MSN Dial-Up Internet Access is an

Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...

operated by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and formerly also in several other countries. Originally named The Microsoft Network, it debuted as a proprietary

online service An online service provider (OSP) can, for example, be an Internet service provider, an email provider, a news provider (press), an entertainment provider (music, movies), a search engine, an e-commerce site, an online banking site, a health site, ...

on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...

. In 1996 and 1997, a revised

web-based A web application (or web app) is application software that is created with web technologies and runs via a web browser. Web applications emerged during the late 1990s and allowed for the server to dynamically build a response to the request, ...

version of the

ISP An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non ...

was an early experiment at interactive

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

content on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. Microsoft renamed the service MSN Internet Access in 1998, focusing its main '

MSN MSN is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps provided by Microsoft. The main webpage provides news, weather, sports, finance and other content curated from hundreds of different sources that Microsoft has partnere ...

' brand on its

web portal A web portal is a specially designed website that brings information from diverse sources, like emails, online forums and search engines, together in a uniform way. Usually, each information source gets its dedicated area on the page for displayin ...

of the same name,

.com. As of 2025, the company still provides

dial-up Internet access Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telepho ...

under the name 'MSN Dial-Up Internet Access' for those who cannot access high-speed

broadband In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide-bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Inter ...

. For several years, MSN was the second largest dial-up ISP in the United States behind longtime leader

AOL AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. The service traces its history to an online ...

, but very few people in the U.S. still rely on dial-up. Along with dial-up service, MSN provides its subscribers with an @msn.com

email account Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving digital messages using electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the late–20th century as the ...

to use with

Outlook.com Outlook.com, formerly Hotmail, is a free personal email service offered by Microsoft. It also provides a webmail interface accessible via web browser or mobile apps featuring mail, Calendaring software, calendaring, Address book, contacts, and ...

. Microsoft also offers its MSN software as part of a standalone

subscription service The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a Product (business), product or Service (business), service. The model Publication by subscription, was pioneer ...

for users with

Internet access around the world, named MSN Premium.

Early history

The Microsoft Network

The concept for MSN was created by the Advanced Technology Group at Microsoft, headed by

Nathan Myhrvold Nathan Paul Myhrvold (born August 3, 1959), formerly Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft, is co-founder of Intellectual Ventures and the principal author of ''Modernist Cuisine'' and its successor books. Early life and education Myhrvold w ...

. MSN was originally conceived as a subscription-based

dial-up Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telepho ...

and proprietary content provider like

America Online AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo! Inc. The service tra ...

CompuServe CompuServe, Inc. (CompuServe Information Service, Inc., also known by its initialism CIS or later CSi) was an American Internet company that provided the first major commercial online service provider, online service. It opened in 1969 as a times ...

. Then officially known as 'The Microsoft Network', version 1.0 of the service launched along with

on August 24, 1995. The Microsoft Network was originally presented through a

Windows desktop The Windows shell is the graphical user interface for the Microsoft Windows operating system. Its readily identifiable elements consist of the desktop, the taskbar, the Start menu, the task switcher and the AutoPlay feature. On some versions of ...

icon and sign-in screen that, upon dial-up connection and member authentication, launched an artificial folder-like

graphical user interface A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that allows user (computing), users to human–computer interaction, interact with electronic devices through Graphics, graphical icon (computing), icons and visual indicators such ...

integrated into the

Windows Explorer File Explorer, previously known as Windows Explorer, is a file manager application and default desktop environment that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user i ...

file management A file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to manage files and folders. The most common operations performed on files or groups of files include creating, opening (e.g. viewing, playing, editing or p ...

program, with a

home page A home page (or homepage) is the main web page of a website. Usually, the home page is located at the Root directory, root of the website's Domain name, domain or subdomain. For example, if the domain is example.com, the home page is likely l ...

named 'MSN Central'. Categories on MSN appeared like folders in the file system. The interface was designed by

Clement Mok Clement Mok (born 1958) is a graphic designer and author. Mok founded several design-related businesses — Studio Archetype (acquired by Sapient), CMCD and NetObjects, Inc. In 1997, Mok recruited George Chen in a photoshoot for an early ...

and employed high color graphics. MSN was included with Windows 95 installations and promoted through Windows and other Microsoft software released at the time. Product support and discussion was offered through the MSN service, as well as information such as news and weather, basic

email Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...

capabilities,

chat rooms The term chat room, or chatroom (and sometimes group chat; abbreviated as GC), is primarily used to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing. The term can thus mean any technology, ranging from ...

