For a while. Microsoft pulled a fast one last month when it announced that the old version of Skype, also known as the classic version, will stop working on September 1.
The company than started herding users to Skype version 8, which is interesting because this variant of the application had been in beta for eternity.
Skype version 8 was, of course, designed to be similar to the official UWP app of the popular VoIP client.
It came out of beta last October, but was only made available for Windows 10 1511 or earlier, along with Windows 8.1 and Windows 7. In other words, the only way to install it on newer versions of Windows 10 was via workarounds.
This is how this version looks:
Not for everyone, right?
Anyway, if you like the classic desktop program look of Skype, then you’ll be pleased to know that you will be able to use version 7 of the application for the foreseeable future.
Surprising move, this backtrack from Microsoft, but welcome nonetheless.
The information was posted to a support forum, which originally said that Skype version 7 would be killed off by the start of next month. This is what the update says on the matter:
“Based on customer feedback, we are extending support for Skype 7 (Skype classic) for some time. Our customers can continue to use Skype classic until then. Thanks for all your comments – we are listening. We are working to bring all the features you’ve asked for into Skype 8.
Watch this space.”
Oh, we are watching, you can be sure of that.
That said, while Microsoft has not provided a new end of life date for Skype 7, there is no doubt that it is coming soon. Eventually, all users will have to move to Skype 8 or the UWP app if they are using Windows 10.
The only question is when the classic program stops working.
In the meantime, if you want to download Skype, you can simply point your browser to this link.
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