MSN Messenger
Early instant messaging
MSN Messenger was an instant messaging service from Microsoft, dominant in the early 2000s.
Users added contacts, set status messages, and sent text, files, and emoticons.
Its iconic sounds—the door opening for sign-ons, the nudge feature shaking chat windows—defined an era of online communication.
Microsoft retired the service in 2013, folding users into Skype.
- instantBriefest unit of time
- chatInformal verbal exchange
- emoticonsKeyboard-character facial expressions
- nudgeGentle push to prompt
- webcamComputer-mounted video capture device
file transfer · buddy · contact list · online · offline · away · busy · contacts · Windows · Microsoft · AIM · Yahoo · ICQ · login · screen name · avatar · status · winks
- 2000siPhone, Wii, MySpace, YouTube, Hurricane Katrina
- obsolete techfloppy disk, VHS, dial-up modem, cassette tape, floppy disks
- defunct techAIM, GeoCities, Google+, Myspace, Napster
- Dot-com Eradot-com crash, bubble burst, irrational exuberance, IPOs, stock speculation
- retro softwareMS-DOS, WordPerfect, Windows 3.1, Norton, BASIC
- MSN ServicesMSN, Hotmail, Outlook, Encarta
MSN Messengerhandwritten letters
Mail composed manually
physical presence · telephone calls · telephone call · landline phones · landline
message, messenger, messengers, messaging, messages, messaged