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Microsoft Plans to Keep Skype Classic Available 'for Some Time' Following User Backlash

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Microsoft last month announced plans to shut down Skype 7, aka Skype Classic, on PCs and Macs in September, with the company encouraging customers to instead upgrade to the latest version of Skype, Skype 8.

Skype 8, first introduced last year, features a total design overhaul that has not been popular with some customers, which led some Skype users to be unhappy with Microsoft's announcement.

skypeupdate80-800x463.jpg

As of today, as pointed out by Windows blog Thurrott, Microsoft has changed its mind following user feedback. In a forum post, the Skype team says that support for Skype 7 will not end in September, with the end of life date extended to an unknown time.
UPDATE: Based on customer feedback, we are extending support for Skype 7 (Skype classic) for some time. Our customers can continue to use Skype classic until then.
Click to expand...
It is not clear how long "some time" will be, but customers who prefer the design of Skype 7 can continue using that version of Skype instead of upgrading to Skype 8.

The Skype team also said that it is listening to customer comments and plans to introduce features customers have requested into Skype 8. Classic Skype for Mac can be downloaded directly from Microsoft, as can Skype 8.

Article Link: Microsoft Plans to Keep Skype Classic Available 'for Some Time' Following User Backlash
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/08/06/microsoft-skype-classic-still-available/
90% of the people that wanted the experience of Skype 8 had left the platform, while the update made their current users leave the platform. It’s baffling how a company can be so disconnected from their users.

But it’s not unique for such a disconnect with big backlash causing them to start listening. That’s exactly what Apple have experienced with Macs.
 
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After Skype on my Macbook updated without even asking me, I haven't opened Skype on that machine since. I'm still running Skype 7 on my iMac. So I'm glad to actually learn that you can still download Skype 7 - I'm pretty sure I looked last year when it updated on my MB and didn't find anything that wasn't from some dubious third-party website.

I hated it when it changed on iOS and I hated and still hate it on Macs. I've endured many drastic GUI changes with Windows over the years (I'm STILL adjusting to the Office change that occurred sometime in the 2010 or 2013), and noticed that many times they were to the worse.

Never change a running system....
 
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I think it's interesting how the companies that are extremely successful (e.g. Apple) seemly ignore the initial customer backlash to their products. They push their customers forward into the future regardless of whether all the customers agree. Apple has demonstrated this time and time again.
  1. Removal of floppy disk.
  2. Removal of DVD drive.
  3. Removal of headphone jack.
  4. Many, many, other "necessary items".
With each initial announcement there is huge backlash but, twenty years later, nobody knows what a floppy disk is.
 
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Appleaker said:
90% of the people that wanted the experience of Skype 8 had left the platform, while the update made their current users leave the platform. It’s baffling how a company can be so disconnected from their users.

But it’s not unique for such a disconnect with big backlash causing them to start listening. That’s exactly what Apple have experienced with Macs.
Click to expand...
The problem with “change” isn’t change itself. It’s that these corporations think they know better than their users (in some cases they do) and they change things “just to try something new”, then blindly ignore the negative feedback after all hell breaks loose.
 
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What a mess. Supporting Skype and the "Classic" version of it too? It's just audio/video chat, doesn't need two versions. Kill one of them.
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billybobfred said:
I think it's interesting how the companies that are extremely successful (e.g. Apple) seemly ignore the initial customer backlash to their products. They push their customers forward into the future regardless of whether all the customers agree. Apple has demonstrated this time and time again.
  1. Removal of floppy disk.
  2. Removal of DVD drive.
  3. Removal of headphone jack.
  4. Many, many, other "necessary items".
With each initial announcement there is huge backlash but, twenty years later, nobody knows what a floppy disk is.
Click to expand...
Twenty years later, there won't be any customer backlash to Snapchat's redesign because there won't be any customers, or Snapchat for that matter, because they ruined their app with the redesign. And no, it's not comparable to removal of legacy ports.

Skype users are going to Discord, FaceTime, and Google Hangouts. IDK if it's the redesign's fault or other things cause I switched to Discord before even v7 of Skype. Would encourage everyone else to do the same.
 
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billybobfred said:
I think it's interesting how the companies that are extremely successful (e.g. Apple) seemly ignore the initial customer backlash to their products. They push their customers forward into the future regardless of whether all the customers agree. Apple has demonstrated this time and time again.
  1. Removal of floppy disk.
  2. Removal of DVD drive.
  3. Removal of headphone jack.
  4. Many, many, other "necessary items".
With each initial announcement there is huge backlash but, twenty years later, nobody knows what a floppy disk is.
Click to expand...

Not even remotely comparable.

Your examples: one or two features on an otherwise similar machine.
Skype: COMPLETE UI change including removal of important functions (your examples).

A valid comparison would be the change from iMac G3 to G4 to G4 in addition to the removal of some ports (for which they provided alternatives at the same time). Which happened - but the main functionality remained the same/similar intuitive. Now, please tell me where the f*** I can see who's online or what my own online status is in that new Skype.

My 80 years old grandparents would still be able to use the Apple product even with some of the features removed. They do not understand the changes that's been made to skype and they're still quite tech savy for their age and generation.
 
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Danoc said:
Why does Microsoft change Skype so often? It was one of the internet jewels a few years ago and they are destroying that.
Click to expand...
probably the exact same reason the xbox ui is completely redone every 6 months and constantly changing how to get to things and usually adding steps to do them
 
I wonder if Microsoft is moving to the code for Skype for Business? It seems like a totally different product (and it's crap). Didn't M$ have a corporate communication product prior to Skype? Is Skype for Business just rebranded old M$ junk? If so, I sure hope v8 isn't that!

farewelwilliams said:
any UI changes -> major customer backlash. customers just don't want to change.
...
except for dark mode.
Click to expand...

