Darren Straight's Blog

Wow I can’t believe it, it has been almost been 10 years since MSN/Windows Live Messenger was launched. Windows Live Messenger (called MSN Messenger/MSN Messenger Service back then) was released to the public on a warm, sunny Seattle day on July 22nd 1999.

With more than 330 million active users every month, Windows Live Messenger has grown quite a bit over the last 10 years! But for a 10 year celebration it’s not all about the numbers – even more important is how Messenger enabled friendships, changed lives or just brought a lot of fun to a quick chat with a good friend or family member.

 Back in the old days of the MSN Messenger Service 1.0 the System Requirements for the software were:

However now days with Windows Live Messenger 2009, the System Requirementsare much more demanding, some would say that’s a bad thing as Microsoft are making the software bloated, while other would say that the amount of features in Windows Live Messenger is worth it!

Windows Live Messenger 2009 System Requirements

• Supported Operating system: Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (32-bit edition only), or Windows Vista (32-bit or 64-bit editions). Note: Windows Live Movie Maker is not supported on Windows XP
• Processor: 1 GHz or higher for Windows Vista; 800 MHz or higher for Windows XP
• Memory: 128 MB of RAM (256 MB or more recommended) for Windows XP; 512 MB for Windows Vista
• Resolution: Minimum 1024 x 768
• Internet connection: Internet functionality requires dial-up or broadband Internet access (provided separately). Local or long-distance charges may apply.
• Browser: Windows Live Toolbar requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or later
• Graphics or video card: Windows Live Movie Maker requires ATI Radeon 9500 (or higher) or nVidia GeForce FX 5900 (or higher).The following components are needed for specific Windows Live programs, and may be installed for you if they’re not already on your computer.
• For Writer: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or higher*
• For Photo Gallery: SQL 2005 Compact Edition and Windows Imaging Codecs*
• For Photo Gallery and Movie Maker: Some components of DirectX9
• * Not needed when installing on Windows Vista.

One thing for certain though, is that that Windows Live Messenger is definitely a universal tool in the world of Instant Messaging. Read more at The Windows Live Messenger Team Blog. Or visit http://windowslive.uk.msn.com/messenger/birthday for some fun, especially on the 22nd of July 2009.