Windows Live Messenger: The Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated, I Will Actually Retire on April 8, 2013

It was previously announced that WLM would be officially retired on March 15, 2013 but the new date is April 8, 2013.

And will Windows Live Messenger actually die on April 9? No. A better name might be retirement, or perhaps more accurate is: get a name change.

Indeed it appears that April 8 is merely step 1 of the Live Messenger branding retirement process.  Microsoft is NOT pulling the plug on their LIve Messenger infrastructure and servers, but merely disallowing the Live Messenger client to login to the Live Messenger infrastructure. What will happen April 8, 2013?

• You will no longer be able to login to Live Messenger using the Live Mesenger client, you will need to use the Skype client to login.
• 3rd Party Apps (IM+, Trilllian, etc) will still be allowed to login to Live Messenger until sometime in 2014 (Source: click here)
• Live Messenger in China will continue to work
• YOU will now need to use the latest Skype client to login to what used to be Live Messenger

In the mean time Skype is noting that Skype and Messenger are coming together (very accurate wording indeed!) and…

…Live Messenger is encouraging people to upgrade to the latest version of the Windows Live Messenger client: Skype.

Some other Lync <-> Skype articles you might have interest in:

• How to prepare for the great demise of WLM? Click Here
• How Does Lync <-> Skype Federation Work Under the Hood? Click Here
• How Do I Enable Lync <-> Skype Federation from Skype Side? Click Here
• How Much Will Lync <-> Skype Federation Cost? Click Here
• The Different Between Skype and Lync: Click Here
• Nov 2012: Lync <-> Skype IM/P Has Started Working: Click Here
• Feb 2013: Lync <-> Skype Voice Has Started Working for Some: Click Here