Internet. Skype messaging is over (or almost): what it will change (or not) for you

The final blow was announced at the end of February by Microsoft: Skype would disappear on May 5 .

Since Monday, it's no longer possible to use the online messaging and calling service that Microsoft acquired in 2011 for no less than $8.5 billion. But the platform has gradually been supplanted by numerous other software programs that have stolen its spotlight, until the fateful announcement.

A pioneer in the sector and at the forefront until the 2010s, Skype was created in 2003 in Luxembourg by the Swede Niklas Zennström and the Dane Janus Friis, and developed by three Estonian programmers Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn. It ultimately found itself drowned among a plethora of competitors: Whatsapp , Facetime, Zoom, Telegram , Signal, Messenger and others, all offering the same features - and often much more. Even the most basic messaging services often integrate video calls.

The 2020 health crisis and its associated lockdowns saw the explosion of Zoom, which allowed for better management of large numbers of simultaneous participants. For Skype, this was a fatal blow.

At the time, Microsoft focused primarily on Teams, its application primarily intended for the professional world - deemed more profitable than for individuals. This was the main change for Skype users: they were able to recover their accounts and data, and choose to export them to Teams: "The first use is almost instantaneous, because we have already done the work in the background to restore their contacts, message history, and call logs," explained Microsoft product vice president Amit Fulay.

The interconnection between the two services was maintained during the two-month "transition," until Skype's black screen this Monday. From now on, all personal use of Skype is impossible. For now, Skype for Business remains operational—but its future also seems sealed: it is no longer integrated into the latest versions of Windows... in favor of Teams.

Another major change with the end of Skype: it will no longer be possible to call national or international numbers, or even mobile phones. " This feature was very useful at the time when voice over IP (VoIP, telephony via an internet connection) was not available and mobile data plans were very expensive," explains Amit Fulay.

However, Microsoft promises to honor existing Skype Credits - without offering the option to acquire new ones.

Finally, Skype number users will have to port that number to another carrier, as Microsoft will no longer support this option.