Microsoft decides not to kill Classic Skype… yet | Social

It’s amazing to think that Star Trek and Back to the Future style TV conversations are now so commonplace. Who would’ve ever thought that technologies like Skype will bring this concept to the general public?

Skype has been and is still the video chat platform for millions of people. If you’re setting up an online video chat, there’s a good chance that you will use Skype. It’s a name that’s so synonymous with video chatting, that “Skyping” is now an accepted term.

And for many years, people have been using Skype’s “classic” interface. But it looks like this legacy version’s days are numbered. Or are they?

Read on and see why the old version of Skype is getting a new lease on life.

Skype Classic gets to live another day

After receiving complaints from many Skype users, Microsoft has decided to continue support for Skype version 7.0 for an additional period of time.

Remember a few weeks ago, Microsoft announced that it is planning to drop support for Skype 7.0 aka “Skype Classic” after September 1 and it will force Skype users to use version 8.0 instead.

However, an August 6 update to the company’s Microsoft Answers forum announcement of the discontinuation of Skype classic stated that they are now extending Skype 7.0 support.

“Based on customer feedback, we are extending support for Skype 7 (Skype classic) for some time,” Microsoft Agent “Babs [Skype]” wrote on the page. “Our customers can continue to use Skype classic until then.”

What’s up with Skype 8.0 anyway?

Why are Skype users complaining about Skype 8.0 in the first place?

Well, as Microsoft confirmed last month when it was rolled out, Skype 8.0 is missing some of 7.0’s useful features.

Skype 8.0 may have a number of improvements like free HD video and screen sharing calls, file, photo and video sharing, mentions, and media galleries but it doesn’t allow users to access individual conversations in separate windows – a must-have feature for many Skype 7.0 users.

This led to numerous complaints on Microsoft’s support forums stating that the new version of Skype is not meeting their needs like the old version did.

And it looks like Microsoft has listened and it is now backtracking on its earlier decision based on these complaints.

Microsoft agent Babs wrote, “Thanks for all your comments – we are listening. We are working to bring all the features you’ve asked for into Skype 8.”

This announcement suggests that these old features will be eventually integrated into the Skype 8.0. Until then, the Skype 7.0 faithful can continue using their favorite legacy chat program in the near future.

If you want to see what the fuss is all about, Skype 8.0 is now available for all supported versions of Windows, macOS, iPhones, (iPad support coming soon), Linux and some Android phones.

What do you think? Is Microsoft’s backtracking a sign that it genuinely listens to consumer feedback? Or is the company afraid of losing its user base? Drop us a comment!

In other tech news, Apple officially becomes the first trillion-dollar U.S. company

In case you didn’t know, the race to become the first U.S. company to hit a trillion dollar level is over. Click here and see how Apple made a big comeback from near-bankruptcy to the trillion-dollar company it is today.