If you're a bit older, you'll probably know Skype. Before Zoom, it was the tool for making calls over the Internet and enjoying free messaging and calls to the whole world. But Skype will end its journey this year 2025.
After more than 20 years in operation, Skype is giving way to other, much better-established tools. But before it disappears, the internet messaging and calling application is already giving a heads-up about what's coming. Want to know what's happening?
How Skype was born
For those who don't remember the origins of Skype, we'll tell you that it was designed in 2003. Its creators (designers) were Janus Friis and Niklñas Zennström. Meanwhile, Priit Kasesalu, Ahti Heinla and Jaan Tallinn were the ones who developed this tool, which was first launched in Tallinn, Estonia.
During its early years, Skype was a revolution and many used it both to make national and international calls (the great feature that distinguished it from its competition), as well as to chat with other people , create groups, call each other, etc.
In 2005, Skype began to change hands. In this case, it was eBay who bought it for $5900 billion. However, after several problems and lawsuits over Joltid's licenses, it was forced to sell 70% of its stake.
In 2011, Microsoft acquired Skype for $8500 billion, integrating what was formerly MSN Messenger or Windows Live Messenger at the end of 2012. This was done, as will happen now, by using your MSN credentials in Skype and preserving all your chats and contacts.
Today, Skype is still used by around 35 million users. However, this figure is far below the 663 million users, according to the BBC, that it had in 2003 and which, over the following years, fell to its lowest point.
When Skype closes
If you're still using Skype, you should know that its days are numbered in 2025. Specifically, May 5, 2025 will be the date on which Microsoft will stop supporting this tool.
But don't worry, you won't be left "orphaned", so to speak.
What replaces Skype
Before Skype is officially shut down, Microsoft has already prepared a replacement application: Microsoft Teams Free . You can access it with your existing Skype account to keep all your chats and contacts. In other words, you won't lose anything if you don't want to; you can use the Skype replacement app to keep all the information you had in that account.
Apparently, the migration from one account to another will be automatic, and you will be able to have a history of your messages, the contacts you have, as well as call logs, which will be transferred to Teams.
According to Microsoft's vice president of products, Amit Fulay, switching from one account to another will be very easy and instantaneous, because the data has been transferred to the Skype replacement application.
On the other hand, it is advised that you have more than two months to switch to Microsoft Teams or to export the history and save the messages, but use another application to continue communicating with your contacts.
How to keep Skype chats, contacts and history and switch to the new option
If you want to switch to the new tool that will replace Skype, you will have to go to Microsoft Teams. This application is available for mobile, tablet and web. In addition, migration is very easy.
You need to access the official Teams website (we recommend doing this on a computer as it will be easier).
Once there, use your Skype credentials (username and password) to log in. You'll see that everything changes, but you'll keep your existing Skype chats, contacts, and call history. Only the tool's design and the new features will change.
It will take a few weeks to adapt, especially to discover the new tricks or shortcuts that you have with Teams and that were not available in Skype.
Will it still be possible to call conventional national and international numbers?
One of the main features of Skype at the time was the ability to make calls to conventional numbers, both national and international, over the Internet.
However, this feature will not be available in the new application ; it has been omitted because it was already obsolete and not used by users.
What do you think about Skype ending its journey? Do you think the tool deserved to end like that or would it have been better to have completely redesigned the application to give it a new lease of life? Will you switch to Teams or look for other alternatives?