Enterprise Communicationsmicrosoft

Messenger Kicks Skype’s Ass

by Dave Michels

In April 2010, Microsoft was readying the launch of Windows Live Messenger Wave 4 and posted on its site a comparison table that clearly shows how Messenger is a far superior service to Skype. Messenger had 21 checkbox features compared to Skype’s paltry 5.

A few thoughts on the matter:

  1. Skype has been aggressive about adding new features, the table is presumably a bit out of date. 
  2. Features are important, but not as important as a user base. Particularly one spread out among different platforms and around the world.
  3. Mobile, Mobile, Mobile.
  4. I can think of 8.5 billion reasons why this chart is wrong.
  5. What’s next? Will Skype and Messenger merge? Will Messenger features appear on Skype? Will Skype features (not shown) appear on Messenger? Stay tuned to As the World Turns.

MS-MessengerWave4-4-2010.