Microsoft Announces End Of Support For Skype Classic, Urges Quick Adoption Of Skype 8.0
Microsoft made an announcement today on the official Microsoft/Skype blog that they will end support for Skype 7.0, better known as Skype classic, on November 1, 2018. The announcement comes only three weeks after an announcement that they would be removing a number of features present on Skype 8.0 that have proved to be unpopular with many existing users, as was reported by the Inquisitr. About a year ago, Microsoft began retooling Skype to try to be more competitive with platforms such as Snapchat, but found the redesign to version 8.0 was not really achieving the goal of attracting new users.
What they did discover, however, was that version 8.0 was actually turning-off their existing customer base, many of which are professionals or older persons, that felt there was little use for features such as stories and vibrant color schemes. As was reported by the Inquisitr, many felt the upgrade made Skype too difficult to navigate and use and instead began re-installing version 7.o. Microsoft took the feedback they were receiving from customers to heart, and began retooling version 8.0 to eliminate some features that proved to be the most unpopular, while tweaking others to be more user friendly.
Microsoft is ending support for Skype Classic on November 1st https://t.co/1lgJDY869X pic.twitter.com/DH7E3qW27u
— The Verge (@verge) September 27, 2018
They also performed a small redesign to version 8.0 that put access points for some features that had been moved, back to where they appeared on version 7.0 to be less confusing to find for long-time users. While all of this was going on, Microsoft stated that Skype 7.0 would be around for some time, but they weren’t very specific about how long that would be exactly, as reported by The Verge. It would appear that “some time” is about 11 weeks, based on the time of that statement and the announcement of the November 1 end-of-support date.
Microsoft will end support for classic Skype in November https://t.co/MUblcY4P42
— Engadget (@engadget) September 27, 2018
While Microsoft has stated that version 7.0 Skype classic will work for “just a little while,” with no idea how long that is, judging by the urgency they are conveying to install version 8.0, it is being theorized that version 7.0 may work for as little as a month after support ends. The latest editor’s note on the Microsoft/Skype blog also gives November 15, 2018, for the date that support will end on mobile/tablet devices for version 7.0.
“As we continue to focus on and improve Skype version 8, support for Skype versions 7, and below will end on November 1, 2018 on desktop devices and November 15, 2018 on mobile and tablet devices. Although you may be able to use older versions for a little while, we encourage you to update today to avoid any interruption.”
