MSN Web Messenger retires on 30th June

According to the Windows Live Hotmail team, preparations have started and efforts are being made to retire and end the MSN Web Messenger. Since the new web based instant messaging (IM) in Windows Live Hotmail is now available worldwide, one can say that there is no need for MSN Web Messenger. The Windows Live Hotmail team happened to share the same thinking. According to them:

With new web-based instant messaging (IM) now available in Windows Live Hotmail worldwide, we are preparing to retire MSN Web Messenger. The old MSN Web Messenger experience will end on June 30, 2009.

To chat directly from the browser, you do not need to browse to the MSN Web Messenger site, instead you can chat right from your Hotmail Inbox or Contacts list. To access the new web-based IM facility, just go to the Windows Live People page, sign in using your credentials and start chatting with your Messenger friends. The team believes that Hotmail based Instant Messaging is far better than MSN Web Messenger for reasons well known. They stated:

Instant messaging from Hotmail makes it easier to communicate and share in new ways in comparison to MSN Web Messenger. For example, our integration with the suite of other Windows Live services allows you to see when your Messenger friends are online while reading an e-mail and immediately start a chat to clarify something in your friend’s e-mail message.

So go ahead and give the new IM feature embedded into Hotmail a try if you haven’t done it already.

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