What We Are Losing When Live Messenger Shuts Down on March 15, Now April 8th

Author: Brian Jackson | Posted in Miscellaneous 6 Comments

Received email from Microsoft just now confirming that on ~~March 15th~~ April 8th, Live Messenger will no longer function! Very frustrated as the following features still haven’t been integrated into Skype yet….

So, what’s happening after ~~15th March~~ April 8th?
Messenger users on desktops** will not be able to sign in and will only be able to upgrade to Skype. If you attempt to sign in, a notification will appear, and if you continue, you will be taken through our installer flow to install Skype and automatically uninstall Messenger at the same time.

Message from Microsoft

Hello,

Starting April 8th, we will begin upgrading customers from Messenger to Skype. The process will take a few weeks to complete. April 8th is the first day you may be required to upgrade. This is a bit later than the March 15th date we previously mentioned to some of you as we wanted to give you more time to make the transition.

To keep chatting with your Messenger contacts, simply upgrade to the latest version of Skype using the instructions below and sign in using a Microsoft account (this is the same ID you use to sign into Messenger). Once signed in, your contacts will already be there. You’ll be able to instant message and make video calls with them just like before, and start discovering new ways of staying in touch, including Skype on your mobile or tablet.

#1 – Audio Subpar

The Skype client on Windows 8 doesn’t block background noise in relation to speaker direction (which Microsoft Live Messenger always has – see our detailed post on the sound issue: http://theitbros.com/skype-background-noise-verses-windows-live-messenger/ ) Doesn’t anyone else here besides my brother and I chat on webcam while blaring music through speakers, or watching a movie while chatting?

#2 – Skype Client doesn’t have copy/paste of images or media!

I use this so often it isn’t even funny. Currently with Skype you have to send a file, download it. Same with Youtube videos. Messenger you can paste a Youtube URL and the other person receives the Youtube player right in messenger.

#3 – Skype needs to be integrated into the messaging hub

** Update ** There have been improvements now with Skype in the messaging hub.
Sorry if this sounds like a rant, but my brother and I are very frustrated… at least let Messenger run until these basic fundamental features have been added. This is just like Microsoft pretty much ditching CRM 4.0 with IE10 support leaving hundreds of businesses in the dust and very frustrated since they can’t upgrade to Windows 8. (http://theitbros.com/ie10-doesnt-work-with-microsoft-dynamics-crm-4-0/)

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Tags:Live, Messenger, Skype

About Author

Brian Jackson

My name is Brian Lee Jackson. I am an IT guru and web developer. I love working as a Systems Administrator and playing with the newest Microsoft products.

Rival

RIP, you will always be known as MSN Messenger, or simply, MSN to me.
been using MSN since good ol’ 2001.
- http://theitbros.com/ Brian Jackson
  
  Yep, still has features that Microsoft hasn’t put into Skype yet… Will be missed!
http://www.facebook.com/ryan.v.rosenberg Ryan Von Rosenberg

My wife and I started and maintained our relationship on MSN messenger. We met on DeviantART and used MSN messenger to talk. She lived in the UK and I lived in the US, over time we fell in love and finally were able to meet. Again, MSN messenger helped us communicate how we would meet, even while using the phone MSN messenger allowed us to plan more easily as neither of us did phone calls well…

We met twice, I went there for a month and a half and came back, again, MSN messenger was there for us, helping us maintain our relationship without paying stupid fees for phone calls… A good year later she came to the US for 6 months, halfway into the stay I asked her to marry me and she said yes. And then as the government requires foreign fiances to get a fiance visa while living in THEIR country she had to leave again, we were separated again, and once again MSN messenger was there.

We prepared wedding details and such through MSN messenger while she was gone, we did use the phone, but again, MSN messenger was preferred… Then we were finally together, married, to be together forever, and we are. We’re happy… And we still go to separate rooms to relive those days of long distance, chatting with each other on MSN. Or Live Messenger as we call it now… We still use it. So what are we losing?

My wife and I are losing the place we cultivated our love. We still have the message logs, the memories, the custom emoticons we always used to use. What would we lose going to Skype? The freedom of sharing links easily, just within the window, the fantastic custom emoticons we use every time we chat, and the sentimental value of somewhere we used to spend eight hours a day together before we finally got to meet…

So why am I posting this here? I’ll be honest, I’ve no idea. I guess a form of eulogy to somewhere I spent so many hours every single day for a good 4 years of my life.

We’re migrating to QQ Messenger as it’s very similar to how MSN used to be.

RIP MSN Messenger. Thank you for everything.
- http://theitbros.com/ Brian Jackson
  
  Wow, thank you for your post Ryan, and sharing that with us! Sounds like you used messenger even more than we do. Messenger will definitely be missed. Here’s hoping Microsoft adds some of those things we love from messenger, back into Skype.
- http://twitter.com/FuckingSoup98 Javier Varela
  
  I am in nearly the exact same situation! Both I and my girlfriend started our relationship with skype, but didn’t feel it was “our thing”. I mentioned MSN to her and she said she’d give it a try. Right off the bat she fell in love with it, and we fell in love with each other. We’ve only been together a little under a year, ten months, but still I was hoping to be able to reach a time where we either marry or move in together and be able to see our FULL conversation log of what kept us together this entire time.
  
  It is a little sad that MSN is going away, especially considering that this is what kept our bond so strong. It feels like a small part of us is going away, but I don’t think this will be the end. I am definitely going to save our logs though. I think it’d be nice to read eventually how it all started from MSN.
  
  I told her about QQ too, but I wasn’t sure about it. I’ll check it out and see if its any good on mobile since we both use our IM when we’re mostly away. For now we’re going to use Yahoo Messenger, it looks pretty nice since I’ve not used it. I like skype, but it just doesn’t have that bonding feel to it, that simplicity that you can admire like MSN. Thank you MSN for being a great wingman! You will be missed! Maybe someone someday can make a very identical version and we can again experience what we have lost today…
  
  ~Soupiee
  - http://theitbros.com/ Brian Jackson
    
    Thank you for your comment Javier! Awesome to see people’s different interactions with messenger of the past few years.