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The .NET Messenger Service (formerly MSN Messenger Service and now called Windows Live Messenger Service) is an instant messaging and presence system developed by Microsoft in 1999 for use with its MSN Messenger software and used today by its current instant messaging clients, Windows Live Messenger and Microsoft Messenger for Mac. Third-party clients also connect to the service. It communicates using the Microsoft Notification Protocol, a proprietary instant messaging protocol. The service allows anyone with a Windows Live ID to sign in and communicate in real time with other people who are signed in as well.
Background
Despite multiple name changes to the service and its client software over the years, the .NET Messenger Service is often referred to colloquially as "MSN," due to the history of MSN Messenger. The service itself was known as MSN Messenger Service from 1999 to 2001, at which time, Microsoft changed its name to .NET Messenger Service and began offering clients that no longer carried the "MSN" name, such as the Windows Messenger client included with Windows XP, which was originally intended to be a streamlined version of MSN Messenger, free of advertisements and integrated into Windows.
Nevertheless, the company continued to offer more upgrades to MSN Messenger until the end of 2005, when all previous versions of MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger were superseded by a new program, Windows Live Messenger, as part of Microsoft's launch of its Windows Live online services.
Currently, the official name for the service remains .NET Messenger Service, as indicated on its official network status web page, though Microsoft rarely uses the name to promote the service. Because the main client used to access the service is called Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft has recently started referring to the entire service as the Windows Live Messenger Service in its support documentation.
The service can integrate with the Windows operating system, automatically and simultaneously signing into the network as the user logs into their Windows account. Corporations can also integrate their Microsoft Office Communications Server and Active Directory with the service.
Software
Official clients
Microsoft offers the following instant messaging clients that connect to the .NET Messenger Service:
- Windows Live Messenger, for users of Microsoft Windows
- MSN Messenger was the former name of the client from 1999 to 2005
- Windows Messenger is a basic version of the client included with Windows XP
- Microsoft Messenger for Mac, for users of Mac OS X
- MSN Web Messenger, a web browser-based messaging program for use through Internet Explorer
- Windows Live Web Messenger is in development now and will soon supersede MSN Web Messenger
Third-party clients
Additionally, these third-party clients and others can access the .NET Messenger Service:
- Adium (Mac OS X, GPL)
- Agile Messenger (S60 and Windows Mobile, proprietary, commercial)
- aMSN (Multi-platform, GPL)
- BitlBee (Windows and Unix-like, GPL)
- CenterIM (Cross-platform, GPL)
- Digsby (Windows, Mac and Linux planned, proprietary)
- emesene (Multi-platform, GPL)
- eMSN (Mac OS X)
- eBuddy (Web-based and Mobile)
- Fire (Mac OS X, GPL)
- Instantbird (Multi-platform, GPL)
- imo.im (Web-based)
- Jabber (Any client supporting Jabber protocol can use transports to connect to .NET Messenger Service)
- KMess (Linux KDE, GPL)
- Kopete (Linux KDE, GPL)
- Meebo (Web-based)
- Meetro (Multi-platform, proprietary)
- Miranda IM (Windows, GPL)
- Mercury Messenger (formerly dMSN) (Multi-platform, proprietary)
- Pidgin (formerly Gaim) (Multi-platform, GPL)
- Shape Services IMPlus (S60)
- SIM-IM (Multi-platform, GPL)
- tmsnc (Multi-platform, text based)
- Trillian (Multi-platform, Web, proprietary)
- Yahoo instant messenger
Disambiguation
Windows NT Messenger Service
Windows NT and newer operating systems from Microsoft included a system notification service called Messenger service, which was intended for use within workgroups, but eventually became used maliciously to present pop-up advertisements to users. This service, although it has a similar name, is not related in any way to the .NET Messenger Service or the Windows Messenger instant messaging client. It became disabled by default with Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and was removed completely in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
Microsoft .NET Framework
Despite its name, the .NET Messenger Service is not in any way related to the Microsoft .NET Framework development platform. Neither the official clients nor the protocol itself is tied to the .NET Framework. The official clients themselves have verified this information.
See also
- Windows Live Messenger
- Microsoft Messenger for Mac
- Windows Live ID
- Microsoft Notification Protocol
- Comparison of instant messaging clients
- Comparison of instant messaging protocols
References
- ^ Microsoft Launches MSN Messenger Service
- ^ Microsoft Help and Support: Important changes to Windows Live Messenger
- Get Started with Windows Messenger v4.0
- Check the Microsoft .NET Messenger Service status