The bottom of the article links to the history (individual features) of other IM programs from that era as well like ICQ and Yahoo Messenger.
MSN = Microsoft Network. They didn’t “happen”…they were always part of the process. MSN messenger was never anything other than a Microsoft product.
The reason MSN stopped being used was because Microsoft started requiring Microsoft accounts for it to work, and started pushing people towards Skype. Which is why “Microsoft happened”. I never really meant to imply that Microsoft bought it or anything, just that they are the reason it eventually died.
I thought it always required a microsoft e-mail? It’s why most millenials had a hotmail before gmail was a thing.
Yeah, but those Hotmail accounts were lightweight and simple. They weren’t connected to a Microsoft metaverse of spyware like they are now. I had 3 of these Hotmail accounts but at some point I got locked out of all of them for not providing Microsoft with my phone number. That’s how I personally stopped using MSN.
