Microsoft on Thursday officially introduced Windows 11, the newest operating system which will replace the current version which has been present for several years.
Among the new functionalities, there are two small changes which can not go unnoticed.
First Microsoft Teams, the video communications app that boomed during the pandemic, will be integrated into Windows 11.
Second Skype for the first time in several years will not be part of the operating system. These changes suggest that Microsoft has another favorite and everyone is thinking that the end of one of the leading communication applications has begun.
Microsoft bought Skype 10 years ago for $ 8.5 billion. At the time it was the tech giant’s biggest acquisition and there were even doubts whether it had paid more than it should.
But Microsoft was buying an app downloaded more than 1 billion times and hundreds of millions of users. “Together we will create a new era of communication,” said then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
At first it seemed to be working and the application came integrated with every new computer while the usage numbers were high.
Towards the middle of the decade internet forums were full of posts asking “why was skype so useless?” constantly complaining about updates. Poor performance and wrong design choices added to the pressure.
At the same time rival communication apps like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger were booming in popularity and even launched video communication, one of Skype’s strongest points.
The first version of Skype debuted in 2003 and despite the updates had begun to appear its age. While Microsoft was cooking the communication application for businesses like Teams.
Teams the future of communication for Microsoft
Microsoft claimed that Teams had Skype technology and was designed to compete with Slack. But the pandemic happened. Zoom, another solution for businesses, became a favorite app even for homes that wanted to communicate in pandemics.
With the galloping growth of Teams last year the fate of Skype was also sealed. This synthesis was further strengthened with the launch of a version of Teams for personal use.
With this success it was a matter of time before Teams replaced Skype. In September last year the Microsoft-owned social network Linkedin said it would bring video communication using Teams technology rather than Skype.
Skype grew during the pandemic and at one point 40 million users were reported per day. But it is an insignificant indicator if compared to competitors. Skype has not yet been completely killed, the app is still available in the Microsoft Store. / PCWorld Albanian
