Embrace, Extend, Extinguish... Skype could go out the window

[Lysander]

Looks like it's over for Skype.

Microsoft has officially announced Windows 11, its new operating system which will replace the current version over the next few years.

Among all the new features are two seemingly small but related things that jumped out.

First - Microsoft Teams, the video-calling app which saw a boom during 2020's pandemic, will be integrated into Windows 11 by default.

And second - Skype will not be, for the first time in years.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57597352

As usual, a great piece of software before MS got hold of it. Revolutionary in the early 2000s, but it seems like MS just used it as a building block for Teams.

I personally haven't used it for years, but I know a few who still do on a daily basis.

Looks like MS want the VoIP monopoly.

 

[Lysander]

I remember when they updated to some awful modern skype that everyone hated

They rolled MSN Messenger into Skype and from that point on the internet got worse.

They'll probably force migration to Teams for contacts.

 

[Lysander]

Wasn't Windows 10 meant to be the last Windows which would then just forever be updated?

Yes, another lie from Microsoft. There was never any way Windows 10 was going to be the last.

 

[Lysander]

I miss msn messenger

I actually regularly lament the death of MSN Messenger. It was one of the best things about the net of the 2000s. I just didn't know it at the time.

 

[Lysander]

literally never used zoom in my life.
people still use skype

People/organisations have their preferred platforms. At work we use MS Teams or Zoom, at uni we use Google Hangouts, my family and friends tend to use Whereby or Facebook video calling. It's all just preference. My wife's work still uses Skype, but that's the only place I know that does.

Soon enough though, Skype will be phased out and replaced by MS Teams, that much is certain. I imagine that, even though Skype is still available as an optional download, MS will gradually remove functionally or stall development so that people move over to MS Teams. They may even kill Skype altogether by the time Windows 12 comes around.