, and message boards similar to

newsgroups A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are not only discussion groups or conversations, but also a repository to publish articles, start ...

. It also offered access to the Internet via

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated as IE or MSIE) is a deprecation, retired series of graphical user interface, graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft that were u ...

. There was debate in the media as to whether MSN would be an 'Internet killer', and some companies hedged their bets for the first year, creating content both on MSN and the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is an information system that enables Content (media), content sharing over the Internet through user-friendly ways meant to appeal to users beyond Information technology, IT specialists and hobbyis ...

. However, MSN launched too late to be a real threat to the web. Following

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...

' internal 'Internet Tidal Wave memo', which refocused Microsoft to be Internet-centric, MSN began to move its content to the web and promote itself more actively as an

. Following the release of MSN 2.0 in 1996, Microsoft renamed its original proprietary online service 'MSN Classic'. Microsoft eventually shut down any remaining access to the MSN Classic service in 1998.

MSN 2.0

In 1996, in response to the increasing relevancy and rapid growth of the

, Microsoft created a new version of MSN, called 'MSN 2.0', which combined access to the Internet with web-based multimedia content in a new program known as the 'MSN Program Viewer.' The service was promoted to existing MSN subscribers beginning October 10, 1996; the general release followed on December 10, 1996. Microsoft promoted MSN 2.0 with a series of advertisements and promotional materials describing the service with the phrase, "Every new universe begins with a big bang." The company offered the initial release of the new MSN 2.0 service on a

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...

that it sent to MSN subscribers in the fall of 1996. When inserted, the CD-ROM opened to the ambitious and flashy 'MSN Preview', an interactive video-based experience that introduced current and prospective subscribers to the new version of MSN and described the features of the MSN 2.0 software. The MSN Preview was filmed at the Paramount Theatre in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and was formatted as a guided tour of a mock

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

event for the new MSN. It was hosted by a witty and sarcastic character named 'Michael', played by Michael Shapiro, who welcomed viewers outside of the

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

and then guided them through the theater to meet several other characters, each of whom represented one of the channels of MSN 2.0's 'On Stage' area, the main platform for interactive multimedia content in MSN 2.0. A handful of uncredited

actors An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

appeared in the MSN Preview, including then-unknown actress

Anna Faris Anna Kay Faris ( ; born November 29, 1976) is an American actress. Known for playing comedic roles, she rose to prominence with the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the Scary Movie (film series), ''Scary Movie'' films (2000–2006). Her film credi ...

, who represented 'Channel 5', which was described as "

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

attitude Attitude or Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), a disposition or state of mind ** Attitude change * Propositional attitude, a mental state held towards a proposition Science and technology * Orientation ...

"; it was a "hip and edgy" content hub targeted at the young adults of

Generation X Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the ...

and

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

-age members. The preview also included its own

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

loop that played during the installation process. Once installed, members accessed MSN content through the MSN Program Viewer, which was essentially an animated, stylized and streamlined interface on top of an

Internet Explorer 3 Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 (IE3) is the third version of the Internet Explorer graphical web browser which was announced in March 1996, and was released on August 13, 1996 by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and on January 8, 1997 for Apple Ma ...

.0 web browser. When members signed in, they would be presented with several different 'Channels', which were categories for the various types of content available on MSN. These channels included new services that launched in 1996 such as

msnbc.com MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts ...

, a news website now known as NBCNews.com that began as a partnership between Microsoft and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

; and

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

, an online magazine focused on politics and current events. Both websites were available to all Internet users and still exist today, although they are no longer owned by Microsoft. Also integrated into MSN 2.0 shortly after its launch was Microsoft's popular

Internet Gaming Zone MSN Games (also known as Zone.com and formerly known as The Village, Internet Gaming Zone, MSN Gaming Zone, and MSN Games by Zone.com) is a casual gaming website, with single player, multiplayer, PC download, and social casino video games. Games ...

