this post was submitted on 20 May 2026
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Figured someone on here might know or know how to fins out.

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[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 4 points 14 minutes ago* (last edited 11 minutes ago)

I think it just used the system font, so probably Segoe UI, which was pretty new at the time and Microsoft loved to use it.

(Specifically on Windows Vista and Windows 8. On Windows XP, it would still have been Tahoma.)

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 points 12 minutes ago* (last edited 10 minutes ago)

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.

[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.today 2 points 20 minutes ago

it might depend on the os you used back then (XP or Vista), but probably the other commenter's (ai) response is correct

[–] Canconda@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 hour ago (2 children)
[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 0 points 3 minutes ago (1 children)

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 By 2007, MS San Serif had been replaced by Tahoma, and then Tahoma had been replaced by Segoe UI.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 1 points 41 seconds ago

by 2007 NOBODY was using msn lmao

[–] MycelialMass@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

That was fast! Do you just know that or is there source? Also thanks!

[–] Canconda@lemmy.ca -1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

tbh i googled it and got an ai response. But like you could change the font anyways. Pretty sure I used comic sans

[–] JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

If the other one is a guess, Tahoma is another strong possibility.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 2 points 59 minutes ago

Back then, not so much. Back then it was either MS Sans Serif or Arial.