This will be the end of an era for some of us. The article is pasted
below. The source is unknown.
*Microsoft to close Messenger and consolidate IM service on Skype**
**By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service**
**
** Nov 6, 2012 12:45 PM**
****
**Microsoft will shut down Windows Live Messenger next year, compelling
users to migrate to Skype, whose latest version can import users'
Messenger contacts.**
**
**With the exception of mainland China, Windows Live Messenger will
close in the first quarter of 2013, and its users should install the
latest version of Skype, Microsoft said on Tuesday.**
**
**Users can sign into the Skype service with the credentials they use to
access their Microsoft online services, including Windows Live
Messenger. They will find their Windows Live Messenger contacts on their
Skype contacts list. If they used both Windows Live Messenger and Skype,
the contacts lists will be merged.**
**
**"We want to focus our efforts on making things simpler for our users
while continuously improving the overall experience," wrote Tony Bates,
Skype's president, in a blog post.**
**
**To encourage Windows Live Messenger users to update to Skype, Bates
touted several benefits they'll get from Skype, including support for
more devices such as iPad and Android tablets, screen sharing, the
ability to place calls to landline phones, and group video conferencing.**
**
**However, this type of migration is rarely seamless, and users are
already raising questions in comments to Bates' blog post, including the
availability of certain Windows Live Messenger features and the capacity
of the Skype infrastructure to sustain the new workload.**
**
**Microsoft, which acquired Skype in October 2011 for $8.5 billion, will
provide more information about the transition, as well as introduce
special offers for fee-based Skype services, in the coming months, Bates
wrote.**
*
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Christopher Hallsworth
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