MSN Explorer and ‘Premium’ are still a thing in 2021!

I just stumbled across an interesting video on YouTube today. Does anyone remember MSN Explorer from the early Windows XP days? Well in 2021 it is still a thing and Microsoft is charging $99.95 a year for MSN Premium.

I seriously recommend watching this video, it is totally bizarre that this thing can still exist in 2021 and have received two software updates in 2021.

I would love to know how many people are actually paying for this, how many people are ‘maintaining’ it and how this has slipped under the reader of Satya, who has wielded the axe on so many great consumer products.

Conversation 5 comments

  • remco8264

    07 February, 2021 - 11:56 am

    <p>Even worse: it is still a heavily modified version of IE (and not even IE11 I believe), so more and more websites are no longer supporting it. You can see it on the Outlook site in the video. Microsofts 'solution': adding a button which opens the Edge browser. </p><p><br></p><p>Not sure why anyone would pay for this, let alone $10 a month (the same as Office 365). </p>

    • crossingtheline

      07 February, 2021 - 12:31 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#612151">In reply to remco8264:</a></em></blockquote><p>I'd go as far to say that Microsoft is basically scamming old people with this.</p><p><br></p><p>I was wondering which rendering engine they were using. Hopefully they will be forced to kill it in a couple of years when the rendering engine becomes unusable.</p>

      • remco8264

        07 February, 2021 - 12:48 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#612153">In reply to crossingtheline:</a></em></blockquote><p>I think indeed that they are mainly targeting older people (who have used it for years). Also noticed that they offer dial up internet. Is that still a thing? I'm not from the US, but here almost everyone has broadband or glass fiber. </p>

    • olditpro2000

      Premium Member
      08 February, 2021 - 4:36 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#612151">In reply to remco8264:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>It's not even Chromium Edge…</p><p><br></p><p>I'm assuming the only people who would pay for this are the same crowd that still pay for AOL dialup. A nonzero number, still large enough to make it profitable.</p>

  • j5

    Premium Member
    08 February, 2021 - 7:21 pm

    <p>LOL NetZero, I LOVE NetZero as a college student that didn't have a lot of money! Does anyone remember AllAdvantage? I remember using scripts to make the mouse cursor move and click on it all day long while I was taking classes. I never got a check from them though. But a couple of friends got $20 plus checks a few times before they figured out people were using scripts lol!</p>

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