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Messenger (formerlyMSN Messenger Service,[1].NET Messenger Service andWindows Live Messenger Service) was aninstant messaging andpresence system developed byMicrosoft in 1999 for use with itsMSN Messenger software. It was used byinstant messaging clients includingWindows 8,Windows Live Messenger,Microsoft Messenger for Mac,Outlook.com andXbox Live. Third-party clients also connected to the service. It communicated using theMicrosoft Notification Protocol, a proprietary instant messagingprotocol. The service allowed anyone with aMicrosoft account to sign in and communicate in real time with other people who were signed in as well.
On January 11, 2013, Microsoft announced that they were retiring the existing Messenger service globally (except for mainland China where Messenger will continue to be available) and replacing it with Skype.[1] In April 2013, Microsoft merged the service intoSkype; existing users were able to sign into Skype with their existing accounts and access their contact list. As part of the merger, Skype's instant messaging functionality is now running on the backbone of the former Messenger service.[1]
Despite multiple name changes to the service and its client software over the years, the Messenger service is often referred to colloquially as "MSN", due to the history ofMSN Messenger. The service itself was known asMSN Messenger Service from 1999 to 2001,[1] at which time, Microsoft changed its name to.NET Messenger Service and began offering clients that no longer carried the "MSN" name, such as theWindows Messenger client included withWindows XP, which was originally intended to be a streamlined version of MSN Messenger, free of advertisements and integrated into Windows.[1]
Nevertheless, the company continued to offer more upgrades to MSN Messenger until the end of 2005, when all previous versions of MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger were superseded by a new program,Windows Live Messenger, as part of Microsoft's launch of itsWindows Live online services.[1]
For several years, the official name for the service remained .NET Messenger Service, as indicated on its official network status web page,[2] though Microsoft rarely used the name to promote the service. Because the main client used to access the service became known asWindows Live Messenger, Microsoft started referring to the entire service as theWindows Live Messenger Service in its support documentation in the mid-2000s.[3]
The service can integrate with theWindowsoperating system, automatically and simultaneously signing into the network as the user logs into their Windows account. Organizations can also integrate theirMicrosoft Office Communications Server andActive Directory with the service. In December 2011, Microsoft released anXMPP interface to the Messenger service.[4]
As part of a larger effort to rebrand many of itsWindows Live services, Microsoft began referring to the service as simplyMessenger in 2012.[5]
Microsoft offered the following instant messaging clients that connected to the Messenger service:
A 2007 analysis of Messenger'sMicrosoft Notification Protocol, which isunencrypted, concluded that its design "did not follow several principles of designing secure systems", resulting in a "plethora ofsecurity vulnerabilities"; these vulnerabilities were demonstrated by successfully spoofing a user's identity.[8]
MSN software and services | |
|---|---|
| Current services | |
| Rebranded | |
| Divested by Microsoft | |
| Discontinued | |
