RIP, MSN Messenger: Microsoft Kills Old

In news that is sure to make you feel old, Microsoft is officially killing its 15-year-old instant messaging program.

Windows Live Messenger - formerly MSN Messenger- will soon go the way of Friendster, Google Reader and Facebook Poke.

Microsoft first announced it would be closing Windows Live and pushing users over to Skype in 2012, but the service had stuck around in China - until now.

Microsoft began alerting Chinese users of Windows Live's imminent shutdown Thursday, and told users they would need to switch to Skype by October 31. The tech giant also promised free Skype credit to those who did, according to the BBC.

MSN Messenger first launched in 1999 as Microsoft's answer to the then-popular AOL Instant Messenger. Like so many messaging apps before and since, it started off simple, with basic IM functionality - but soon expanded with new features such as photo messaging, video chatting, games and much-loved emoji.

Following news of the closure, MSN Messenger alums took to Twitter to eulogize the instant messaging client that once ruled dial-up Internet.

MSN Messenger is shutting down at the end of October. Oh the memories

- l3ahpar (@l3ahpar) August 29, 2014

My favourite thing to do on MSN Messenger was appear offline until my crush logged on and then SERENDIPITOUSLY appear online a minute later.

- Rega Jha (@RegaJha) August 29, 2014

I had no idea MSN Messenger was ceasing to exist now, RIP to the good old days!

- Paul Smith (@PaulSmithhhhh) August 29, 2014

RIP MSN messenger

- paatt (@PattTanner10) August 29, 2014

Though the messaging platform currently has relatively few users, its official closure marks the end of an era, of sorts, for many millennials who came of age while chatting on MSN.

The BBC's Dave Lee waxed nostalgic in his obituary to MSN Messenger:

It touched the lives of millions of teenagers who, in an age before real social networking, were just getting accustomed to what it was like to live on the internet.

MSN Messenger heralded a new era: a time when chatting up a classmate no longer meant the terrifying prospect of actually having to say something to them.

It meant no longer would young teens have to endure the torture of ringing the landline number of their newest crush - knowing there was a high probability that dad would pick up.

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