Skype may be closing down soon

In recent years, Skype has become outdated and lost a significant number of users as it has fallen behind many other advanced group communication platforms. The problem is even more serious when Teams has now become the official “successor”. Therefore, it is not too unbelievable that Microsoft may soon kill Skype after 21 years of existence.

Microsoft appears to be taking the necessary steps to pull the plug on Skype. In the latest preview of the Skype app for Insiders, Microsoft has added a text string to the notification dialog. When triggered, the dialog will inform logged-in users that Skype will no longer be available starting in May. Those who want to stay in touch with their Skype friends will be directed to download the free version of Microsoft Teams to continue using it.

A tech blogger tried downloading and installing the latest Insider build of Skype for Desktop, version 8.137.76.425. Then, to extract the text strings, the app.asar file was extracted from the "resources" folder at Program Files > Microsoft > Skype for Desktop, and the file was then opened using 7-Zip with the Asar7z plugin.

Once unzipped, you can find text strings for all languages ​​in separate JSON files in the "resources" folder. New text strings added by Microsoft that are related to Skype's impending shutdown include:

"TFLMigration":{"RibbonMessage":"Starting in May, Skype will no longer be available. Continue your calls and chats in Teams.","RibbonButtonLabel":"Start using Teams","RibbonMobileButtonLabel":"Get","BannerTitle":"Move to Teams today","BannerContent":"{userCount} of your friends have already moved to Teams Free","ChatInTeamsButtonText":"Chat in Teams","LearnMoreButtonText":"Learn more","DialogTitle":"Microsoft Teams","DownloadingMessage":"Downloading Microsoft Teams...","InstallingMessage":"Installing Microsoft Teams...","OpeningMessage":"Opening Microsoft Teams...","InformationMessage":"Teams will open automatically once the installation is complete.","CancelButtonLabel":"Cancel"},

• RibbonMessage: Notifies users that Skype will be shutting down in May and guides them to migrate to Teams.
• BannerContent: Tracks contacts who have migrated to Teams and notifies them of a specific number.
  These strings will apparently be used in a dialog or ribbon notification to alert users that Skype is being shut down. As of now, these strings are not enabled in the app, and Microsoft has not officially announced plans to shut down Skype.

Skype has seen a sharp decline in user numbers over the past few years. Most business users have migrated to Teams, while many personal users have moved to other more popular instant messaging/VoIP apps.

While Microsoft continues to update Skype, updates are becoming increasingly rare. In fact, Skype is still suitable for some use cases, such as international calls via VoIP or video calls with elderly relatives. However, Microsoft recently discontinued Skype Credits and directed users to a subscription plan.

Back in 2013, Windows Live Messenger was discontinued, and its users were migrated to Skype—the experience wasn't exactly the same, but the transition was smooth. Now, 12 years later, Skype may be having a similar moment to Messenger. But we're not sure how big of an impact it will have.