IS IT TRUE?

[olldaddy78]

Following message received from my daughter in GENEVA.
"Dad, is it true that MSN is to become a paying concern in July of 2006 ?
and that we will have to pay afterwards for this means of communication ? I don't know if its a rumour or not, but even so, have you heard of this or anyone in your chatroom ?"
Happy and healthy days to all for 2006.

[Metla]

If it were true then it would be common knowledge.

Either way, who would care?, there is no shortage of Instant messengers available. I use MSN because it installed on XP by default, not because its particulary good. Sure as hell wouldnt bother installing her on a pre-XP machine.

[Myth]

If MSN messenger did indeed become shareware, there are plenty of free clients available (Trillian and Gaim to name 2) not to mention Windows Messenger
If the service itself became a pay-for service, then those of us using it would do what we did when MSN Chat became a pay-for service... move elsewhere and find another alternative.

Sad but it seems a lot of formerly free MS services are looking to be non-free in the future... I heard a small rumour (maybe untrue) that once MS Antispyware passes beta stage (about June 2006) it will no longer be free.

[maccrazy]

As others have said, if it is true it isn't exactly a huge loss. Just change to a different IM application.

[Greven]

The problem is that MSN is a defacto standard for IM - If you don't want to do anything special & don't want too much hastle, you can be sure that you can chat to your friends on MSN because everyone uses it.

If MSN goes paid, everyone is going to find their own new favourite service & you are going to have to have multiple IM accounts until a new defacto standard rises to take the place of MSN.

[SurferJoe46]

Taz:
I also got a confirmation on your: "Sad but it seems a lot of formerly free MS services are looking to be non-free in the future... I heard a small rumour (maybe untrue) that once MS Antispyware passes beta stage (about June 2006) it will no longer be free."

It's pretty much a given from very reliable sources that this is gonna be the case. Mr. Bill is selling us systems, and like selling cars then renting us the seatbelts, we are gonna have to pay for security to protect his interests...and don't think it's anything but HIS INTERESTS that he's concerned over either! Anything that messes with his sacred cows will make him look bad...so he has a vested interest in the smoothness of operations.

As for MSN Messenger going commercial...it is already that way with the ISP I have here in California.

I use Verizon as my ISP, and got a choice of SBC/Yahoo or MSN 9 with the package. So far, and to me, the costs are invisable..but I know they're there anyway. Verizon is one of the biggies here in the US as a phone company and communications giant. There are others, and they all seem to have approximately the same packages to offer..some more, some a little less.

Getting a little off-base now, I am amazed at what you NZ'rs put up with in the form of internet access. Message units, dial-ups that are really slow and many if not most places have no access to DSL either.

As a f'rinstance: My ISP (Verizon) sells me the following package:

Unlimited long distance phone service, anyplace a US flag flies as a territory or possession or state, plus Canada and Mexico; Unlimited bandwidth with no time or message unit restrictions for DSL; Caller Identification; 3-way calling; Call blocking; Custom ringtones for special callers; Call Waiting with caller ID ;Guaranteed DSL speeds of 4000 down, 600 up; Free DSL modem and filters; 24/7 tech support for MSN 9, Verizon and Microsoft; Up-to-the-wall" warrantee on connections and cables; Free Long Distance credit cards for out of town calls when not at home; Free McAfee Anti-Virus and Security; VOIP;

All this for $59.95US/month. I DO get a senior discount as I am over 55 years old. I think the regular cost is around $69.00/month otherwise.

Now Verizon has an ad selling DSL for I think $14.95/month..without using the phone service...we call it "naked DSL" here if you get the DSL without any other services. It is however a lot slower version, about 2x the speed of dial-up, which here is 56Kbps. The FCC has allowed this to happen as long as the VOIP can get to the 911 emergency circuits that are nationwide for police, paramedics and other emergency functions.

Hopefully youse guys get some better service real soon.......

[Metla]

Are you saying that your ISP can restrict your choice of IM client?

I find that a bit hard to believe, and even if so there would be ways around it. I'd tell em to shove and run 10 different clients.

As for MS ainti-spyware, anther who cares?, it only removes products that havent paid a fee to MS, there are multiple free tools, and Bill Gates should fix his own crap rather then charge the customers for the weakness of MS, the main weakness being turning everything into a way to generate cash rather then providing a good product.

Scumbags and shysters, Anyone who pays for Anti-Spy is getting touched, I wouldn't even use the free version.

Having said that, I won't believe its going to cost untill I have seen an announcment from MS, Bill has already publicy stated they wont charge for the home user version.

[zqwerty]

SurferJoe46

Few people thinly spread over mountainous terrain a long way from the rest of the world are the reasons always given for us being ripped off on almost everything.

I envy you those prices.

[Sultan_Emerr]

miranda-im.org



BETTER GET READY!

[imarubberducky]

Well, it depends on what you mean by MSN. MSN is 2 things, Microsoft Services Network, or an ISP with special features like "MSN Explorer". This doesn't apply in NZ, because it's not avaliable in NZ, so MSN Messenger is commonly referred to as simply MSN.

If you're refering to MSN Messenger, then no it is not going to be a paid service. Instead MSN Msgr will be abandoned and replaced with Windows Live Messenger, which will also be free.