the noise, I can type, but I see completely nothing. I have to exit MSN and open it again. Then there's the invite bug, rarely when adding someone, it gets messed up, or they don't appear online etc.

I still preferred MSN over Skype for the first few days I tried Skype, then eventually I stopped using MSN and I just kept using Skype. Glad I did the switch. I find skype way faster too.

 

[FireZ]

Not mad about msn being dumped at all. Just got skype and I like it much more

 

[kill dank]

Good to hear. I never used it much but when I did I did not enjoy my experience.

 

[Uchiha_Sasuke]

I'm rather glad MSN is going to shut down, MSN was very buggy for me most of the time. Good move on Microsofts part.

 

[djweasel]

I'm kinda glad, I think Skype is much better.

 

[kmjt]

Never thought I would see myself using Skype for sales but I guess time will change that.

 

[Gypsy Papes]

I have never used skype.. Does it actually have IMs or is it internet calling only?

 

[mage3158]

I have never used skype.. Does it actually have IMs or is it internet calling only?

It includes IMing as well as video chat.

 

[JohnK]

it will truly be the end of an era for instant messaging. i grew up on this shit when it was blowing up all over. still remember thinking to myself how revolutionary it was to have "group chats" with like 16 people in it lol

 

Installed skype after reading this. still getting used to the program, but at the moment I still prefer MSN. Not like I have much choice though!

 

[MegaMatt]

it will truly be the end of an era for instant messaging. i grew up on this shit when it was blowing up all over. still remember thinking to myself how revolutionary it was to have "group chats" with like 16 people in it lol

Haha I know right? I remember spending countless nights getting a bunch of friends to invite their whole contact list and just having huge conversations til late in the morning, so much has changed.

 

[Bedwetter]

It's really about time. MSN is very outdated and Skype is just so much better.

 

[Lame]

I grew up with MSN=( its an end to an era.

 

[abecsta8]

Pretty sad to see this and the rate of imposters is going to shoot up

 

[Noam]

The moment I saw I would be forced to get MSN due to Sythe I shuddered :/
Now it's gone I can finally get rid of the broken shit that is MSN. Microsoft finally admitted its internet services died out in 2004 and that's a good step in the right direction.