A reader contacted BleepingComputer, and shared that according to strings found in preview versions of Skype for Windows, the company will ask users to switch to Teams Free, with all their contacts, call logs, and messages automatically migrated once they log into their accounts. Microsoft has confirmed that the Skype video call and messaging service will be shut down in May, 14 years after replacing the Windows Live Messenger. By logging in to Microsoft Teams with your Skype account, your chats and contacts will appear in the app so you can pick up where you left off," a splash screen displayed when launching Skype will explain. "If they do want to come to Teams then the first-run is pretty instantaneous because we've already done the work on the backend to restore their contacts, message history, and call logs," Amit Fulay, Microsoft VP of Product, added. They can migrate their conversation history and their contacts out and move on if they want, or they can migrate to Teams," Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 Collaborative Apps & Platforms, told The Verge. With Skype's shutdown, Microsoft will also kill the voice-calling features, which allow users to call phone numbers available in Skype. Skype users will have just over 60 days to export their accounts or log into and migrate to the free Teams app for consumers. This means that Skype users will also have to port their Skype phone numbers to other mobile carriers if they want to keep using them. The company revealed in February 2023, when it unveiled an AI-powered Bing integration for the messaging service, that more than 36 million people used Skype daily to connect via phone calls and chats. Last year, Redmond revealed plans to discontinue the Paint 3D graphics app after eight years and remove the Cortana voice assistant and the WordPad basic text editor with the Windows 11 24H2 update.
This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Fri, 28 Feb 2025 15:15:04 +0000