Microsoft to retire Windows Live Messenger in favor of Skype | The Verge

"All in" with Skype

"Microsoft is working towards retiring its Windows Live Messenger client in favor of Skype. The Verge has learned through several sources that Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger service will be retired in the coming months and integrated into Skype. Microsoft has slowly been moving people over to the Messenger backend for Skype over the past few months, with around 80 percent of all IMs sent on Skype being handled by Messenger."

Microsoft to retire Windows Live Messenger in favor of Skype | The Verge