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Skype Blocks Customers Using OS-X 10.5.x and Earlier

Posted by samzenpus on from the not-for-you dept.

lurker412 writes Yesterday, and without previous warning, all Mac users running Leopard or earlier versions of OS-X have been locked out of Skype. Those customers are given instructions to update, but following them does not solve the problem. The Skype Community Forum is currently swamped with complaints. A company representative active on the forum said "Unfortunately we don't currently have a build that OS X Leopard (10.5) users could use" but did not answer the question whether they intend to provide one or not.

6 of 267 comments (clear)

  1. For comparison by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    This is roughly the equivalent of blocking Windows Vista. Vista was released in 2007 (January) as was Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard 2007 (October)

    1. Re:For comparison by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      no, it's totally different. windows vista is a supported product until april 2017, while osx 10.5 has been UNSUPPORTED by apple since june of 2011....

      google, btw, dropped osx 10.5 in chrome way back around version 21, and Mozilla dumped it for firefox with version 16 being the last to support it.

  2. Not without warning. by Alan+Shutko · · Score: 5, Informative

    Skype announced that they would be discontinuing support for older versions of the client back in June.

    http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/20/...

  3. Re:and linux aswell by Tailhook · · Score: 5, Informative

    You have to upgrade to 4.3.0.37 on Linux to obtain connections. They've cut off earlier versions.

    This is the sort simple minded behavior that seriously limits the value of Skype. I received no warning. Suddenly Skype stops working and my subscriber access is cut off. I find this out just as an important phone conference is getting underway.

    When it works (which aside from this is all the time) Skype is absolutely great, even on Linux. $30-ish a year for unlimited call termination in North America and caller id that shows my regular cell phone, text messages (again with correct ID) — it's wonderful. But interfering with service by cutting off anything older than the most recent clients is just ridiculous.

    --
    Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
  4. Re:and linux aswell by amiga3D · · Score: 4, Informative

    I absolutely love it. Any time that MS goes off like this and proves that my low opinion of them is valid make me happy. Good for MS, they're still the same company we always knew they were!

  5. Re:Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Not entirely.

    There are servers for NAT-traversal, and servers for SkypeOut. SuperNodes are generally run by Microsoft(Skype)

    As for why Microsoft might have killed Skype on OS X 10.5. 10.6 is the last version that supports Core Duo/Core2Duo, so they may have built the 32-bit binary against XCode to compile for 10.6

    Apple however doesn't provide any updates for OS X 10.6 anymore.