Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger application will be discontinued on Oct. 31, after 15 years.
The service only remains in use in China -- where the final switch-off will take place. The service was discontinued in most other markets in 2013, after Microsoft purchased Skype, aiming to switch users over to that platform.
BBC News reports that a number of Chinese Windows Live users received emails from Microsoft on Thursday informing them of the planned closure. The emails told users they would get free Skype credit when they migrated over to the new service.
The service, which was launched in 1999, was originally designed to compete with Aol's AIM chat program. It had as many as 300 million users as recently as 2010, according to a Microsoft blog post.
When in 2012, the service was down to about 100 million users, Microsoft announced that it merging the remnants of the program with Skype, which boasted an active user base of more than 600 million.
Tech Times reports that the move to kill MSN Messenger in China has been prompted by the growing popularity of rival chat service QQ from Tencent, a China-based firm.
Technology writer Dave Lee said that the impact of the service was significant. 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.”
During the program’s lifetime, Microsoft adding more features to the service – including custom emoticons, games between players, and a ‘nudge’ function which would shake a friend’s chat window to grab their attention, the Independent writes.
The service only remains in use in China -- where the final switch-off will take place. The service was discontinued in most other markets in 2013, after Microsoft purchased Skype, aiming to switch users over to that platform.
BBC News reports that a number of Chinese Windows Live users received emails from Microsoft on Thursday informing them of the planned closure. The emails told users they would get free Skype credit when they migrated over to the new service.
The service, which was launched in 1999, was originally designed to compete with Aol's AIM chat program. It had as many as 300 million users as recently as 2010, according to a Microsoft blog post.
When in 2012, the service was down to about 100 million users, Microsoft announced that it merging the remnants of the program with Skype, which boasted an active user base of more than 600 million.
Tech Times reports that the move to kill MSN Messenger in China has been prompted by the growing popularity of rival chat service QQ from Tencent, a China-based firm.
Technology writer Dave Lee said that the impact of the service was significant. 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.”
During the program’s lifetime, Microsoft adding more features to the service – including custom emoticons, games between players, and a ‘nudge’ function which would shake a friend’s chat window to grab their attention, the Independent writes.
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