Microsoft to Shut Down Skype: Farewell to the 'Rotary Phone' of Communications

Microsoft is shutting down Skype, the service that once helped put video calling on the map. The company announced on Friday it is retiring Skype in May as part of a broader effort to focus on Microsoft Teams, its conference call service, and to streamline its free consumer communications offerings. The company said customers will have access to many of the same core features found in Skype, such as one-on-one and group calls, messaging and file-sharing, via its free Teams option. The free tier also offers features such as hosting meetings, managing calendars and building and joining communities. "This is obviously big news for us and our customers," Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 Collaborative Apps + Platforms, told CNET. "Skype did pave the way for audio video calling on the web, and we learned a lot from [it] that we reflected in Teams in the last seven years." He added: "We felt it was the right time to give our customers more simplicity and more innovation by really put ... Read full article.