, which later became

MSN Games MSN Games (also known as Zone.com and formerly known as The Village, Internet Gaming Zone, MSN Gaming Zone, and MSN Games by Zone.com) is a casual gaming website, with single player, multiplayer, PC download, and social casino video games. Games ...

. Interactive multimedia content was presented in a TV-like format, dubbed MSN shows, as part of the 'On Stage' section. The many shows and sites included an interactive online nightly game show called 'Netwits', a snarky website addressing women's issues called 'UnderWire', and a regular celebrity interview and web-surfing session called 'One Click Away'. These new destinations supplemented other Microsoft web-based services such as CarPoint and

Expedia Expedia Inc. is an online travel agency owned by Expedia Group, based in Seattle. The website and mobile app can be used to book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruise ships, and vacation packages. Expedia.com was launched on ...

, which were branded within MSN as 'Essentials'. An additional 'Communicate' section was based around

(which were branded

MSN Chat MSN Chat was the MSN, Microsoft Network version of IRCX (Internet Relay Chat extensions by Microsoft), which replaced Microsoft Chat, a set of Exchange-based IRCX servers first available in the Microsoft Comic Chat client, although Comic Chat was ...

and moved to the standard

IRC IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called '' channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat ...

protocol), and

(which were moved to

Usenet Usenet (), a portmanteau of User's Network, is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose UUCP, Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Elli ...

from a proprietary architecture), while a 'Find' section was dedicated to searching MSN content and the rest of the Internet; it also provided a calendar of upcoming events and new shows on MSN. The new content made extensive use of multimedia and interactive features, including

VBScript VBScript (Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition) is a deprecated programming language for scripting on Microsoft Windows using Component Object Model (COM), based on classic Visual Basic and Active Scripting. It was popular with system admi ...

and early implementations of Macromedia Shockwave Flash (originally called 'FutureSplash') for animations. While the MSN shows approach was unique and innovative, the content was not easily accessible by members with low-end computers and slower dial-up connections. High-speed Internet access was not widely available at the time, and some users subscribed to monthly dial-up plans that limited the number of hours during which they were allowed to access the service. The MSN 2.0 software was also unstable and would often quit unexpectedly. In addition to MSN 2.0's speed and stability issues, existing MSN subscribers were concerned the transition to MSN 2.0 would break up communities that were established via the MSN Classic message boards and chat rooms. Their concerns were confirmed when Microsoft announced plans to close the entire MSN Classic service. As a result of all these issues, a website called 'The Official msNOT Hate Site' originated as a negative response to the new MSN 2.0 software. The website claimed Microsoft patently ignored feedback from concerned members and censored anyone who spoke out against the upgrade; it further charged the company's handling of the transition to MSN 2.0 was "insensitive and ethically questionable." Microsoft denied it attempted to silence those who expressed concern about the upgrade. The website also mocked the music loop that played during the MSN 2.0 installation process because it repeated the phrase "too stupid to stop." Ultimately, the ambitious use of web-based and interactive multimedia content on the Internet during 1996 and 1997 proved to be ahead of its time, and the MSN 2.0 service was not as successful as Microsoft initially hoped. The company returned to the drawing board for its next MSN release.

MSN 2.5

In 1997, after abandoning the interactive multimedia format, the MSN service was again refocused, this time as a more traditional

Internet access Internet access is a facility or service that provides connectivity for a computer, a computer network, or other network device to the Internet, and for individuals or organizations to access or use applications such as email and the World Wide ...

service. With the release of MSN 2.5 (

code name A code name, codename, call sign, or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in ...

d 'Metro' and sometimes referred to in marketing materials as 'MSN Premier') in late 1997, some exclusive MSN branded content was still offered through the MSN Program Viewer, but the service primarily directed members to traditional text-based websites that anyone on the Internet could access, instead of interactive shows. Beginning with MSN 2.5,

service for MSN members was moved from a proprietary Microsoft Exchange environment that powered email for both MSN Classic and MSN 2.0, to standard

