Modernization is over. If your account does not end in @escargot.chat, you have missed your opportunity to modernize -- and so if you missed the final window to modernize, we're sorry.

You can register again at any time, but you will have to find your contacts again.

We have had notices for three months, we have given alerts, sent IMs, even sent emails to the most active accounts, but for some reason despite all this, some people simply never modernized even when bothered by an IM every 30 seconds telling them to do so. Therefore, if you didn't modernize and you have signed on to MSN in the last three months, you really have no one to blame but yourself.

The good news is, this opens the door for many more opportunities now that we have a lot of stuff cleaned out of our databases. Keep an eye out for more things coming soon, such as @escargot.live addresses and email forwarding for people who donate -- and we still need donations to keep things running.

If you're wondering about why modernization happened, you can read the old Modernize yourself! news article.

You may also now login with your Escargot username to Yahoo! 6 as well.

More to come very soon!

We're constantly trying to improve all of our services, and now it's your time to shine! Modernize your account RIGHT NOW!

If you don't modernize your account, it'll be permanently deleted on March 20th. Don't wanna risk your precious contacts and conversations, right?

Modernizing will make your account even more secure, you can change your display name, you can make your email private! That's right, you now get a fancy, schmancy @escargot.chat email to use on Escargot!

If you have any questions whatsoever, just ask for help on our Discord, we're happy to help.

Infrequently asked questions

- Why are you doing this to us!?

There are actually a lot of reasons, but the most straight forward are:

1) Compatibility with older clients which accept only @hotmail.com addresses, and other protocols such as AIM/AOL and Yahoo.

2) Privacy: So that you can have a real email address associated with your account (that no other users can see) and still have a login that you want.

- What about my contacts?

Your new login name will automatically appear on their contact list after they sign on again and will appear the same to them, so they will still know who you are. The reverse is also true, anyone on your contact list who modernizes will show up again the next time you sign on. It is advised while modernization is happening, that people re-sign on at least once a day, though most people will likely modernize within the first week.

- What about my @escargot.live account?

Unfortunately those who have earned @escargot.live logins will have to wait until modernization is complete, then they will be able to begin using their login. All those who have earned the will be notified.

If you wanna know what it is, click here.

- Can I still use my email address for login?

No, at least not right now. While it is true when we started this stage of the project we said you could, but it's just too complex for now. Later on you will be able to register an email address as your login, but it'll have to be a new user, however you will be able to link it with your old account. This won't be available until sometime later.... We will publicly announce when you can do this.

- Can I get a 2 character screenname? What about a 3 character one?

Check our donate page for more information!

There's a new patch tool available, USE IT EVEN IF YOU ARE ALREADY USING A PATCHED VERSION OF MSN/WLM IT WILL FIX THE HOST NAME. Unless you're already using the new hosts (and you almost certainly are not):

INI:

server = msnmsgr.escargot.chat
configserver = conf.escargot.chat

WLM 8+ now supports a video display feature where the ad banner is. This rotates with the ad banner every few seconds.

A JavaScript error on the Escargot Today page should be fixed.

Now Messenger Plus! downloads come in an encrypted 7z format with the password "escargot". The reason is that some anti-viruses flag Messenger Plus! as malware (due to the optional adware Messenger! Plus would bundle on the installer, but it doesn't work anyway) and they flag our entire storage server as unsafe.

Yay, more changes! We implemented the ad banner system on Escargot. If you wanna submit your own banners (animated or not), please do on our forums or on our Discord.

We have a brand new website! This one is cleaner, more modern, responsive (doesn't go all crazy on weird resolutions), has dark mode, and is overall better. Try it out! For those web designers out there, yes, it uses Bootstrap 4. Give your suggestions on our Discord and in our forums. Thanks once again to Animadoria for the beautiful website (I'm pretending like I didn't write this)

Whiteboard is now available via Activities, so have fun. Major thanks goes out to Animadoria. Here is a demo that shows how terrible Tony is at writing with a mouse (see bottom of image for horror show).

We have moved successfully and have been up and running without any failures (except once by a crazed cronjob) since moving, and have had zero congestion since moving as well.

We are in process of moving to much faster server. You can learn more about how to move on the NINA Wiki.

We're glad to announce that we were able to find a solution for users experiencing issues with logging on through Mercury Messenger, and users of the app can continue using it normally. Effective immediately, its corresponding download in the MSN Messenger downloads along with all other content pertaining to it will be reinstated as well

Added distinction between Traditional and Simplified Chinese downloads with respective flags

Twitter and Facebook Messenger tabs removed and added Messenger Plus 1.10 to MSN Messenger downloads