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Skype For Windows Phone Will Stop Working in 2017 (betanews.com)

Mark Wilson, writing for BetaNews: With the release of Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft's support for Windows Phone is gradually starting to die off. We already knew that Windows Phone support for Skype was coming to an end, but now we know more. Microsoft has now announced that as well as ending support for Skype on Windows Phone in October, come 'early 2017' the apps will simply stop working. And it's all thanks to a move to the cloud. The company has already said that the future of Skype is cloud-based rather than peer-to-peer, and this is the reason Windows Phone support is coming to a complete stop. Considering the amount of investment Microsoft has put into Skype, the decision to kill the app entirely is perhaps a little strange, but legacy support -- particularly for such a niche handset -- does not come cheap.

83 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. In early 2017 will by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just stop working? If actually does that it will be the most stable behavior ever MS advised for a software.

    1. Re:In early 2017 will by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      I was an early adopter, but have since stopped using Skype since it got too bloated.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    2. Re:In early 2017 will by tripleevenfall · · Score: 1

      TFA is poorly informed. Skype stopped working some time ago.

    3. Re:In early 2017 will by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I guess there are a lot fewer Windows Phone users who could be forced to go to Windows 10 Mobile, in contrast to the millions of Windows 7 users that they're trying to get to Windows 10

  2. Mindshare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Mindshare and control was what Microsoft paid for, not for the technology nor the app.

    1. Re:Mindshare by Darinbob · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And if you supported Microsoft by buying Windows Phone, then Microsoft's message to you regarding your loyalty is clear.

    2. Re: Mindshare by ljw1004 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Yeah, their statement is "please upgrade to the newer version of your phone OS. It will have been out for two years already by the time Skype stops working in the older OS. Oh, and if your telco isn't giving you updates to your phone OS then you can get the update direct from s."

    3. Re: Mindshare by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      This means a new phone too.

    4. Re:Mindshare by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      When did Intel learn how to make low power chips? It's time for that x86 to finally die. And while the Windows phone looks nice, I wouldn't trust MS to ever create a decent OS, as their track record so far is at zero. A unified OS is a dumb idea anyway. Different tools for different purposes. Right now there is no one out there who wants Windows or x86 except for Windows developers, and their skills are so rusty from being in a monoculture for so long that they won't be leading any technology advances.

    5. Re:Mindshare by Blaskowicz · · Score: 3, Interesting

      There were x86 set top boxes five years ago (Atom), and there were x86 phones too, until Intel exited the market altogether (after nvidia did the same).
      So in fact, you can get an Android x86 tablet, same hardware as lowest end x86 Windows tablets ; you could get an Android x86 phone, but won't be able to anymore, and there never were x86 Windows phone.

    6. Re:Mindshare by Lonewolf666 · · Score: 1

      Slightly OT, but in the x86 vs. ARM tests/benchmarks I've seen so far current x86 chips don't look so bad. Apple even switched from PowerPC to x86 several years ago, because x86 was arguably superior at the time.

      Granted, this may be due to Intel's manufacturing expertise rather than superior circuit design, but so far I don't see another architecture outperforming x86 by a large margin in real life benchmarks.

      This may change as manufacturing technology slows down and other vendors get closer to Intel though.

      --
      C - the footgun of programming languages
    7. Re: Mindshare by Shoten · · Score: 1, Interesting

      This means a new phone too.

      And all of this is different from old iPhones, old Android phones, old Blackberry phones...how?

      I would grant that Apple actually does a decent job of supporting older hardware, especially as they build new features into IOS that rely upon the newer hardware. You can buy an iPhone 5s today, and it'll run the latest version (at this moment, 9.3.4) of IOS. Android...less so, but that's probably as much to blame on the (numerous and non-coordinated) hardware vendors as anyone else. But then again, aren't all the Windows Phone handsets made by companies like HTC as well?

      Let's remember that Windows Phone 8.1...the newest version being discussed here...is 4 years old. It's from 2012. Many of the best apps for IOS wouldn't work on an IOS version that's that old. And yes, Microsoft was very delayed in coming out with a new OS...but still, I get why they don't want to have to support something that old, and which, as others have pointed out, only a very tiny population ever used in the first place.

      --

      For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
    8. Re: Mindshare by nukenerd · · Score: 3

      And all of this is different from old iPhones, old Android phones, old Blackberry phones...how?

      Scrolling down, you are the first post to mention iPhones, Android phones, or Blackberry phones. Pay attention, this is a factual news item about Skype for Windows.

