Microsoft to retire older Skype for Mac versions, force mandatory upgrades
Microsoft on Friday announced it will be "retiring" older desktop versions of Skype for both Windows and Mac, forcing existing users to upgrade to the latest edition of the popular voice over IP service.
Skype, which was purchased by Microsoft in 2011 for $8.5 billion, noted the upcoming change in a post to its official blog.
"We are going to retire older versions of Skype for Windows desktop (6.13 and below) as well as Skype for Mac (6.14 and below) over the next few months," the company said.
While the term "retire" was not clarified in the post, Computerworld later verified with Microsoft that users running these older versions will not be able to log in until they upgrade. In other words, the upgrades are mandatory.
It is unclear why Skype is forcing users to download newer builds of its communications client, though it is theorized that Microsoft may be implementing a new baseline service to support upcoming features.
In May, Skype teased a real-time translation feature that will be consumer ready sometime this year. At the time, Microsoft said it is planning to harvest data from real Skype conversations to achieve higher levels of accuracy, a system that could possibly require a reworking of Skype's backend.
The most current version of Skype for Mac is 6.18, which can be downloaded for free from the company's website.
Skype, which was purchased by Microsoft in 2011 for $8.5 billion, noted the upcoming change in a post to its official blog.
"We are going to retire older versions of Skype for Windows desktop (6.13 and below) as well as Skype for Mac (6.14 and below) over the next few months," the company said.
While the term "retire" was not clarified in the post, Computerworld later verified with Microsoft that users running these older versions will not be able to log in until they upgrade. In other words, the upgrades are mandatory.
It is unclear why Skype is forcing users to download newer builds of its communications client, though it is theorized that Microsoft may be implementing a new baseline service to support upcoming features.
In May, Skype teased a real-time translation feature that will be consumer ready sometime this year. At the time, Microsoft said it is planning to harvest data from real Skype conversations to achieve higher levels of accuracy, a system that could possibly require a reworking of Skype's backend.
The most current version of Skype for Mac is 6.18, which can be downloaded for free from the company's website.
Comments
and it will now be called microsoft messenger...
A better-run organization would give OS X and iOS versions a Mac-like UI rather that a Microsoft one.
Skype is a first and foremost VOIP client. You can make calls to regular phones/mobiles anywhere in the world. Unlimited world subscription costs just $130 for a year! Unlimited North America calling for a month costs just $2. This means you can call any mobile or house phone and talk for entire month for just $2.
In addition Skype has a decent cross platform screen sharing feature.
I love Skype on my iPhone. I can be cycling out in the boonies and talk to my sister in Europe on her mobile phone at the same time. And the bandwidth demands are very very low.
Older versions used to allow you to share screens, but in newer versions that's a paid feature. They pull features and charge for them as they upgrade the software.
It would be nice if they built it with "Instant Messenger" but I hope the client can sit around and not suck up resources and the UI be improved.
I'm hoping Microsoft doesn't stick their foot in it like they did with the xBox One. Maybe they've learned they have to compete in a market rather than dictate -- but old habits die hard.
I also hope that calling phones won't be so dang expensive in Skype.
1) I never made any regular Skype calls but I did use it for Skype Out to a phone number and even had a Skype In number. That all changed once Google offered Google Voice numbers for free. That is the now the number I give for anything non-personal as opposed to giving out my home or cellphone number.
2) It doesn't get talked about much but FaceTme and iMessage have been extremely disruptive despite being proprietary services that only exist on Apple devices. Just two days ago I finally pulled the plug on using Adium, a great Mac app that allows for the collation of various messaging systems. I simply don't use Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, MSN Messenger, or GTalk any longer to talk with friends and family. It's all done through the much more convenient and powerful iMessage (and to a lesser extent email and phone).
3) Oddly, I do still need to maintain AIM and GTalk accounts a this is the only way to share a Mac screen via the Messages app née iChat (not iMessage service) when trying to assist friends and family. I'd love for Apple to finally allow that to happen, as well as make it possible to share an iOS-based device, since all the protocols are there.
Probably because the newer versions contain the latest NSA backdoors.
I don't use Skype since it was purchased and spoiled by M$. FaceTime is OK for my needs.
It's not us IT guys that are slow to upgrade to the latest software - we want to do this as it's better or more secure. The true culprit is either money or incompatibilities.
Upgrading to the lasted paid Adobe, Microsoft, SAP, Siebel, etc apps/systems for 16,000 employees costs millions. Further, their are usually dependancies everyone has built on the software elsewhere. It's not the IT guy's fault he can't deploy the latest version of IE, it's all the websites that were built to use IE6, 7, 8, 9, etc. I want to deploy IE10. Can't - Siebel and SAP don't work with the version that we have running. Why? Because upgrading those would cost millions. That's IF the companies using Microsoft's ecosystem bother to keep up with the latest browsers.
Quit kicking the IT guy. You want the latest version of Skype? Go install it.
The only thing this will accomplish for Microsoft is a complete decimation of their OS X and iOS share base, switching to iMessage.
Never mind on their own side of things, as people don’t like the new designs there, either.
In May, Skype teased a real-time translation feature that will be consumer ready sometime this year. At the time, Microsoft said it is planning to harvest data from real Skype conversations to achieve higher levels of accuracy, a system that could possibly require a reworking of Skype's backend.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Facetime is not replacement for Skype. Just because they can be used for vaguely similar things does not mean they are used for same purpose.
Skype is a first and foremost VOIP client. You can make calls to regular phones/mobiles anywhere in the world. Unlimited world subscription costs just $130 for a year! Unlimited North America calling for a month costs just $2. This means you can call any mobile or house phone and talk for entire month for just $2.
In addition Skype has a decent cross platform screen sharing feature.
I love Skype on my iPhone. I can be cycling out in the boonies and talk to my sister in Europe on her mobile phone at the same time. And the bandwidth demands are very very low.
Free for life in Yosemite + iOS 8...
Why pay for anything else?