Microsoft is shutting down Skype and really wants you to join Teams instead

You’d be forgiven for forgetting that Skype still exists — I sure did — but it seems that the long-lived video conferencing app’s days are numbered. According to a small detail buried within the latest Skype for Windows preview (h/t: XDA-Developers), the service is set to shut down in May, with Microsoft ushering remaining users and their chats towards its new darling, Microsoft Teams.

Skype launched back in 2003, before the age of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. It allowed users to voice and video call contacts via the VoIP protocol, reducing the cost of communication for millions globally. Microsoft became Skype’s new owner in a 2011 deal worth more than $8 billion. While the app enjoyed some success under Redmond’s wing, forming part of its various communications efforts, it never really kicked on. During the video conferencing boom of the early 2020s, Skype was firmly in the shadow of newer services like Zoom.

While it’s a sad end for a service over two decades old, it makes no technical sense for Microsoft to keep Skype and Teams running. The two provide more or less similar core functionality, with Teams enjoying far more commercial success.

If you are a committed Skype user and don’t want to switch to Teams but will consider something else, there are plenty of possible alternatives for you to consider. Naturally, the previously mentioned Zoom is the most popular video conferencing service in the landscape, but Apple FaceTime and Google Meet are arguably more user-friendly for smartphone users.

Of course, if you still have contacts, conversations, or memories stored within Skype, you have around three months to save them and enjoy a few nostalgic video calls before Microsoft cans the service.