    9. Re:Mindshare by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 3, Informative

      Intel dumped the 'phone' SoC from the roadmap months back. There was a story here about its demise.

      So rumours about an x86 Surface Phone are complete vaporware since the line of Intel chips that MS were planning on using don't exist.

    10. Re:Mindshare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Google has no desktop os.

      So ChromeOS is what? A server OS? A Desktop OS?

    11. Re: Mindshare by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And all of this is different from old iPhones, old Android phones, old Blackberry phones...how?

      I would grant that Apple actually does a decent job of supporting older hardware, especially as they build new features into IOS that rely upon the newer hardware. You can buy an iPhone 5s today, and it'll run the latest version (at this moment, 9.3.4) of IOS. Android...less so, but that's probably as much to blame on the (numerous and non-coordinated) hardware vendors as anyone else.

      This! I've had my iPhone 5 since 2011, and it's nowhere near obsolete, while many friends who don't buy that "overpriced Apple shit" are on their third Android phone since that time. They saved a little money each time - in their minds I guess. One likes to make jokes about how wealthy I must be to afford an iPhone.

      I'll use it until the battery craps out, I guess, and they'll save even more money on their 5th Android by that time.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    12. Re:Mindshare by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Slightly OT, but in the x86 vs. ARM tests/benchmarks I've seen so far current x86 chips don't look so bad. Apple even switched from PowerPC to x86 several years ago, because x86 was arguably superior at the time.

      One of the biggest reasons that Apple switched to Intel was that while the PowePC chips performed okay, size and heat were huge issues. My dual Processor PowerMac G5's CPU modules weren't a lot smaller than a Mini Mac, and it had 5 fans in it. When I was doing 3-D rendering on it, it sounded like a jet taking off.

      They did manage to stuff a G5 into an iMac, but tearing one apart shows clearly that that form was the absolute limit. They were hard to keep cool. They could never stuff one in a laptop, and G4 PPC was the limit.

      Despite promised advances, IBM never reduced the size enough to keep up. I was skeptical at the time, but the switch to X86 and the creation of the Unix based OSX was an excellent move.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    13. Re:Mindshare by r1348 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, go tell that to the lucky ones who bought an Omnia 7.

    14. Re: Mindshare by paazin · · Score: 1

      Let's remember that Windows Phone 8.1...the newest version being discussed here...is 4 years old. It's from 2012.

      Actually, no it isn't. It was released July 2014.

    15. Re: Mindshare by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      No it doesn't need a new phone. Windows 10 mobile is just the next version of the OS that comes after 8.1

      ... if your phone is included in the list of eligible phones. Otherwise, you are out of luck.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    16. Re: Mindshare by SQLGuru · · Score: 1

      I would, but my current carrier (Sprint) isn't offering a Windows 10 Mobile phone right now. And even the models that support the frequencies aren't certified / enabled for Sprint even were I to get on unlocked. So, for now, I'm stuck with my Samsung ATIV S Neo (phone names suck) until I convince my wife we should switch carriers (but she really likes the price of unlimited data for a 5 phone family plan on Sprint).

    17. Re: Mindshare by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      Apps are pointless. You don't need to keep getting more and more newer apps. The old ones work. And Android supports 4 year old phones. People keep them that long... Maybe not Windows Phones, but. I know someone running Windows Phone and he's disappointed at the lack of support.

    18. Re: Mindshare by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      There really is only one gargantuan thread on Slashdot. We just subdivide into topics for accounting purposes.

    19. Re: Mindshare by lederhosen · · Score: 2

      Iphone 5 was released Sept. 21, 2012

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    20. Re: Mindshare by Oakey · · Score: 1

      And as far as I can tell those are the 'newest' Win8.1 handsets. Bought that flagship Lumia 1020? Well fuck you!

      --
      "Dre don't get as high as me.... I'm Cheech and Chong" - Snoop Dogg
    21. Re: Mindshare by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Seriously, you can take a 2012 Nexus 4 and run Android M on it. It'll be slow, but it'll run. I was secretly happy when my son broke our first gen Nexus 7, as it ran Lollipop so amazingly slow.

      These people don't root their phones, and they tend to get them gummed up wiht crapware untilthey run slow as molasses. THeb they get a new phone because "The old one is messed up". Typical users, not geeks.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    22. Re: Mindshare by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Iphone 5 was released Sept. 21, 2012

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      Awp - My bad. I indeed got it in 2012, the year after I retired. All the other stuff is accurate.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    23. Re: Mindshare by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      And when the battery from my Samsung Galaxy Note II from the same era (five days more modern) stops working, I can buy a new battery.

