The MSN Companion was a small-scale personal computer

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

 terminal

Computer terminal

A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system...

 that was designed for easy access to MSN

MSN

MSN is a collection of Internet sites and services provided by Microsoft. The Microsoft Network debuted as an online service and Internet service provider on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of the Windows 95 operating system.The range of services offered by MSN has changed since its...

 services on the Internet, such as Hotmail, while still being cheap and easy to use. They were intended for use by people with little knowledge of computers or technology, and many included several features aimed at the elderly or disabled, such as easier-to-read monitors. The device was designed by Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

.

History

The device was first unveiled at the COMDEX

COMDEX

COMDEX was a computer expo held in Las Vegas, Nevada, each November from 1979 to 2003. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, usually second only to the German CeBIT, and by many accounts one of the largest trade shows in any industry sector...

 conference in November 1999, where it was first described as a 'MSN-based Web companion'. In June 2000, Vestel USA Inc, Compaq

Compaq

Compaq Computer Corporation is a personal computer company founded in 1982. Once the largest supplier of personal computing systems in the world, Compaq existed as an independent corporation until 2002, when it was acquired for US$25 billion by Hewlett-Packard....

 and eMachines

EMachines

eMachines is a brand of entry level PCs, based in Irvine, California. eMachines employed about 135 employees and sold between 1 to 2 million computers each year before its purchase on January 30, 2004, by rival Gateway Computers...

 began working with Microsoft to create the first MSN Companions. Mock-ups of RCA

RCA

RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...

, Acer

Acer (company)

Acer Incorporated is a multinational information technology and electronics corporation headquartered in Xizhi, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Acer's products include desktop and laptop PCs, tablet computers, servers, storage devices, displays, smartphones and peripherals...

 and Inventec

Inventec

Inventec Corporation is a Taiwan-based Original Design Manufacturer making notebook computers, servers and mobile devices. Originally established in 1975 to develop and manufacture electronic calculators, the company has since grown significantly to become one of the world's top computer...

 Companions were also seen.

While the MSN Companion was initially received with praise, it did not perform successfully in the market and Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

 and MSN stopped providing support for Companions in October 2003.

Early Companion models

All MSN Companions ran an early version of Microsoft Windows CE

Windows CE

Microsoft Windows CE is an operating system developed by Microsoft for embedded systems. Windows CE is a distinct operating system and kernel, rather than a trimmed-down version of desktop Windows...

, and were shipped with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0

Internet Explorer 4

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 is a graphical web browser released in September 1997 by Microsoft, primarily for Microsoft Windows, but also with versions available for Apple Mac OS, Solaris, and HP-UX and marketed as "The Web the Way You Want It".It was one of the main participants of the first...

. However, the hardware provided by each manufacturer was significantly different, with some companies choosing to use a wireless keyboard over a wired one.

The Vestel package included a 15-inch monitor (or a 10-inch LCD monitor

Liquid crystal display

A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....

) and a PS/2

PS/2 connector

The PS/2 connector is a 6-pin Mini-DIN connector used for connecting some keyboards and mice to a PC compatible computer system. Its name comes from the IBM Personal System/2 series of personal computers, with which it was introduced in 1987...

 keyboard with a touchpad. The device itself had 32MB (+16MB flash) of memory, a 200 MHz Geode

Geode (processor)

Geode is a series of x86-compatible system-on-a-chip microprocessors and I/O companions produced by AMD, targeted at the embedded computing market....

 processor, two USB ports, a phone jack, and a parallel port

Parallel port

A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port...

.

The eMachines package was similar, offering a 17 or 19-inch monitor instead of an LCD one and an 'eBoard' keyboard and standalone mouse.

The Compaq MSN Companion shipped with an LCD screen and a wireless keyboard with a mouse built-in. Compaq machines had 32MB (+16MB flash) of memory, a 266 MHz AMD processor, four USB ports, a phone jack, and, in some models, an ethernet

Ethernet

Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....

port for networking.