Remember Skype? Microsoft is going to bring it back to popularity

^{Source: infocity.tech.}

I remember my first encounter with Skype. It was back when the number of messenger users was about 20 million people (I remember that this figure was shown when the application started or somewhere else). So, that was the first time I saw, and not just heard, a colleague from the Netherlands. I don’t remember the exact year when all this happened, but it all made a big impression.

Then there were more and more users, the contact list grew, I was communicating not with one person, but with dozens. Video, audio, file transfers, etc. And then suddenly Skype began to wither. Approximately the same thing happened with ICQ. The other day I logged in, and in the huge contact list of a couple of hundred people there was not a single active user. And now Microsoft is announcing that it is going to revive Skype. How?

What is going on?

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Yes, Skype messenger now belongs to Microsoft. The corporation has firmly decided to return its former glory to its messenger. The main thing the company is going to do is to adapt the messenger to Windows. In addition, to remove unnecessary functions and advertising, leaving only communication.

There is already a beta version of the application, which is being tested among a limited circle of users under the Skype Insider program. According to eyewitnesses, there is really practically no advertising – even in the section with channels.

As far as we can judge, Microsoft plans to remove all unnecessary things, leaving only communication – as it was before. However, the corporation has nothing to lose: there are far fewer users than before, and advertising is unlikely to bring in much income.

Microsoft's plans

The Redmond company said it was going to ensure the stable operation of the messenger on all platforms. At the same time, they plan to remove all third-party functions from Skype, not to mention advertising. This applies to all platforms, including Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS.

Of course, it's sad that all this is happening now, and not a few years ago. But still, Microsoft is clearly making significant efforts. For example, over the past few days, the company has managed to ensure stable operation of Skype in the 5G network coverage area. The sound notification error has also been fixed – now the messenger notifies about calls or messages without problems. There were problems with this before.

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The company has expanded the messenger's capabilities. Now it is possible to share images generated using Skype's built-in AI assistant Copilot. In addition, you can share the commands that were used during generation. The service can be accessed directly from the chat window, and by clicking on the created images you can see their enlarged version.

Not the first time?

Indeed, there were already plans to revive the messenger, and quite serious ones at that. Three years ago, the corporation already announced global changes. For example, the company planned to focus on an optimized video call mode – exactly what companies and ordinary users need in the post-COVID world. It is not exactly known when exactly this version of the messenger will become available, perhaps in early October – along with Windows 11 and Office 2021. This would be quite logical, since Microsoft is preparing several major new products at once.

The company also added new themes and styles for video calls, which it hoped would allow users to communicate from home while covering their home environment with a custom background.

In addition, Microsoft was going to increase the messenger's performance several times, as well as add support for all browsers. “We believe that Skype should be smooth, accessible, and reliable no matter what browser or device the user uses, so we are adding support for all browsers,” the developers said. They made their statement in 2021.

What's next?

It is unclear what should attract users to the messenger. The audience size is not advertised by the company, but even personal experience suggests that the audience has decreased significantly. But even without discussing the current number of users, the question arises: “Why should the previous audience return?” After all, a large number of messengers now have functions similar to Skype.

The same Zoom is extremely popular now. It is hard to believe that the majority of the audience will switch to Skype simply because the latter has removed advertising. After all, if the abundance of advertising really pushed away many users before, then it is unlikely that these people will return in a few years.

What do you think, does Microsoft have a chance to revive the messenger or not? Share your opinion in the comments!