Microsoft is shutting down Skype, the internet-based phone and video service that was once the dominant way of staying connected in the mid 2000s.
Skype will "no longer be available" to use starting in May, the company confirmed on X, telling users that their log-in information can be used on Microsoft Teams' free tier in the "coming days." Skype's shutdown comes 14 years after Microsoft bought the service for $8.5 billion in cash, marking the company's largest ever acquisition at the time.
Microsoft integrated the service into its other products, such as Office and it's ill-fated mobile operating service Windows Phone.
Skype's popularity has faded in recent years, despite a pandemic bounce that lifted other competing products, including Zoom, Google Meet and Cisco WebEx.
