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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.

20 of 267 comments (clear)

  1. Microsoft by WillKemp · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Who owns skype now?

    1. Re:Microsoft by puto · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Who owns skype now?

      Let met know when Apple allows other Os's can use Imessage. That is when they get it fixed.

      --
      The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
    2. Re:Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You can then install a Windows version of Skype on the sandboxed OS.

      No you cannot, 10.5 is the last OS level that can be loaded on PPC machines these are likely all non-Intel machines.

    3. Re:Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Skype is only partially peer to peer now.

      Originally, the skype network used 'super nodes' to route connections when both parties were behind NAT (without the port forwarded) and could not open a direct connection to each other. Microsoft replaced these super nodes with dedicated servers when they bought skype, in order to lift the bandwidth constraints and increase the call quality for these routed connections.

      However, On command (of the NSA or other LEAs), you'll find all of your connections routed via a microsoft server for the purpose of wire tapping.

    4. Re:Microsoft by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 4, Funny

      peer to peer
      noun to verb...

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    5. Re:Microsoft by davester666 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      thank you for being part of the problem.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  2. 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 OzPeter · · Score: 3, Interesting

      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)

      And my desktop Mac is stuck on Snow Leopard because Apple decided that my hardware can't run any OS-X later than that, regardless of the CPU being capable of doing it.

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      I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
    2. 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.

  3. 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/...

    1. Re:Not without warning. by Frobnicator · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, the posted on their skype.com blog that old versions would be discontinued in the ambiguous future date. It applied to all platforms. A few tech news sites picked up on it, but nothing major.

      A post on their company blog is vastly different from notifying customers (especially corporate customers) that their paid service is going to become inaccessible.

      People pay for the service, and shutting out older clients should have much more notification.

      A proper response would be to sending out an email to ALL active accounts and their billing addresses notifying them of all the versions that were being discontinued due to the change. This would allow businesses (where software is sometimes tightly controlled) adequate notice to update all the machines and conference rooms. It would also allow users (who are now stranded) an opportunity to report that there are no viable upgrade paths, and a chance to use the balance of their accounts.

      Instead it has become a PR nightmare.

      --
      //TODO: Think of witty sig statement
    2. Re:Not without warning. by Thagg · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'."

      --
      I love Mondays. On a Monday, anything is possible.
  4. Things are different in the Mac world. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Things are very different in the Mac world. Many Mac users buy for the long term. And by "long term", we're talking well over a decade. Buying a $2000 or more Mac isn't like buying a $400 Windows PC or a $150 Chromebook. Macs aren't seen as disposable computers that'll fall apart and be thrown out after only a year or two. They're built to last, the people who buy them expect them to last, and there's no reason why software that already runs on them shouldn't continue to run on them for years to come. Six or seven years is a very long time in the land of Windows, I will give you that. But six or seven years is half of the expected usable lifespan of a typical Mac.

  5. Sorry but why is this news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apple does not support their own 2 year old OSes, I have to upgrade my Mac to a more often than not crappier OS just to get things like Xcode running again and sometimes I even have to buy a new Mac because the old one is arbitrarily locked out from a software upgrade.
    So why should Skype's developers care about an ancient version of OS X? Oh, I know, because they are Microsoft, and we love to bash them here!

  6. My Windows Skype just booted me during a call! by Dr.+Spork · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I was using the last pre-MS version of the client, which had the "ring all speakers" option. I have several sound devices in my computer, and when my headphones are plugged in, they on their own don't ring loud enough to hear an incoming call. Luckily my HDMI monitor has speakers that don't get any use, except that Skype could make them ring with the "ring all speakers" option. They were loud enough to hear calls. That was until about an hour ago.

    My client just stopped working, booted me off the network, and after messing with it for a while, I finally got the message that my Skype version is too old, and that I either get the new crippled client, or I can't Skype at all.

    Many people have petitioned to have the "ring all speakers" re-implemented. It worked great. But Microsoft's answer has been: Fuck you, we will never do that. Stop pleading, we don't care. It didn't bother me too much until today. I just thought I'd stick with version 5.10.116 forever. Oh well. So thanks, Skype, for making my life shittier today. Boy am I happy I pre-paid a year of unlimited Skype Out!

  7. 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!
  8. 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!

  9. Possible workaround by DeathElk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Try this: http://community.skype.com/t5/Mac/My-solution-to-continue-using-Skype-2-8-on-older-OS-X-Lion-etc/td-p/3454441

    Simple firewall rule to block access to ui.skype.com. Also, I don't see why
      127.0.0.1 ui.skype.com
      in /etc/hosts wouldn't work..

  10. Not to worry by Hamsterdan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Microsoft will somehow find a way to destroy or abandon Skype like they did Zune, Nokia and other products...

    --
    I've got better things to do tonight than die.
  11. Yes, boo Microsoft by Camael · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Let met know when Apple allows other Os's can use Imessage. That is when they get it fixed.

    I don't currently use any Apple products, but even I can tell there is a difference between a messaging system that was built right from the start to be locked out of its competitor's OS and one which originally was platform independent, but had that feature removed.

    To use a simple car analogy, if I bought a car knowing from the start it only ran on fuel brand X, so be it. If I bought a car which could run on all types of fuel, and during routine maintenance at the shop they changed a part so that it only ran on fuel brand Y, I would be mightily pissed.

    Surely you can appreciate the difference.