POP3 In computing, the Post Office Protocol (POP) is an application-layer Internet standard protocol used by e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a mail server. Today, POP version 3 (POP3) is the most commonly used version. Together with IMAP, i ...

and

SMTP The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an Internet standard communication protocol for electronic mail transmission. Mail servers and other message transfer agents use SMTP to send and receive mail messages. User-level email clients typi ...

protocols that could be accessed via any Internet email program, including Microsoft's own

Internet Mail and News Outlook Express, formerly known as Microsoft Internet Mail and News, is a discontinued email and news client included with Internet Explorer versions 3.0 to 6.0. As such, it was bundled with several versions of Microsoft Windows, from Windows ...

, which became

Outlook Express Outlook Express, formerly known as Microsoft Internet Mail and News, is a discontinued email and news client included with Internet Explorer versions 3.0 to 6.0. As such, it was bundled with several versions of Microsoft Windows, from Windows ...

with the introduction of

Internet Explorer 4.0 Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 (IE4) is the fourth version of the Internet Explorer graphical web browser that Microsoft unveiled in Spring of 1997, and released on September 22, 1997, primarily for Microsoft Windows, but also with versions availa ...

. MSN also launched 'Friends Online', a predecessor to the MSN Messenger Service that allowed members to add each other as friends, see each other's online presence and send

instant messages Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of synchronous computer-mediated communication involving the immediate ( real-time) transmission of messages between two or more parties over the Internet or another computer network. Originally involv ...

to one another. Accompanying the MSN Program Viewer in MSN 2.5 was 'MSN Quick Launch', an

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

inside the Windows

notification area The taskbar is a graphical user interface element that has been part of Microsoft Windows since Windows 95, displaying and facilitating switching between running programs. The taskbar and the associated Start Menu were created and named in 1993 b ...

. Like the MSN Program Viewer in MSN 2.0, the menu in MSN Quick Launch could be dynamically updated to guide members to updated MSN content and services.

MSN 2.6 and 5.0

With the release of MSN 2.6 in 1998, Microsoft renamed the service 'MSN Internet Access', and the MSN Program Viewer was abandoned entirely in favor of the more familiar Internet Explorer. Another new version of the service, MSN Internet Access 5.0, was released along with

Internet Explorer 5.0 Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 (IE5) is the fifth version of the Internet Explorer graphical web browser, the successor to Internet Explorer 4 and one of the main participants of the first browser war. Its distribution methods and Windows integra ...

in 1999. MSN 5.0 was largely identical to MSN 2.6, aside from offering the newer version of the browser. Also in 1998, Microsoft relaunched its Microsoft Internet Start

.com and began to focus on offering services under the 'MSN' brand name to users of other Internet service providers. Building on the success of MSN's

web-based email Webmail (or web-based email) is an email service that can be accessed using a standard web browser. It contrasts with email service accessible through a specialised email client software. Additionally, many internet service providers (ISP) provi ...

service,

Hotmail Outlook.com, formerly Hotmail, is a free personal email service offered by Microsoft. It also provides a webmail interface accessible via web browser or mobile apps featuring mail, Calendaring software, calendaring, Address book, contacts, and ...

(which was acquired by Microsoft in December 1997), the MSN Messenger Service for

instant messaging Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of synchronous computer-mediated communication involving the immediate ( real-time) transmission of messages between two or more parties over the Internet or another computer network. Originally involv ...

was launched in 1999. Unlike the 'Friends Online' service bundled with MSN 2.5 that required an MSN membership, anyone with a free

Microsoft Passport A Microsoft account or MSA (previously known as Microsoft Passport, .NET Passport, and Windows Live ID) is a single sign-on personal user account for Microsoft customers to log in to consumer Microsoft services (like Outlook.com), devices ru ...

or Hotmail account could use MSN Messenger.

MSN Explorer

With the release of

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users a ...

in 2001 (which also brought with it

Internet Explorer 6 Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) is a web browser developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems. Released on August 24, 2001, it is the sixth, and by now discontinued, version of Internet Explorer and the successor to Internet Explorer ...

