On November 6, 2012 Microsoft has announced that Windows Live Messenger will be retired on March 15, 2013. But recent email form Windows Live Messenger team indicate that retired date was extended to April 8 th 2013, to give user more to upgrade to Skype.

Windows Live Messenger, some may remember this as MSN Messenger from Microsoft; first released on July 22, 1988. MSN Messenger had evolved over the time, from simple plane text messenger to complex audio/video messenger. It started with simple contact list and extended to support multiple groups of contacts. In 2006 MSN Messenger was renamed as Windows Live Messenger and loaded with many options to customize the look. The last version of Windows Live Messenger has capability to connect with Facebook, which allows Live Messenger user to chat with Facebook users (friends).

Skype, first released in August 2003 as peer-to-peer messenger. As technology advances Skype has changed its functionality and became one of the top Voice over IP (VoIP) provider. Skype also famous for its video conference, file transfer and cheap international calls. At the end of year 2010, Skype has 663 million registered users. Skype provides video chat for Facebook users, so integration of Facebook status updates, walls and comments are possible within Skype messenger.

Microsoft acquired Skype in May 2011. As all the features of Windows Live Messenger exist in Skype and moreover Skype was more popular than Live Messenger, So Microsoft announced to retired Windows Live Messenger and migrate all users to Skype. The process of migrating will start on April 8, 2013 and expected to complete by April 30, 2013. End of April maybe, the end of Windows Live Messenger.