0304 Skype to Shut Down in May

Skype to Shut Down in May

Skype, once one of the world's most popular video calling websites, has said that it will shut down in May.

Skype announced its closure on X on February 28.

However, even before that, some users had spotted a message in the latest Skype for Windows preview that said, "Starting in May, Skype will no longer be available. Continue your calls and chats in Teams."

Microsoft Teams is a messaging app that also allows file sharing and video calls.

Skype was released in 2003. It was neither the first nor the only video calling app, but being free, it helped make video calling popular.

It was bought by Microsoft for $8.5 billion in 2011, at a time when the app had 1 billion downloads and hundreds of millions of users.

However, Skype was soon overshadowed by video calling through apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and FaceTime.

Then Microsoft launched Teams in 2017, promoting it aggressively. And when the company announced the release of Windows 11 in 2021, it said Teams would be integrated into the operating system by default — but not Skype.

Teams became more popular during the coronavirus pandemic, as many companies transitioned to online meetings.

Industry watchers say the writing has been on the wall for Skype for years.

Still, people online said they were sad to be losing Skype.

"Yeah, no surprise here but sad still the same," one user wrote on computing news site XDA, which was the first to report the story.

Another user wrote: "I don't like Teams. Skype feels professional when you are giving your address to directors. Teams seems to be casual."

On X, some users just said: "We'll miss you Skype."

In its announcement, Skype wrote: "Over the coming days you can sign in to Microsoft Teams Free with your Skype account to stay connected with all your chats and contacts."

It added, "Thank you for being part of Skype."