I think it just used the system UI font, so probably Segoe UI, which was pretty new at the time and Microsoft loved to use it.
(Specifically on Windows Vista and later. On Windows XP, it would still have been Tahoma.)
If it used the default document font for the chat window (which is likely), then it would be Arial in Windows XP, and either Segoe UI or Calibri in Vista and later.
That "y" in "away" is pretty distinct. If this is the font you're thinking of, I am pretty sure it's Segoe... it's for SURE not Tahoma or Veranda. Neither of those fonts flatten the bottom tail of the y. Segoe does.
Edit:
Arial has it too, but based on the "s", I still think Segoe. If you draw a tip-to-tip line on the s, it's a greater angle off horizontal in segoe than Arial, and seems to my naked eye to better match the s in that screenshot.
It very much was not. Arial has never been a default UI font on Windows, and MS Sans Serif was replaced by Tahoma as the default in 2001. Arial has been a default document font though, so it could have been Arial.
Technically, Tahoma was first distributed with Office 97 in Nov 1996, and it first became the default UI font in Dec 1999 with Windows 2000, but in regards to consumer oriented Windows, it became the default UI font in Aug 2001 with Windows XP.
The likelihood of this being the correct answer is very small. By 2007, MS San Serif had been replaced by Tahoma, and then Tahoma had been replaced by Segoe UI. So MS San Serif hadn’t been used prominently by Microsoft for almost a decade.
It is possible since MSN Messenger was released in 1999, so before MS switched to using Tahoma as their default font, but I highly doubt MSN Messenger didn’t use the system’s default font, and I even more highly doubt that if they didn’t use the default font, that they didn’t update their font for almost a decade.
Sometimes those responses can be helpful, but there's usually a link to whatever page that it sourced some of the info from. I would strongly recommend that you get in the habit of clicking that link just to double check.
23 Comments
hperrin@lemmy.ca · 26 pts · 79d
I think it just used the system UI font, so probably Segoe UI, which was pretty new at the time and Microsoft loved to use it.
(Specifically on Windows Vista and later. On Windows XP, it would still have been Tahoma.)
If it used the default document font for the chat window (which is likely), then it would be Arial in Windows XP, and either Segoe UI or Calibri in Vista and later.
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/uxguide/vis-fonts
Windex007@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 79d
That "y" in "away" is pretty distinct. If this is the font you're thinking of, I am pretty sure it's Segoe... it's for SURE not Tahoma or Veranda. Neither of those fonts flatten the bottom tail of the y. Segoe does.
Edit:
Arial has it too, but based on the "s", I still think Segoe. If you draw a tip-to-tip line on the s, it's a greater angle off horizontal in segoe than Arial, and seems to my naked eye to better match the s in that screenshot.
4am@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 79d
Microsoft was all about Segoe for a while, you are probably right
Kolanaki@pawb.social · 6 pts · 79d
Verdana? Tahoma? Arial? 🤔
One of those, I'm pretty sure. It definitely was a sans serif style font, and those 3 have been the most common defaults since before that time.
Edit: According to Microsoft's knowledge base: it was Calibri. It has used Segoe since 2012.
hperrin@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 79d
Do you have a link. IIRC, Calibri was mostly used as a document font, not a UI font.
Found it: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/uxguide/vis-fonts
hexagonwin@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 79d
it might depend on the os you used back then (XP or Vista), but probably the other commenter's (ai) response is correct
JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 79d
If the other one is a guess, Tahoma is another strong possibility.
Treczoks@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 79d
Back then, not so much. Back then it was either MS Sans Serif or Arial.
hperrin@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 79d
It very much was not. Arial has never been a default UI font on Windows, and MS Sans Serif was replaced by Tahoma as the default in 2001. Arial has been a default document font though, so it could have been Arial.
Treczoks@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 78d
Tahoma came in 2001? That is earlier than I thought. TIL.
hperrin@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 78d
Technically, Tahoma was first distributed with Office 97 in Nov 1996, and it first became the default UI font in Dec 1999 with Windows 2000, but in regards to consumer oriented Windows, it became the default UI font in Aug 2001 with Windows XP.
Canconda@lemmy.ca · 0 pts · 79d
MS Sans Serif 10p
hperrin@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 79d
The likelihood of this being the correct answer is very small. By 2007, MS San Serif had been replaced by Tahoma, and then Tahoma had been replaced by Segoe UI. So MS San Serif hadn’t been used prominently by Microsoft for almost a decade.
It is possible since MSN Messenger was released in 1999, so before MS switched to using Tahoma as their default font, but I highly doubt MSN Messenger didn’t use the system’s default font, and I even more highly doubt that if they didn’t use the default font, that they didn’t update their font for almost a decade.
Canconda@lemmy.ca · -8 pts · 79d
by 2007 NOBODY was using msn lmao
hperrin@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 79d
OP specifically asked about MSN Messenger around 2007-2010.
MycelialMass@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 79d
My wife and I were when we first met and had long distance thing going on.
Keshara@piefed.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 78d
2007 MSN was still very popular for high school students here in Australia
MycelialMass@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 79d
That was fast! Do you just know that or is there source? Also thanks!
Canconda@lemmy.ca · -7 pts · 79d
tbh i googled it and got an ai response. But like you could change the font anyways. Pretty sure I used comic sans
hperrin@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 79d
Please do not trust AI responses. They are often wrong, as explicitly stated next to the response.
Sandbar_Trekker@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 79d
Sometimes those responses can be helpful, but there's usually a link to whatever page that it sourced some of the info from. I would strongly recommend that you get in the habit of clicking that link just to double check.
MycelialMass@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 79d
Ah
Canconda@lemmy.ca · -4 pts · 79d
ya