      Because all average users do exactly that. Back in the days of feature phones I got new batteries and was laughed at by the same folks that continuously get new Androids. Just like their smartphones, they replaced their feature phones quite often.

      For me, a phone is a device that needs to work, for texts and actually speaking to people. As computing devices they suck big time. They even suck at email. So I save my computing for actual computers. So as I say, I'll keep using mine until the battery goes dead. Considering they way it's holding a charge, I'm expecting to keep it maybe 7 years overall - about 3 years more. side point. Why do you think you cannot replace the battery in an iPhone? Perhaps we hipsters need to file a class action suit against Amazon for selling batteries and kits for an impossible task that cannot be done? https://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UT...

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    24. Re: Mindshare by evilviper · · Score: 1

      I've had my iPhone 5 since 2011, and it's nowhere near obsolete, while many friends who don't buy that "overpriced Apple shit" are on their third Android phone since that time.

      Lots of people are still happily using a Droid 4, since it was the last Android slider on Verizon's network. While it's a few versions behind, it runs just about all the latest apps. The Droid 4 was released February 10, 2012. Your iPhone 5 was released later in September 21, 2012.

      I'm using a Photon Q for the same reason. It was released a little later on April 25, 2013 and on the cheaper Sprint network, but it is upgradable to the latest Android 5.1 thanks to CyanogenMod. I recently replaced the aging battery with a 3rd party higher-power version, and I'll keep using it until something big fails. My last slider had the flexible ribbon cable fail after 4 years, but I was able to get a cheap replacement for that, too, and only upgraded to the Photon Q when a killer app finally came out that needed a much newer OS version.

      Some people swap their phones all the time, some people don't, and a small anecdotal sampling isn't proof of much. As you said, you can save a lot of money by buying Android, and you get a much more flexible and powerful open platform, too, with things like Firefox, expandable microsd card storage, free call with Hangouts Dialer, etc.

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    25. Re:Mindshare by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      The power usage of a laptop is immense relative to IoT devices. We are trying to build things that last 15 years on a single non-rechargeable battery.

    26. Re: Mindshare by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Actually, I had a Verizon Ellipsis 7, which had just 8GB of storage (don't even ask about the RAM) and running Kitkat. The maximum SD capacity it could take was 32GB. I replaced it this year w/ the Ellipsis 10. The older tablet - I looked for all sorts of places to get an upgrade to Marshmallow, but couldn't find it. Yeah, once there's a way to get Marshmallow on all those phones out there, that'll be good, but we're nowhere near that yet!

    27. Re:Mindshare by unixisc · · Score: 1

      When did Intel learn how to make low power chips? It's time for that x86 to finally die. And while the Windows phone looks nice, I wouldn't trust MS to ever create a decent OS, as their track record so far is at zero. A unified OS is a dumb idea anyway. Different tools for different purposes. Right now there is no one out there who wants Windows or x86 except for Windows developers, and their skills are so rusty from being in a monoculture for so long that they won't be leading any technology advances.

      I agree w/ you that a unified OS is a dumb idea - I think the same about those 'responsive' websites. However, the Windows 8 & beyond OSs that Microsoft did were fine for phones and tablets, just bad for laptops and PCs. Even the Windows 8 interface was good, if somewhat limited (you couldn't set your wallpaper, and were limited in your choice of theme colors), but it was a fantastic user experience. It's main shortcoming was the same one that's ironically Microsoft's traditional strength in the desktop/laptop realm - the application support. Anytime you see any product or service mention its apps, they typically mention either the Apple Store or the Android Store, but rarely the Windows Store. That's been Microsoft's main problem in getting this phone accepted.

      On the x86, that thing had evolved in a big way since the 90s. First of all, the 64-bit x86 that AMD defined is as RISCy as possible, including only a few of the different instruction types that any x86 evolution absolutely must have. Also, the complex circuitry that was supposed to have slowed down CISC CPUs in contrast to an equivalent RISC on the same process now occupies a far lower percentage of the real estate, making it more of a theoretical discussion. While other CPUs like the MIPS or Alpha might have been interesting had they still been around, the ARM has been a very lackluster performer, and only has its power consumption to write home about. Between Intel64 and ARM, I'd rather pick the former

    28. Re: Mindshare by Chrontius · · Score: 1

      I applaud you for not wasting the environment, but it is certainly not thanks to Apple. Credit where credit is due, and here it is to you. I also believe on average, iphone users keep their phones for a shorter time as they see their phones as fashion accessories (this is only a feeling of mine, I have no hard data supporting it).

