Windows Live team blog archive

12 more days until the big day – Messenger’s 10th Anniversary!  So here’s another Fun Fact from the Windows Live Messenger team, along with the latest story from one of our Messenger users.

Messenger Fun Fact:
1) The typing indicator () seems trivial today, but actually it was a tricky problem back in the early days – how could you show that someone was entering a message without showing every single character (and their typos). The Messenger team invented the typing indicator for that purpose, which today is used by every chat client.

2) The nudge was introduced with MSN Messenger 7.0 on April 7^th 2005. Since then it is even easier to get attention from your favorite chat partner – even if they might not always appreciate your nudges! 😉

I didn’t even know that the Messenger team invented the “typing indicator” until today, but I don’t know what I’d do without it! 🙂  

Now for today’s user story, in his own words…

Lenin from Ecuador writes:

Hi, this is Lenin, writing from Cuenca, Ecuador.

Technology has been one of my passions for my whole life and since Internet appeared I haven’t gone away from my computer. I spent hours in the IRC channels until someone had the genial idea of creating MSN Messenger (in those faraway times).

It was the best thing that could have happened to chats, in all chats and IRCs, people were typing: “Use the Messenger", and everyone was speaking of its big usefulness. After spending a week chatting with someone, it was: "Give me your ‘Hotmail’ so I can add you to mess".

And since that era, 1999, in all the cybercafés it was heard the nice wav sound: "new message" at every moment. Everyone was using it, times changed, years passed, there were new versions released with new features and in every computer it was essential to have Messenger.

And now, 10 years after, being called Windows Live Messenger and having the chance to change the sound for new messages or nudges, but I don’t do it because I’m used to that "toorooroon", it is part of my life. All my contacts are there, I’ve changed my Passport something like 5 times, but my buddies remain, all my life is there.

Greets…!  

For more great Messenger stories, and to get to know the team who has been helping to build the Messenger you know and love today, check us out the Messenger team blog.

– The Messenger team