Messenger to retire on March 15, 2013 - Magzium

shravya
On January 11, 2013

Microsoft emailed its 100 million+ Messenger users to inform that the service is officially retiring on 15th of March this year. By then it plans to migrate all its users to Skype its acquisition from 2011.

There are many takers for both services but Microsoft wants everyone to use just the Skype. It’s a more practical thing as this is an era of smart-phones and phablets. Since Skype has already built several apps it has definitely left behind Messenger in this segment of the market. Moreover Microsoft can now concentrate on updating just one service instead of two. Though Messenger is retiring globally it will continue to exist in mainland China.

Until March 15th the Messenger will continue to run as usual but with a banner notification prompting you to upgrade to Skype. Once you click on it it lets you install Skype. Once you have installed it you can sign in using your Microsoft account. You can happily IM or video chat with all your Messenger buddies through Skype.