.0), Microsoft began to offer content for MSN Internet Access subscribers through a program called MSN Explorer. This program is similar to the early MSN Program Viewer in that it provides access to MSN websites,

, and other content on top of a

web browser A web browser, often shortened to browser, is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's scr ...

(an

Internet Explorer shell An Internet Explorer shell is a class of computer program (web browser or otherwise) that uses the Internet Explorer browser engine, known as MSHTML and previously Trident. This engine is closed-source, but Microsoft has exposed an application p ...

) based on the

Trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

layout engine Layout engine may refer to: * Browser engine, a software component of a web browser that does the layout of web pages * Digital typesetting software, used both during document creation and consumption * Layout manager, a software component in a GU ...

. MSN Explorer is similar to AOL Desktop, which also has a built-in

email client An email client, email reader or, more formally, message user agent (MUA) or mail user agent is a computer program used to access and manage a user's email. A web application which provides message management, composition, and reception functio ...

and provides access to content for

members. Upon the transition to MSN Explorer,

for MSN members was integrated into Microsoft's

architecture and could be accessed from the web the same way as any other Hotmail account. MSN Explorer provided a user interface for navigating one's @msn.com email inbox and folders, also known as 'MSN Mail', until the migration of Hotmail to the

Windows Live Windows Live is a discontinued brand name for a set of web services and software products developed by Microsoft as part of its software-as-a-service platform. Chief components under the brand name included web services (all of which were exposed ...

brand. MSN subscribers were upgraded to the standard version of Hotmail in 2008, but with additional storage capacity compared to free Hotmail users. Microsoft phased out Hotmail and replaced it with Outlook.com in 2013, but MSN subscribers still receive @msn.com email addresses to use with the service ad-free. Former members can continue to use those addresses with Outlook.com after ending their subscriptions.

Version history

MSN 6 and 7

An early pre-release version of MSN Explorer, labeled version 1.1, was originally included with a development build of

. The final release, MSN Explorer version 6.0 (officially numbered to follow the last release of the older MSN 5.0 software), was built into

with its release in October 2001. Anyone who used Windows XP could choose to use MSN Explorer regardless of their MSN membership status. The

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...

for MSN Explorer matched the visual style of Windows XP and utilized relatively responsive animations that would not become commonplace in web browsers until

HTML5 HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language 5) is a markup language used for structuring and presenting hypertext documents on the World Wide Web. It was the fifth and final major HTML version that is now a retired World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommend ...

came along several years later. Microsoft began referring to the MSN Explorer software as simply 'MSN' beginning with version 7, an update that was rolled out shortly after the initial release of Windows XP. Microsoft halted development of the free edition of the software in 2002 in favor of a version only available with MSN Dial-Up and Premium subscriptions. Versions of MSN Explorer later than 7.5 require a paid subscription, but it is possible to use another Internet service provider while accessing content provided through the MSN Explorer software. The last free version of the MSN software also remained available for download for some time.

MSN 8 and 9

MSN versions 8 and 9 were released in 2002 and 2004 respectively. As of MSN version 9, the software began requiring a user to have a

Microsoft account A Microsoft account or MSA (previously known as Microsoft Passport, .NET Passport, and Windows Live ID) is a single sign-on personal user (computing), user account for Microsoft customers to Login, log in to consumer Microsoft services (like Ou ...

, though depending on the version, it may or may not require an active subscription to other MSN services. The interface also includes many

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...

animations. Version 9.5 added compatibility with

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...

. Version 9.6 was released in June 2008 and included revisions necessary for a newer mailbox synchronization technology and to replace the MSN Parental Controls menu options with links to the newer Windows Live Family Safety feature.

MSN 10

Microsoft began rolling out MSN version 10 in November 2009, following the release of

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...

. Features included full compatibility with

Internet Explorer 8 Windows Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) is a web browser for Windows. It was released by Microsoft on March 19, 2009, and was the default browser on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. It is the first version of IE to pass the Acid2 test, the last ...

