The biggest news for users of instant messaging at present is that MSN Messenger will be phased out by March 15, 2012. If you’re a long-time user of messaging like me, it will greatly affect you.
The good news is that the alternative platform, which is a combination of Skype and Messenger, is probably a good one. Microsoft plonked down USD8.5b in cash to buy Skype and is now ready to fire up the engines and make it work to its advantage.
Enough history, let’s find out how you can easily merge your two accounts.
STEP ONE. UPDATE YOUR VERSION OF SKYPE
Mac users, click on Skype in the menu, then “Check for Updates…”.
Windows users, click on Help, then do the same.
If Skype tells you there is a new version, install it.
STEP TWO. SIGN IN AND MERGE!
After updating your software, fire it up and you’ll see options to sign in with a Microsoft account. Click on that.
The sign in screen will now look different and you should log in with your MSN Messenger account credentials (not your Skype username and password!). It will be in the form of an email address and a password.
Now you have the opportunity to merge the accounts. (You can unmerge them later, if you need. I’ll cover that in another blog post).
Click on “I have a Skype account” to begin the process of merging an existing Skype account with the MSN Messenger account you just signed into. If you’d rather merge it with a new Skype account, click on “I’m new to Skype”.
Then, login with your Skype credentials.
Review what you are about to do, then click “Continue”. Do note that from now on, you should login with your MSN Messenger email address and password. This takes precedence over the existing Skype username and password that you had.
STEP THREE. YOU’RE DONE!
There isn’t really a Step 3, but here’s how your contacts will now look from within Skype. You’ll have a tab with Messenger, Skype and other options based on the status of a contact, or whether you put them in Favorites.
