14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft will officially start the Windows Live Messenger retirement next week, but third-party clients will continue to be available for a few more months, until the company shuts down the Messenger servers.
It’s not yet clear how long it will take until Microsoft does this, but according to an older post published by Cerulean Studios (the creator of Trillian) and spotted by ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, the company plans to completely kill the Messenger platform next year.
“Sometime next year, Microsoft will begin to disable their Messenger servers. This move will impact every client, including Trillian and any other third-party IM software that you and your friends may be using. At this point, the Messenger service as you know it will cease to exist – you will not be able to sign in,” the blog post reads.
At this point, Trillian is one of the most popular third-party Windows Live Messenger clients on the market, so those of you who don’t want to migrate to Skype can install and use this app until Microsoft shuts down the servers.