Good news for fans of the classic Skype app for Windows desktop, Microsoft has changed its plans concerning the discontinuation of the app in September. Citing customer feedback, the company quietly announced today in a response to a forum post that support for classic Skype will continue “for some time” (via Thurrott.com).
“We are working to bring all the features you’ve asked for into Skype 8,” the Microsoft Agent said without giving further details. Microsoft finally started to push Skype version 8.x, the new cross-platform version of Skype to desktop users last month, and this decision was met with some pretty harsh criticism.
The main issue with Skype v8 is that it removes power user features such as the ability to open chats in separate windows, customize notifications to when your contacts go online or offline, and more. Moreover, this new cross-platform app seems to suffer from the same issue as UWP apps: on the desktop, they can look like blown-up mobile apps, instead of something that has been designed from the ground up for the desktop.
It’s good to know that Microsoft is actively listening to Skype users, especially since many of them are actually “prosumers” who either pay for it or depend on it for their professional lives. Pushing an app that does less than its predecessor is a mistake that Microsoft could have avoided, but the company is ready to make amends. Over the weekend, Peter Skillman, Director of Design for Skype and Outlook launched a new survey to ask Skype fans what would be the best way to bring back support for split window view in Skype version 8.x.
Skype Fans: Thanks for your feedback on split window view. We're working on bringing this back. Take this short survey so that we can build the best experience possible? (link: https://t.co/bTlx9jQwnI) https://t.co/bLomjp8CMa… Thank you for your time!
— peter skillman ???????????????????????? (@peterskillman) August 5, 2018
Skype used to be one of the best apps you could use to chat and call your friends, family and professional contacts across the world, but the Skype team seems to have lost its way in recent years. We’ve seen four different “modern” Skype apps since the launch of Windows 8 (remember the “Metro” app, followed by the Messaging + Skype app on Windows 10, and then the UWP app), and none of them were as good as the classic desktop app. It’s the same sad truth for Skype version 8.x, which may also have lost some users along the way with a vain attempt to copy Snapchat’s popular Stories format.
