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.worldEnglish
      0·
      1 month 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.devEnglish
        0·
        1 month 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.worldEnglish
          0·
          1 month ago

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