      In my experience, most people I know tend to use their iPhones into the ground, often ending up 3 or 4 generations behind. Except for the one guy who attends WWDC every year, and makes a good living as an IT contractor, and also has to be able to test his code against new hardware. Everyone else uses it until it breaks, or they pass on their old one to someone else when theirs breaks, and use the excuse to upgrade.

    29. Re:Mindshare by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      The nice thing about ARM is that it's simple. X86 today may be RISCy, but it's a very complex RISC. And ARM covers a lot of range. Ie, Cortex-M series are very nice for small devices, a very nice interrupt model, whereas Cortex-A is more for phones or other things that care about application speed, and so forth.

    30. Re:Mindshare by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      That would be my wife, on the advice of her daughter who worked for a mobile phone shop. Hi ho - I guess it's time for me to look at sorting out a new phone and/ or contract for the wife.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  3. Define "cloud" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "the future of Skype is cloud-based"

    So it's client-server based?

    1. Re:Define "cloud" by Darinbob · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, it's in the cloud, duh! The place where magic happens. Lackluster apps turn into lackluster apps in the cloud, and stocks go up. Like a miracle. Or magnets.

    2. Re:Define "cloud" by CTU · · Score: 2

      I hope it dose not rain and cause me to lose all my contacts :P

    3. Re:Define "cloud" by gweihir · · Score: 2

      Yes, but with a fuzzy and hard to pin down server. That will record and analyze all your conversations.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    4. Re:Define "cloud" by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      No, you need to smoke something to use it, smoke clouds you know.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    5. Re:Define "cloud" by WaffleMonster · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "the future of Skype is cloud-based"
      So it's client-server based?

      Cloud is not a technical term. It describes no coherent system or network architecture.

      All cloud means is you should expect to be mercilessly stalked and monetized while the voice of darth vader plays in a continuous loop "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further".

      Everything advertised as "cloud based" works this way.

    6. Re:Define "cloud" by surfdaddy · · Score: 1

      "the future of Skype is cloud-based"

      So it's client-server based?

      All your conversations belong to Microsoft and the NSA.

    7. Re:Define "cloud" by rastos1 · · Score: 1

      Cloud is not a technical term. It describes no coherent system or network architecture.

      Of course it is a technical term and it does describe a very specific thing: It means "computer that belongs to someone else".

    8. Re:Define "cloud" by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      As far as I can understand, cloud-based is client-server except there's no way to run your own server - nor even can you use an alternate client.

    9. Re:Define "cloud" by johanw · · Score: 1

      Yes. The current system was too much work to eavesdrop.Fortunately Skype is not the only one doing voip anymore, and not even the most popular. I use it only for buisiness use, for personal contacts there is Signal and WhatsApp who have decent encryption.

    10. Re:Define "cloud" by guruevi · · Score: 1

      After they took over Skype, they started killing the app off in favor of their "own dog food". First they killed off Linux support, now "Skype for Business" on Office 365 accounts simply links to the (horrendously inferior) Lync, an offshoot/clone of the infamous MSN Messenger. So yeah, they're integrating the Skype business from a P2P into the Lync Server. In a few years you'll once again have a Microsoft Messenger and Skype will be fully assimilated.

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  4. VoIP is in every app now by ArtemaOne · · Score: 1

    I guess it makes sense as VoIP is available in nearly every chat program that exists nowadays. People like my dad will be upset as he's a big Skype fan. Yeah, it's an old person app.

    1. Re:VoIP is in every app now by antdude · · Score: 1

      Ha, I still use AIM, ICQ, YIM, IRC, etc. I'm an old ant. :P

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    2. Re:VoIP is in every app now by ArtemaOne · · Score: 1

      My ICQ is 102686. I fire it up occasionally for missed messages.

  5. On my Linux by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

    Skype stops working frequently, already.

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    1. Re:On my Linux by Khyber · · Score: 1

      Did you not download the latest update that was released like 2 weeks ago?

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    2. Re:On my Linux by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

      You mean 2 years old? The new one is still an alpha (and the skype website still offers the old one for Ubuntu)

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    3. Re:On my Linux by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

      And on Windows. I have to reboot several times a day

      The good thing is that it fixes skype, and all the other problems as well. Give Windows a reboot a day...