The question is whether the changes are good or not. I doubt too many of us hanging around these forums are the type that just resist change (as many of us are techs have lived change in the thick of it). The problem is poor change for change's sake.

billybobfred said:
I think it's interesting how the companies that are extremely successful (e.g. Apple) seemly ignore the initial customer backlash to their products. They push their customers forward into the future regardless of whether all the customers agree. Apple has demonstrated this time and time again.
  1. Removal of floppy disk.
  2. Removal of DVD drive.
  3. Removal of headphone jack.
  4. Many, many, other "necessary items".
With each initial announcement there is huge backlash but, twenty years later, nobody knows what a floppy disk is.
Click to expand...

Baloney list. I welcomed the removal of the floppy. I welcomed the removal of the DVD, at least from portable products (as it was a big point of failure, let alone used a lot of space). The removal of the headphone jack, though is as stupid now as it was when they did it.

Wanna make any bets about how long 3.5mm audio jacks are around outside of Apple? Aside from a few smart-phones, the rest of the world is 3.5mm (or 1/4") analog jacks and there is little reason to change that, nor any indication anyone is interested in doing so.

It isn't even so much that they removed it. If they had just said, "hey, we really, really need the space" it would suck, but I'd have been more understanding. But, it was the whole 'legacy port' b.s. that really tripped me off. They replaced a standard with something inferior... that's why I complain.
 
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SteveW928 said:
Baloney list. I welcomed the removal of the floppy. I welcomed the removal of the DVD, at least from portable products (as it was a big point of failure, let alone used a lot of space). The removal of the headphone jack, though is as stupid now as it was when they did it.

Wanna make any bets about how long 3.5mm audio jacks are around outside of Apple? Aside from a few smart-phones, the rest of the world is 3.5mm (or 1/4") analog jacks and there is little reason to change that, nor any indication anyone is interested in doing so.

It isn't even so much that they removed it. If they had just said, "hey, we really, really need the space" it would suck, but I'd have been more understanding. But, it was the whole 'legacy port' b.s. that really tripped me off. They replaced a standard with something inferior... that's why I complain.
Click to expand...
They also left the Apple TV with no headphone port, as I found out today when trying to hook it up to our speakers for AirPlay. The AirPort Express is killed now, so the Apple TV is the product for that, except it only has optical audio out. So we're back to using the analog jack directly to the speakers.

And yes, I've said it a million times, Bluetooth audio on iPhones is user-hostile. It's sucked since before the first iPhone existed, which is why nobody used it even though they had the choice. It's not a temporary downgrade but a permanent one, with no solutions in sight; they've had like 15 years to fix it and haven't even addressed the most basic problem: pairing.
[doublepost=1533617616][/doublepost]
Zandros said:
Skype 7 is way more Mac-like than Skype 8 though, which is a ****** Electron app that straight up ignores Mac UI conventions and not in a useful way.
Click to expand...
Lol, just looked this up. Apparently Slack, which is also a PoS, is an Electron app too. Also love how you hinted that some apps ignore UI conventions in a useful way.
 
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Never used The New Skype. Only rarely touched the classic Skype.

But geez….. if Microsoft Edge is any indication….. Microsoft once had a useable browser in Internet Exploder (not great, but it was useful and it did the job), while Edge is just one butt ugly mess, a total downgrade of a browser.
 
If there is one thing people (some) do hate is a change!
Present them with a change and they go ballistic!
I swear, for some people change is the biggest nightmare.
Just lol :)
 
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I don’t understand why Microsoft couldn’t just make a “classic” theme on Skype 8 instead of keeping that version alive. Seriously, the majority of the complaints were due to the UI changes, not because of some fundamental architecture in Skype 7. Either MS is lazy, or they are not creative enough to satisfy both needs of customers and the progress of tech.
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kegan forbes said:
probably the exact same reason the xbox ui is completely redone every 6 months and constantly changing how to get to things and usually adding steps to do them
Click to expand...
But that’s a different demographics though. Xbox targets gamer who are thirst of new things often to play around with.
Meanwhile, Skype is used a lot by businesses, those who don’t like arbitrary changes because they don’t have the time nor money to do retrain a lot of people just for this one thing.
 
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pika2000 said:
I don’t understand why Microsoft couldn’t just make a “classic” theme on Skype 8 instead of keeping that version alive.
Click to expand...
That would entail actually listening to the wishes of their customers.

Very big tech companies have a hard time doing that…. for some reason.

And MS is very big. After Apple's 1 trillion dollar barrier…. MS is one of the companies that's positioned to follow soon.
 
Kinda crazy, as if they just abandoned this product and gave it to interns as a test project.

They were #1 and just ignored new trends like proper mobile support, web app, encryption, etc. They just changed the visual style a few times without improving the product in any way, sometimes making it even more complicated to use.
 
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Danoc said:
Why does Microsoft change Skype so often? It was one of the internet jewels a few years ago and they are destroying that.
Click to expand...

Some people forget everything.....

https://www.computerworld.com/artic...ows-skype-may-be-privacy-s-biggest-enemy.html
[doublepost=1533633504][/doublepost]
Solomani said:
That would entail actually listening to the wishes of their customers.

Very big tech companies have a hard time doing that…. for some reason.

And MS is very big. After Apple's 1 trillion dollar barrier…. MS is one of the companies that's positioned to follow soon.
Click to expand...

- no comment
- Nope, popular assertion
- Nope https://ycharts.com/companies/MSFT/market_cap
 
Even my brother said Skype 8 was terrible and he is 100% blind. He is fighting the interface and using Skype 8 and he said things have really been changed around. He likes to be on the latest versions so he rolls with it.
 
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