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Microsoft announced plans to shut down Skype, the video calling platform that disrupted the landline industry after its launch in 2003, and will disable the service in May.
Duolingo Owl Returns From the Dead With Surprise Announcement
It’s the end of an era.
Skype, the video calling platform that revolutionized online communication across the world after its 2003 launch, will soon ring its final bubbly dial tone, Microsoft has announced.
“In order to streamline our free consumer communications offerings so we can more easily adapt to customer needs,” Microsoft’s President of Collaborative Apps and Platforms Jeff Teper wrote in a Feb. 28 statement, “we will be retiring Skype in May 2025 to focus on Microsoft Teams (free), our modern communications and collaboration hub.”
Confirming that Microsoft Teams—its other video calling platform—has most of the “same core features” as Skype and that the company is “excited about the opportunities ahead,” Teper concluded with a sentimental message.
“Skype has been an integral part of shaping modern communications and supporting countless meaningful moments,” he continued, “and we are honored to have been part of the journey.”
Following Microsoft’s announcement to sunset the platform, many users
online expressed a slew of reactions—mostly shock, but in various forms.
“Wait…skype was still a thing? Thought it retired long ago,” one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Feb. 28, while another shared, “Gutting tbh, have lots of memories on Skype, was what I used to call my mates on before I had a phone.”
And though Skype was a major disruptor to the landline industry when it was released, eventually being purchased by Microsoft in 2011 for $8.5 billion, it ultimately fell out of favor with users.
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“Honestly I’m more surprised they were still around,” one former user noted. “Everyone seems to use zoom and teams now.”
But still, they couldn’t help but be nostalgic of the days of Skype, adding, “Man that dialing noise when you were about to video chat someone for the first time was such a nerve-racking experience back in the day lmao. So many memories.”
Amid the news, a fan tenderly quipped, “Don't be sad because it's over, smile because it happened.”
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