Microsoft Forces Messenger Users To Switch To Skype Starting April 8

Microsoft are planning to migrate users of it's messenger platform over to Skype, starting April 8th. The news is Microsoft are planing to move users based on language starting with English and ending with Portuguese by April 30th.There many reports suggesting Microsoft will be retiring it's Windows Live Messenger service by March 15th. Although a few users will be shifted, the service wont be completely switched off on March 15th. However, 99 % of Windows Live Messenger users will be moving across starting April 8th.

Director, Marketing Integration, Parri Munsell said "The upgrade process itself has been going really well, we've had millions of customers move over. The transition process is going to be a pretty easy one".

Windows Live Messenger will prompt an upgrade notification to users, trying to log in to the service. Microsoft is pre-caching the Skype installer to existing machines and therefore once the user excepts the notification, he/she can easily switch over to skype. The user will be able to use the same Messenger ID to login to skype. Also skype will retain all of the user's messenger contacts.

Skype in attempts to prevent messenger users from dropping out are offering a number of new features including video messaging for iOS, Android and Mac apps in the United States, United Kingdom and few other countries.

Microsoft acquired Skype back in 2011 for $8.5 billion, since then Skype has been a division of Microsoft. The Windows Live Messenger to Skype shift is probably the first sign, we have seen of the Skype's merger with Microsoft.

Microsoft says it only focused on phasing out Windows Live Messenger desktop client. However , Windows 8 and Windows Phone clients will continue to function, unaffected.