MSN Dial-Up Internet Access
MSN Dial-Up Internet Access is an Internet service provider operated by Microsoft in the United States and formerly also in several other countries. Originally named The Microsoft Network, it debuted as a proprietary online service on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of Windows 95. In 1996 and 1997, a revised web-based version of the ISP was an early experiment at interactive multimedia content on the Internet.
Microsoft renamed the service MSN Internet Access in 1998, focusing its main "MSN" brand on its web portal of the same name, MSN.com. As of 2025, the company still provides dial-up Internet access under the name "MSN Dial-Up Internet Access" for those who cannot access high-speed broadband. For several years, MSN was the second largest dial-up ISP in the United States behind longtime leader AOL, but very few people in the U.S. still rely on dial-up.
Along with dial-up service, MSN provides its subscribers with its MSN Explorer software and an @msn.com email account to use with Outlook.com. Microsoft also still offers that software as part of a standalone subscription service for users with broadband Internet access worldwide named MSN Premium, but as of 2025, it is outdated by modern standards and no longer offers any other features exclusive to members.
Early history
The Microsoft Network
The concept for MSN was created by the Advanced Technology Group at Microsoft, headed by Nathan Myhrvold. MSN was originally conceived as a subscription-based dial-up online service and proprietary content provider like America Online or CompuServe. Then officially known as The Microsoft Network, version 1.0 of the service launched to the public along with Windows 95 on August 24, 1995.The Microsoft Network was originally presented through a Windows desktop icon and sign-in screen that, upon dial-up connection and member authentication, launched an artificial folder-like graphical user interface integrated into the Windows Explorer file management program, with a home page named "MSN Central". Categories on MSN appeared like folders in the file system. The interface was designed by Clement Mok 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 capabilities, chat rooms, and message boards similar to newsgroups. It also offered access to the Internet and the World Wide Web via Internet Explorer.
There was debate in the media as to whether MSN might be an "Internet killer" or "web killer", and some companies hedged their bets for the first year, creating content both on MSN and the web. However, MSN launched too late to be a real threat to the web. Following Bill Gates' 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 Internet service provider.
Following the release of the web-based 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 World Wide Web, 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 web browser 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 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 and was formatted as a guided tour of a mock Hollywood-style premiere event for the new MSN. It was hosted by a witty and sarcastic character named "Michael", played by actor Michael Shapiro, who welcomed viewers outside of the theater and then guided them through the theater to meet several other characters, each of whom represented one of the six numbered television-like 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 appeared in the MSN Preview, including then-unknown actress Anna Faris, who represented "Channel 5", which the software described as "media, zines, attitude"; it was a "hip and edgy" content hub targeted at the young adults of Generation X and college-age members. The preview also included its own jazz and pop music 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 Internet Explorer shell interface on top of an Internet Explorer 3.0 web browser. When members signed in, they would be presented with the 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, a news website now known as NBCNews.com that began as a partnership between Microsoft and NBC; and Slate, an online magazine focused on politics and current events. Both websites were available to all Internet users, and they have continued to exist decades later, 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, which later became MSN 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, which were branded within MSN as "Essentials". An additional "Communicate" section was based around email, chat rooms, and newsgroups, 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 and early implementations of Macromedia Shockwave Flash 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 service. With the release of MSN 2.5 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, email 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 and SMTP protocols that could be accessed via any Internet email program, including Microsoft's own Internet Mail and News, which became Outlook Express with the introduction of Internet Explorer 4.0. 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 to one another.
Accompanying the MSN Program Viewer in MSN 2.5 was "MSN Quick Launch", an icon inside the Windows notification area. 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.