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

[TimTheSheriff]

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.

Why do you say that Slack is a PoS? Is there a service like Slack that you prefer?

 

[Brian Y]

Good. The new version makes it near on impossible to see a list of "online" contacts. Anyone who marks themselves as away gets hidden! Ridiculous.

 

[justperry]

People even using this crap, I've abandoned this long time ago, the quality of service from my country to an Asian country dropped dramatically after MS bought it.
By far the best service is FaceTime, it never lost connection and quality is outstanding most of the time.

 

[pmore]

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.

This is about bad software, not outdated and what companies consider outdated hardware.

 

[ActionableMango]

any UI changes -> major customer backlash. customers just don't want to change.

It's not just "UI changes". If that was all, then we'd all adjust eventually.

Key features were removed, the like ability to see which contacts are online or not, and you can no longer use bluetooth headsets.

Some changes seem lazy. For example the old Skype had "Favorites" and the new Skype has "Favorites", but the new Skype can't read the favorites from your old Skype, so you have to add them all again manually. Microsoft could have one programmer work for a few days to write code to port the favorites, or they could have every single customer manually add every single favorite one by one. I guess they are short on resources because they chose the latter.

 

[extrachrispy]

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!

Prior to Skype for Business, Microsoft had Lync. Lync had the advantage that you could use it in Pidgin via a libpurple plugin, and thus could use it anywhere. It was also a better I/M client than Skype for Business.

Skype for Business is *fantastic* for attending meetings remotely; however, it is one of the worst-in-breed I/M clients. It cannot keep conversations in sync across multiple open instances (e.g., Mac at work, Mac laptop, iPhone, iPad), and notifications and new messages will often appear on the client instance you are NOT using at the moment.

I still bemoan the downfall of IRC for collaboration. Slack/Mattermost just aren't the same.

 

[fairuz]

Why do you say that Slack is a PoS? Is there a service like Slack that you prefer?

The app is almost the same as the browser version. Both are very slow and unresponsive, especially when scrolling through old messages and switching teams. Also uses a lot of RAM, which starts mattering if you've got a browser tab open for each of several teams you're in. The service behind it definitely seems to fail a lot more than anything else, and the push notifications sometimes don't work.

Discord was built for gaming but is similar to Slack except minus some work features and plus audio channels. Most consider it a lot better if it fits your use case, and some startups use it. But its app is also not very Mac-like.

 

[groovyd]

I'd be fine with it if they allowed you to do basic things like change the ringer volume or ringtone. Turn off the obnoxious notification on calls, etc.
[doublepost=1534125709][/doublepost]the advantage of skype over just about every other im client is it seamlessly handles both voice and video calls single or by group as well as providing a phone number that can be used to call in and out from to somewhat replace needing a cellphone as long as you are logged in. One thing it used to do but doesn't seem to work anymore and I really wish it did was allow sms messages to come in and that the phone number you dial out using does not register with caller id.

it can also share screen which comes in useful often and it has more features then just about every other im client but the one thing it is missing which would make it better is to be able to setup chat rooms by name or invitation or any other mechanism. setting up chat rooms is imho Slack's only value.

 

[AlfyB]

Skype Classic does multi-language spellchecking (or more accurately, lets OSX do its thing). Skype 8 does not, so when I switch language, everything I write in a language that is not my system language gets either wrongly corrected or underlined in red. I have no use for Skype 8.

And let's not even start with those stupid emoticons that Skype 8 keeps shoving under each and every message I receive despite clicking on the "these are not useful" button ("Thanks for your feedback!").