[German]Microsoft has announced the end of support for Skype Classic (Skype Client 7.x) for November 1st 2018 and recommends users to update to Skype 8.x and later immediately.
It has been a puzzling story. On July 16, 2018 Microsoft announced within the Skype-Blog, that only Skype version 8.0 will work after September 1, 2018. Users of Skype Classic (Version 7.x) are no more able to use Skype service.
In normal cases, it would be not an issue we have to blog about. Microsoft has managed to annoy users with Skype 8. Too many features from Skype Classic (V7) were missing in the new Skype 8 client. After massive user protests, Microsoft wrote on August 31, 2018 within it's Skype-Blog:
We've been listening to your feedback and are working to bring some of the most-requested features from Skype version 7 to version 8. To ensure customers have an uninterrupted Skype experience as we do this, Skype version 7 will continue to work for a limited time. Stay tuned for updates on the final date for version 7. In the meantime, we encourage everyone to update now to avoid any future inconvenience.
And on August 31, 2018 they added a not broadly noticed note to the old article, saying, that 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. But Users will be able to use older versions for a little while.
Microsoft has also published the blog post Microsoft provides more information on upcoming changes to Skype explaining further steps. Instead of removing support for Skype Classic (V7.x) altogether, Microsoft will be doing it in waves over the next several months.
- Desktop: First wave begins on 11/1/2018
- Mobile devices and tablets: First wave begins on 11/15/2018
Microsoft will be sending an email to people still using older Skype versions so they know the update is coming. Sometimes later, Microsoft will pull the plug and old Skype Classic clients will no longer work. In the mean time, Microsoft is working on a number of features for Skype version 8, to bring that client into a shape that it's useable. Details may be found within Microsoft's blog post. BTW: Do you still using Skype? I've a Skype account, but I haven't used it since months. My impression is, that the importance of Skype is declining. What's your thoughts?