, an integrated spell checker, and the ability to exclude MSN Messenger from the installation. Version 10.2 was released in 2011, including photo email integration with SkyDrive (now

OneDrive Microsoft OneDrive is a file-hosting service operated by Microsoft. First released as SkyDrive in August 2007, it allows registered users to store, share, back-up and synchronize their files. OneDrive also works as the storage Frontend and backe ...

), the ability to include photos or a photo slideshow with a link so others can download a copy for themselves, and customizable

toolbar The toolbar, also called a bar or standard toolbar (originally known as ribbon), is a graphical control element on which on-screen icons can be used. A toolbar often allows for quick access to functions that are commonly used in the program. Some ...

button groups. Version 10.5 added minor improvements to the MSN software; most notably Microsoft changed its

user agent On the Web, a user agent is a software agent responsible for retrieving and facilitating end-user interaction with Web content. This includes all web browsers, such as Google Chrome and Safari A safari (; originally ) is an overland jour ...

to disguise it as a newer web browser in order to bypass 'outdated browser' warning messages from some websites.

MSN 11

MSN Explorer 11 is the current version, which was released in April 2014 and offers compatibility with

Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, made available for download via Microsoft ...

and

Internet Explorer 11 Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) is the eleventh and final version of the Internet Explorer web browser, by now retired. It was initially included in the release of Windows 8.1, Windows RT, Windows RT 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 on October 17, 2013 ...

, adds

tabbed browsing In interface design, a tab is a graphical user interface object that allows multiple documents or Panel (computer software), panels to be contained within a single window (computing), window, using tabs as a navigational widget for switching be ...

, and brings back a 'remember me' feature. The software still included an

client based on Microsoft's

Messenger Messenger, Messengers, The Messenger or The Messengers may refer to: People * Courier, a person or company that delivers messages, packages, or mail * Messenger (surname) * Bicycle messenger, a bicyclist who transports packages through cities * M ...

service, even though it had been phased out in favor of

Skype Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...

since 2013. Subsequent releases of MSN 11 included updated email functionality to maintain compatibility with

in version 11.5, and updated logos to match current MSN branding in version 11.6. As of 2025, the latest version of MSN Explorer is 11.8.

MSN for Mac OS X

MSN for

Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

was a dial-up client interface to Microsoft's pay-for-access online services for

Mac Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

users. The software was, in some respects, comparable to the

dial-up client given its channel-based interface, built-in chat and instant messaging capabilities, parental controls, and ability to accommodate multiple screen names. It used the Tasman layout engine made for the Mac edition of

Internet Explorer 5 Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 (IE5) is the fifth version of the Internet Explorer graphical web browser, the successor to Internet Explorer 4 and one of the main participants of the first browser war. Its distribution methods and Windows integ ...

. It was discontinued in March 2005. After the discontinuation of MSN for Mac OS X, Microsoft continued offering its

Microsoft Messenger for Mac MSN Messenger (also known colloquially simply as MSN), later rebranded as Windows Live Messenger, was a Cross-platform software, cross-platform instant messaging client, instant-messaging client developed by Microsoft. It connected to the now-di ...

software, an

-only client that required only a free

for use. As mentioned previously,

replaced Messenger in 2013.

International

Microsoft has extended its MSN Dial-Up Internet Access service beyond the

since 1995, partnering with various telecommunications companies to provide service in numerous areas around the world. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, MSN partnered with

Bell Sympatico Bell Internet, originally called Sympatico, is the residential Internet service provider (ISP) division of BCE Inc. As of May 3, 2012, Bell Internet had over 3 million subscribers in Ontario and Quebec, making it the largest ISP in Canada. His ...

(the

division of

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun, Quebec, in Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in the province ...

) creating 'Sympatico / MSN'. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Microsoft originally partnered with

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...

in 1995 with MSN branded locally as 'OnAustralia'; when Microsoft withdrew from the joint venture the following year, Telstra went on to assume 100% ownership and rebrand the service as

BigPond Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecom ...