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    4. Re:On my Linux by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      Skype for Business, which is formerly named Lync and doesn't have much to do with Skype for private users.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    5. Re:On my Linux by johanw · · Score: 1

      The Android app is updated every week.

    6. Re:On my Linux by johanw · · Score: 1

      But suffers from the same issue of eavesdropping. Better use something encrypted like Signal, WhatsApp or Viber.

    7. Re:On my Linux by Blaskowicz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But what can I fucking run on desktops?
      This phone-only crap is tiring. I want to use IM when I don't want to or cannot use the phone.
      It's nuts that we're worse off than in 2003 regarding the state of desktop IM.

    8. Re:On my Linux by johanw · · Score: 1

      For those few where a desktop client is a requirement, Viber has a desktop client and Signal and Whatsapp a browser version coupled to the phone.

    9. Re:On my Linux by blind+biker · · Score: 1

      Telegram, which is open source, has a web-based interface, as well as a desktop client. As well as a phone client, of course. It looks a lot like Whatsapp, except it doesn't belong to Facebook and as I said, it's open-source.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    10. Re:On my Linux by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I dunno about the others, but for WhatsApp, one has to have an active phone w/ WhatsApp installed on it. Problem w/ WhatsApp is that it's tied to your phone#, and so if you move from one country to another and the number changes, you need to have a different WhatsApp account for the new number. Skype at least gives you the option of going w/ just an email and the Skype login, which could be used from anywhere. This story is about Skype support being dropped from a Microsoft phone platform that failed to catch on. Nothing to really see here - move along

    11. Re:On my Linux by unixisc · · Score: 1

      This thing is supported on Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile too. Too bad they don't have a FreeBSD version of this app

    12. Re:On my Linux by blind+biker · · Score: 1

      Just point your browser (Chromium works on FreeBSD) to web.telegram.org

      Problem solved.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    13. Re:On my Linux by wicka_wicka · · Score: 1

      iMessage is encrypted end-to-end, is it not?

      --
      hi
  6. It's obsolete by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    When they can tap the phone's microphone on demand, why continue supporting an app?

  7. Wait....wut??? by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 2

    So you're saying a Microsoft product will stop behaving properly with previous versions and will require the ENTIRE installed base to either upgrade or fuck-off-and-die??? That's --- that's --- INCONCEIVABLE!!!

    1. Re:Wait....wut??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

  8. Skype seems to work well on Android 6 and earlier by Streetlight · · Score: 2

    But if it stops working on Android in the future, there's Hangouts that does video calling nicely. Apparently there is no Hangouts for Windows phone but one for iPhone. The fact that Microsoft is killing killing it's own apps for phone tells you something about the future of Windows Phone. It should just be removed from MS's portfolio.

    --
    In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
  9. problems by msdhonimovie · · Score: 1

    yeahh... it almost solves many problems.. great

  10. Re:Skype seems to work well on Android 6 and earli by Z00L00K · · Score: 2

    If you go over to EFF you will get a good list of alternatives to Skype and how secure they are to use. Skype is ranking at the bottom.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  11. Re:Skype seems to work well on Android 6 and earli by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 2

    If you go over to EFF you will get a good list of alternatives...

    ...which recommends WhatsApp. You might as well post the audio straight to FB.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  12. Legacy support? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    but legacy support -- particularly for such a niche handset -- does not come cheap

    Legacy support? Niche handset? I thought the Unified Windows Platform was the biggest and most popular development platform in the world. At least it was according to Microsoft.

    1. Re:Legacy support? by johanw · · Score: 2

      That unified platform was introduced with windows 10 and they seem unwilling or unable to backport it to 8.1. Unless they change their plkans again of course: win phone 6, 7, 8, 8.1: all abandoned. Fool me once, blame on MS. Fool me twice, blame on me. Fool me 4 times: what kind of idiot you think I am?

    2. Re:Legacy support? by cbhacking · · Score: 1

      Yeah, part of the problem here is that Microsoft's idiotic, asinine branding is (once again) biting them on the ass. "Skype for Windows Phone" has nothing to do with "Skype for Windows 10 Mobile", because the last version of "Windows Phone" is 8.1, and "Windows 10 Mobile" (no relation to the long-dead "Windows Mobile" family, whose last version was 6.5) is a new OS.

