14 DAY TRIAL // Although it’s still the subject of an anti-trust probe in China, Microsoft started notifying customers in the country that the MSN service would be shut down in October, one year and a half after the same thing happened in the rest of the world.
As local publication Dongfang Daily reports, the software giant is now sending emails to all MSN Messenger users to notify them about the change, recommending everyone to switch to Skype before this deadline comes.
Microsoft officially retired MSN and Windows Live Messenger in the entire world, except China, in April 2013, moving all accounts to Skype and providing a new modern way of communications over the Internet. Redmond offered MSN to Chinese users through a partnership with local tech company TOM Group, but once the deal came to an end, Microsoft decided not to renew it, most likely amid plans to pull the plug on the service.
In China however, these services are getting the axe in October, and according to the email sent to users, Microsoft is also offering a $2 Skype coupon for international calls through the app.
In the meantime, Microsoft is still trying to solve its issues with the Chinese government, as local authorities are investigating the firm for a possible anti-trust violation with Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player.
In May this year, China banned Windows 8 on government computers, with sources close to the matter revealing that it all happened because local officials were afraid that Microsoft might be using the operating system to access state secrets and send them to US intelligence agencies.
Redmond has always denied such claims and expressed its intention to work with Chinese authorities upon addressing the complaints, offering instead Windows 7 until the government lifts Windows 8’s ban in the country.
More recently, anti-trust regulators have revealed that Microsoft is indeed cooperating on the case, but have shown that one of the reasons for the investigation is the way the company is bundling Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player in its Windows operating system. Similar issues have also been experienced in Europe, where Microsoft has actually got fined, but China is only now looking into the matter.
Microsoft is not the only company that’s involved in anti-trust probes in China, as some other large companies, including Qualcomm and German car manufacturer Daimler, are also said to be facing similar issues after being investigated by the central government for possible breaches of competition rules.