. In

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, MSN partnered with

Telmex Teléfonos de México, S.A.B. de C.V., known as Telmex is a Mexican telecommunications company headquartered in Mexico City that provides telecommunications products and services in Mexico. In 2014, Telmex was the dominant fixed-line phone carri ...

Prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and m ...

creating 'Prodigy / MSN'. An affiliation with Xtra,

Telecom New Zealand Spark New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand telecommunications and digital services company providing fixed-line telephone services, mobile phone services, broadband, and digital technology services (including cloud, security, digital transfor ...

's Internet provider, known as

XtraMSN Yahoo!Xtra was a New Zealand joint venture between Yahoo!7 and Telecom New Zealand (now Spark) that provided a web portal under the same name. Yahoo!7 held a 51 percent stake in the company and Telecom NZ held 49 percent. Because Yahoo!7 is a 50 ...

ended in 2006. In Italy the sign-up was done through an 800- (toll-free) phone number which assigned to the user PC an internal IP address of

SITA Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

-NET (''Société internationale de télécommunication aéronautique''), in the IP range 57.0.0.0/8, giving the user access to all of the SITA network equipment (so, not only the SITA-managed server involved in the MSN account registration process). MSN has many offices worldwide for national customer support. It utilizes the service of call centers around the world. Among the countries are the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

(technical and customer service),

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

(technical and customer support for

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

-speaking customers), and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(customer service). In 2007, Microsoft set up a research and development center for

MSN China MSN China was a joint venture of the global software corporation Microsoft, part of its MSN service, located in the People's Republic of China. Unlike most other international versions of the MSN portal, which have used the same layout as the Uni ...

, based in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

's Zizhu Science Park, which hosts technical support for MSN services.

MSN Premium

For customers with high-speed

broadband Internet access In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide- bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Internet access. The transmission m ...

, MSN Premium is a

provided by Microsoft that combines

Internet services An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non ...

into a premium version of MSN Explorer. It also once offered

firewall Firewall may refer to: * Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts * Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...

and

anti-virus Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware. Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name ...

software provided by

McAfee McAfee Corp. ( ), formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. from 1987 to 1997 and 2004 to 2014, Network Associates Inc. from 1997 to 2004, and Intel Security Group from 2014 to 2017, is an American proprietary software company focused on online ...

and Spy Sweeper. In order to use MSN Premium, users subscribe to the service through the

Microsoft Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...

. Alternatively, MSN Premium can be purchased directly from the

and, as of 2025, costs $99 for a year in the U.S., also costing 99

euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

in European countries like Germany and France. In the past, MSN Premium could be obtained by American customers by acquiring

DSL Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric di ...

through one of MSN's partners, such as

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

Qwest Qwest Communications International, Inc. was a United States telecommunications carrier. Qwest provided local service in 14 western and midwestern U.S. states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dako ...

(now merged with

CenturyLink Lumen Technologies, Inc. (formerly CenturyLink, Inc.) is an American telecommunications company headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, which offers communications, network services, security, cloud solutions, voice and managed services through it ...

) in the

Bell Internet Bell Internet, originally called Sympatico, is the residential Internet service provider (ISP) division of BCE Inc. As of May 3, 2012, Bell Internet had over 3 million subscribers in Ontario and Quebec, making it the largest ISP in Canada. His ...

. Microsoft also offered premium services with Verizon through the

brand name beginning in 2006. MSN Premium provided through Verizon was disbanded on March 1, 2012, and users could no longer use MSN Premium with

after that date. The value of MSN Premium as a paid subscription service for people who have already separately subscribed to broadband Internet access has long been questioned, with a CNET article in 2008 criticizing the service for offering very few features that aren't already available for free elsewhere, as well as a popular

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

video in 2021 expressing surprise that Microsoft still offers the paid service, that its MSN Explorer software has not been meaningfully updated since the era of

in the 2000s, and that most of its "premium" features are simply links to freely-accessible public websites.

References

External links

MSN Dial-Up Internet Access

MSN Premium

MSN Explorer Software Download

MSN Explorer Update History

MSN Member Center

MSN Worldwide
{{Internet service providers of the United States Internet properties established in 1995 Internet service providers of the United States MSN Microsoft software Microsoft divisions