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Microsoft Is Disabling Older Versions of Skype For Mac and Windows On March 1 (venturebeat.com)
If you're using an older, outdated version of Skype, you may want to consider updating soon. Microsoft said today that starting on March 1 people will no longer be able to sign in to version 7.16 of Skype for Window desktop and older versions, and version 7.18 of Skype for Mac and older versions thereof. VentureBeat reports: "If you're one of those users, all you'll need to do is download the new update," the Skype team said in a blog post. This isn't the first time Skype is retiring old software. But that doesn't mean the upcoming move won't rankle some people. Version 7.18 of Skype for Mac and version 7.16 of Skype for Windows both came out less than a year and a half ago -- in December 2015. So it's not as if this is very old software. Still, Microsoft has been doing a lot to improve Skype in the past year. It's been migrating the app to its Azure public cloud infrastructure, and adding chatbots. Current versions of Skype -- like version 7.44 for Mac -- come with amenities like better previews of websites and better support for emoticons and other content in the input box for chats. "We've poured our energy and passion into creating something truly special, and this is just the beginning," Skype said.
Subject: Microsoft disables p2p Skype protocol starting March 1, 2017
In a recent update of Skype for Windows Microsoft has announced that starting March 1, 2017 older, p2p versions of Skype will cease to work. This affects Skype for Windows versions 7.16 and below, Skype for Mac version 7.0 to 7.18 and the native Linux client (its only functional version 4.3). This news is especially unpleasant for Linux users of Skype, since the new "cloud ready" version of Skype for Linux is nothing more than a packaged Google Chromium web browser with Node.js running a web version of Skype, which means its memory consumption is huge and it's unable to store your conversation history locally indefinitely like the native client did.
P.S. One can only wonder why ./ editors choose less informative posts over more informative ones.
A very good time to drop Skype for one of it's less-trashy alternatives, such as:
well, basically anything else.
My wife and her sister use Skype on Android based tablets, so what about that version? Of course, Android is based on Linux, so maybe a connection to the Linux version of Skype.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
The last skype for Linux for Ubuntu is now 4 years old. And there is none for 64bit Linux. So there is no skype for Linux. And yet no one cares :-)
How stupid can companies be? Stop sending e-mails with links to update, because scammers can do exactly the same!!!
By doing this again and again, companies are getting users used to clicking on e-mail links to update software, which I think
today is (one of?) the main vectors for malware (see DNC hack...). STOP IT! PLEASE!
Still, Microsoft has been doing a lot to improve Skype
from the Turd-Polishing dept.
WhatsApp pulled that same stunt on older iOS versions just a few days ago. I convince most of my friends to switch to Telegram and Threema.
For business and games we mostly switched to Discord.
https://threema.ch/
https://telegram.org/
https://discordapp.com/ -- replacement for Skype and TeamSpeak
Pissing of their user base ... I really wonder how long companies continue to think they can continue to do that.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
they want their CHANGELOG back.
I soarly disrespect your post sir.
Nt
Some embedded devices are exempted from protocol and authentication forced upgrades. Anyone still connecting on this one client?
And for goodness sake, anyone try just making their own Skype protocol server and using a open source client? Call it the WhypeNet and allow clients to SOCKS Proxy and Vpn and Tor into eachother for repeater proof of concept like how Amateur Radio operators do all the time.
The proper term is "differently-abled" -- as in Microsoft Is Differently-Abling Older Versions of Skype For Mac and Windows On March 1
Just ditch Skype altogether. There are better alternatives out there.
Is it just me, or is everything turning to shit?
It seems like every service, site, and program I use is steadily being degraded, feature-ized and/or monetized until it's a steaming pile of shit.
FFS, just leave stuff alone for a change. Stop "improving" everything until it no longer works. I'm so sick of this shit.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Yes, it is. Basically we are coming to a point where you have to login online to use a computer at all, you have no control over the applications, including how it updates, even patch notes are going by the wayside. Photoshop is no longer available standalone.
There will never be a stop to the changes, because churn like that makes money. Be prepared for a future where you are constantly nudged to buy things, in every interaction you have. We have entered a really shitty era for personal computing.
Good-bye
I'm still on 6.x. If they disable that, that is the end of my adventure with Skype. A chat window must be small, no sidebars, no conversation bubbles, no huge profile pics, because I keep it open on the desktop the whole time.
Basically we are coming to a point where you have to login online to use a computer at all
How will that be enforced? Why can't people just switch to free software? For example, instead of an iPad or a tablet or laptop running Windows 10 Cloud, buy a device running GNU/Linux or Android. Or instead of an iPhone, buy an Android phone and install the F-Droid store. Or instead of a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, build a PC with SteamOS. What computing device class has no practical device that allows at least sideloading free software, if not replacing the operating system entirely with one that respects users' freedom?
I have one of these, 3GHz 1st Gen (Intel) Mac Pro. It can only run Snow Leopard. The latest version of Skype will no longer run and I can't install a newer version of OS X or MacOs because Apple no longer supports this computer. A computer which is fast enough to run Final Cut Pro, Adobe Photoshop, etc.
I really liked Skype but now everything runs via their servers, the only reason to disable P2P is that they can easily monitor the calls and messages. There are other issues: If someone sends a high resolution screenshot, they resize it in a 800x600 image where you cannot read the text anymore. But even a 800x600 photo gets recompressed. Because everything goes via a server, I cannot use Skype anymore to communicate with somebody in China. Every attachment gets stored in the cloud, you cannot send files directly anymore. If you send a link to someone (even if it is internal) the Skype servers will try to download it to show a preview, this preview also gets stored on their server. They say that attachments and images are "only" stored for 6 months, I have proof of links older than two years that are still accessible. Oh yes, these links are not protected, so if I send an attachment one-on-one, if somebody else finds that link a year later, it can still be downloaded without any authentication.
What is a good alternative that supports video group chat?
The latest Skype app demands that you enter your birthday. Skype then blasts this personal information over the internet. I've not logged into Skype once since this intrusive change. Screw Microsoft.
Don't understand why alternatives are not being discussed here. ekiga.org Jitsi.org Linphone.org All are based in France, oddly enough.
Two Skype updates ago my older sony viao webcam no longer worked. It is not a driver or hardware issues, works fine elsewhere, but with the last Skype update it is kaput. And that is most annoying. I reinstalled an older version but once Microsoft decides to kill those off - I am screwed. Sigh. Yet another reason to dislike microsoft
You guys really need to treat your Stockholm Syndrome.
Skype is one of the favorite surveillance tools of the US and Chinese governments. Why does anyone still use this?
Because sheep.
btw Jitsi was bought by altassian, not french anymore :P
I had to roll back skype to 6.1 so Callburner would work now I'm toast. Any suggestions for recording Skype audio (both sides in separate tracks)?
Oh and forgot to say that ekiga does not yet provide encryption.... :'(
Cos sheep. Simple. No brain, just following the leader no matter where it leads to.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - Jiddu Krishnamurti
The deliberate switching off is done at the server for two reasons: to protect users from intruders (such as no longer supporting weak ciphers and hashes) and to keep the cost of continuing to serve users down. Would you prefer that your credentials be surreptitiously copied and reused because you refused to upgrade your OS to one that supports a hash currently believed to be strong?
So making the app stop running and say: upgrade to new version, and "new version" only runs on a newer version of the OS helps no one.
It helps protect the user base at large from harassment by impersonators using keylogged credentials of users that a particular user trusts.