Microsoft's free e-mail service MSN Hotmail surpassed the 100
million user mark, while its instant messenger service maintained
its top spot against competitors such as Yahoo and AOL Time Warner,
the software maker said today.
MSN Messenger Service recorded 31.9 million unique users worldwide
in March, maintaining its lead as the most-used free
instant-messaging service, according to research from Jupiter Media
Metrix. It is the second month in a row that Microsoft has beat
AOL's Instant Messenger and ICQ services and the Yahoo Messenger
service to secure the top spot.
Jupiter's study was based on unique users in the US, UK, Germany,
France, Japan, Australia, Canada, Spain, Brazil, Italy, Argentina
and Switzerland.
The latest figures show a shift in popularity for the one-time
underdog. In November 2000, MSN Messenger lagged behind AOL Instant
Messenger with 10.3 million US users compared to Instant
Messenger's 21.5 million, according to Media Metrix.
Hotmail also had a bumper March with Microsoft recording 100
million active e-mail accounts. Since Microsoft acquired Hotmail in
1997, the company said it has increased its user base 10-fold.