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.

    • kitnaht@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      20
      ·
      edit-2
      21 days ago

      MSN = Microsoft Network. They didn’t “happen”…they were always part of the process. MSN messenger was never anything other than a Microsoft product.

      • parpol@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        21 days ago

        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.

        • yamanii@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          20 days ago

          I thought it always required a microsoft e-mail? It’s why most millenials had a hotmail before gmail was a thing.

          • parpol@programming.dev
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            19 days ago

            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.