Skype Is Dead
It’s official: Skype is dead. The long-lived (by Internet standards) voice-over-the-Internet application has been put out to pasture by parent company Microsoft. While Skype was once seen as a way to call someone online, it is now going the way of Google Hangouts and dozens of other trend-setting apps before it. It will officially be replaced by Microsoft Teams on May 5th.
This is truly the end of an era. Launched in 2003, Skype quickly became synonymous with online video calling, and the word “Skype” entered the lexicon as a separate verb. He’s maintained countless long-distance relationships, podcast recording sessions, and remote D&D games, but after being displaced by apps like Zoom during the pandemic, Microsoft appears to have decided it was finally time to walk away.
Users will be prompted to upgrade to Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft is committed to making the transition smooth, and “in the coming days” will give Skype users the ability to sign into a Microsoft Teams account and immediately import their Skype chats, contacts, photos and call history. Users looking to ditch Skype will also be able to export their data for download locally, and Microsoft tells The Verge that it has also created a tool that will allow users to view their Skype chat history after quitting.
The company also says that Skype and Teams will be compatible from now until the end, so if you switch to Teams and then message one of your old Skype contacts, they will still see your message in Skype.
No more Skype calls
However, one big part of Skype will disappear once Teams officially replaces it: phone calls. While Microsoft says it will honor existing Skype credits and subscriptions, it won’t support paid Skype features beyond that, and existing subscribers won’t be able to renew their plans. To help customers take advantage of their paid benefits, the Skype dialer will be available on the Skype web portal and in Teams after closure.
The decision to shut down Skype follows a December move that saw Microsoft phase out the sale of new Skype credits as well as the Skype number feature, which allowed users to use Skype to answer calls and send text messages from a standard phone number. Looking back, the writing seems to have been on the wall for a long time.
“We hope to move the majority of Skype users,” Microsoft’s Jeff Tepper told The Verge, “but we want users to know they’re in control.”
Because of this, while Teams is definitely a viable choice for personal use, despite its more business-oriented name, you may prefer one of its competitors. Our friends at PCMag brought you some of the best free video calling apps to consider switching to after Skype shuts down.