Word: msn
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...road to this impasse is as full of mutual distrust as any of the software giants' previous disputes. Microsoft launched MSN Messenger in mid-July. Besides providing a free hotmail account, it allowed AOL buddy-list users to sign in too--if they entered their password. That set off alarm bells at AOL, which promptly blocked Microsoft's access to its server. Microsoft came up with a fix, which AOL also jammed. A terse exchange of snail mail followed. Late last week AOL customers were greeted at login by an ominous new start-up screen warning of the dangers...
Which means neutral Netizens ought to get used to living on both sides of the Berlin Wall at once: using MSN Messenger to talk to hotmailers, and IM for their AOL comrades. Until the wall comes down, Gates and Case are unlikely to win any popularity contests. Perhaps it's time they set up their own private buddy list...
...Plans for MSN Messenger were originally announced a year ago, with beta testing to begin August 1998. In the intervening months AOL's Instant Messenger user base has bulked up to about 25 million, more than the number of subscribers who pay to use AOL's main services. Still, as with all free Internet services, the numbers of active user accounts are undoubtedly inflated by the ease of registering. And despite these large audiences, no one has figured out how to make any money on the free chat service, except to note that the client program commands an outsized amount...
Microsoft announced Thursday that it had reverse engineered one of America Online's prize programs, the AOL Instant Messenger, and included the ability to exchange real-time messages with AOL users in its new MSN Messenger. The free MSN service can even monitor whether AOL users are logged in, mimicking AOL's wildly popular Buddy List service...
...Excel) has done particularly well: Sales of so-called productivity applications in general poured $2.9 billion into Microsoft's coffers, more than half its total income. Maffei also cited sales of Windows, improved sales in Asia (worth $570 million) and better performance from Microsoft's web ventures, such as MSN. Maffei also confirmed that Microsoft was considering creating a "tracking" stock for its Internet properties. MORE...