      If you upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile, your Skype app will continue working just fine. Of course, initially every WP8.1 phone could upgrade (through the Windows Insider program) but now they're limiting it to only the relatively-new handset models. If your handset is more than about three years old, or more than about two years old and mid-grade or lower, you'll probably need a new phone. This is bullshit - I've got an old Lumia 520, the lowest-end WP8.0 release device from way back in 2012, (I use it for testing, not daily phone needs), and it runs W10M just fine - but nobody has ever accused Microsoft business practices of being bullshit-free.

      --
      There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
  13. Re:Skype seems to work well on Android 6 and earli by johanw · · Score: 2

    No, in case you missed it: WhatsApp has end to end encryption now (also for voice calls), so FB can't eavesdrop. It has gotten some angry reactions from states over that, with Brasil the most prominent example. Unlike Skype.

  14. Re:Wait what? by johanw · · Score: 1

    And noone I know uses it (that's even less than the amount of Signal users I communicate with) and it still allows easy eavesdropping. Skype is a buisiness tool now, I don't use it privately anymore. WhatsApp is the norm here in Europe.

  15. I will wait until the lines shorten by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    Killing a popular app because it is too expensive for your niche (i.e. "me too" phone) product means good luck, niche.

    You serve no purpose.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    1. Re:I will wait until the lines shorten by cbhacking · · Score: 1

      The post submitter is confused / has no idea what e's talking about. They aren't "killing a popular app", they're end-of-life-ing the old version that runs on the outdated operating system. Skype for Windows 10 Mobile (to which one can upgrade from Windows Phone 8.1, unless your handset is quite old) is not the same thing as Skype for Windows Phone. Windows Phone is going the way of the Win9x family, and Microsoft is no longer going to support apps for it. This is not unreasonable, especially since the population of people who will still be using the old OS by 2017 is quite small. Not zero - some people will hold on to old hardware and not upgrade - but not much.

      It'd be nice if Microsoft committed to mobile product support lifetimes anywhere near so long as their PC/server product support lifetimes, but considering their overall marketshare, it's not surprising they don't consider it worthwhile. Of course, this will probably lose them some more of that thin slice of marketshare they still have, but at this point, nobody should be surprised by that.

      --
      There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
  16. We asked Windows Phone users for a comment by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Both of them replied, one said that he doesn't even know there's Skype for his phone 'cause he only uses the phone to make calls, the other one said that it's a mistake and he doesn't use the Windows Phone anymore.

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    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  17. Okay, but... by rebelwarlock · · Score: 1

    ...when will it start working?

  18. Misleading headline - doesn't affect Win10 devices by Fencepost · · Score: 2

    The headline here is very misleading, at least for anyone not heavily into Windows-based phones. "Windows Phone" actually refers to anything running 8.1 and earlier; they renamed it to Windows 10 Mobile with Windows 10. In Android terms, this would be a lot like complaining if Google were to stop supporting Hangouts on Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.x) or if Apple were to stop supporting whatever their equivalent is on iOS 6 (iPhone 3GS). Those companies do still support those devices, right?

    Because of this name change, the headline while technically accurate manages to imply that Microsoft is dropping Skype from all of the Microsoft mobile devices which isn't true. They're dropping support for it on devices that haven't been upgraded to Windows 10 Mobile, and while I haven't paid that much attention since the release, last year Microsoft was saying that they intended to have upgrades available on all devices running Windows Phone 8 and higher.

    So, if they followed through with that (or even just most of it), the people that will be affected should either A) Go ahead and install the damn update on your 2-year-old phone or B) Suck it up and go out and replace your 3+ year old phone.

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    fencepost
    just a little off
  19. microsoft shitting on their own phones! by SkunkPussy · · Score: 1

    Just another reason never to buy a microsoft phone. I kind of feel sorry for them.

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    SURELY NOT!!!!!
  20. Hmm, biased or just ignorant? by cbhacking · · Score: 1

    No, just shitting on users who insist on running obsolete software without upgrading. Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile are different operating systems. W10M is backward-compatible with WP apps, of course, but the reverse is not true; WP8.1 cannot run W10M apps such as the current version of Skype. They're keeping the old version around on life support to give people time to upgrade, that's all.

    Unfortunately, Microsoft branding sucks balls, and people like you with no incentive to get your facts straight will probably go on twisting these announcements and misleading others.

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    There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
  21. Re:Misleading headline - doesn't affect Win10 devi by grimfate · · Score: 1

    Thanks for this. I have a Windows phone, but obviously didn't pay enough attention to what Microsoft were doing to realise "Windows Phone" and "Windows 10 Mobile" are different things. Guess I can hold off on worrying about switching platform for a little longer.