Tuesday, November 06, 2012

RIP MS Messenger


RIP Windows Messenger! Or good riddance.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20222998
Microsoft is to close down its Windows Live Messenger in 2013 and is urging users to switch over to its Skype chat software..

 
Shame its such poor reporting....they are actually closing Skype and "rebranding windows messenger"

Basically skype is dropping the p2p architecture and is going to be using the old messenger architecture with MS servers sitting in the middle of all traffic......

I've been waiting for someone to announce a "new and improved" P2P chat application to counteract this very problem.

Quick someone put a call out to Kim Dotcom and get him working on it.


Cheers,
Dean
Posted by Dean Collins at 7:25 PM

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 7, 2012 at 9:19 PM

    Hi Dean,

    I read your comment over at:

    1)http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2012/11/07/microsoft_messenger_kill_date/

    2)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/windows-live-messenger-resigned-2012-microsoft-skype_n_2084174.html

    however where's the evidence to suggest that Microsoft "is dropping the p2p architecture" from Skype, which shall then use "the old messenger architecture with MS servers sitting in the middle of all traffic" ?

    No news outlet, AFAIK, has reported on what you allege.

    Could you substantiate your comment with some hard proof, as changing Skype's underlying architecture would certainly be news.

    Cheers.

    Janet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dean CollinsNovember 7, 2012 at 11:42 PM

    Hi Janet, sorry not sure who you are or how to contact you so all i could think of was posting some urls here.

    I googled the term "Skype changes architecture" and these were in the first results and explains the changes that were made earlier this year....you are right it is a big deal however....no one really made a big deal about it because its not photos of cats.



    http://skype-open-source.blogspot.com/2012/05/microsoft-wiretapping-on-skype-now.html

    and

    https://www.nemertes.com/reports/skype-architecture-changes-highlight-consumerization-s-risk

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 8, 2012 at 4:27 PM

    Hi Dean,

    Thanks for your reply and those URIs. I must have missed the news from late July, when all this was being reported.

    I dug much deeper and found some good articles on the moving of the supernodes into Microsoft-controlled datacenters.

    Having read the links I've given below, I wouldn't say that the former P2P architecture is being dropped, but rather Skype's architecture it's gaining robustness by having centralised servers in place. In essence, a combination of centralised/decentralised P2P architecture, as Skype-to-Skype calls are still routed independently of Microsoft's mega-supernodes.

    Here a snippet of what Mark Gillett, Skype’s Chief Development and Operations Officer, said on 26th Jul 12:

    [quote=Mark Gillett]Skype was in the process of developing and moving supernodes to cloud servers significantly ahead of the Microsoft acquisition of Skype. Skype first deployed 'mega-supernodes' to the cloud to improve reliability of the Skype software and service in December 2010. These nodes have been deployed in Skype's own data centres, within third-party infrastructure such as Amazon's EC2, and most recently within Microsoft's data-centres and cloud. The move was made in order to improve the Skype experience, primarily to improve the reliability of the platform and to increase the speed with which we can react to problems. The move also provides us with the ability to quickly introduce cool new features that allow for a fuller, richer communications experience in the future.[/quote]

    Links for your perusal:

    http://www.zdnet.com/forget-the-conspiracy-theories-skypes-supernodes-belong-in-the-cloud-7000001720/

    http://www.zdnet.com/skype-talks-back-to-critics-on-security-and-privacy-7000001682/

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2012/07/18/did-microsoft-change-the-architecture-of-skype-to-make-it-easier-to-snoop/

    http://news.softpedia.com/news/Skype-Denies-Allegations-on-User-Security-and-Privacy-Changes-283510.shtml

    http://blogs.skype.com/en/2012/07/what_does_skypes_architecture_do.html


    Cheers.

    Janet.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dean CollinsNovember 9, 2012 at 12:44 PM

    thanks Janet....I'll keep my tinfoil hat ON thanks....anyone who believes there isnt an ulterior motive for this move is naive.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dean CollinsNovember 9, 2012 at 12:45 PM

    oh and....thanks for the apology that i was correct about how the architecture HAD changed and they were going to the client server messenger model.

    ReplyDelete

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