Microsoft has advised Skype users to update their applications to the latest version – Skype 8 – before 1 November 2018.
Earlier this year, the company announced that it planned to stop supporting older versions of Skype towards the end of 2018.
Microsoft confirmed in an update posted on the Skype blog, that support for Skype versions 7 and below will end on 1 November 2018 for desktop devices and 15 November 2018 for mobile and tablet devices.
“Although you may be able to use older versions for a little while, we encourage you to update today to avoid any interruption,” Microsoft said.
The company has been working on implementing a number of features requested by users, including call recording and the ability to search in conversations.
“You’ll soon be able to add phone numbers to existing contacts, have more control over your availability status, and more,” Microsoft added.
“We are encouraging everyone to upgrade now to avoid any inconvenience as only Skype version 8.0 will work after September 1, 2018. As we roll out improvements, there comes a time when we must shut down older services and application versions.”
This is done to ensure that all customers have the best possible Skype experience and that there are no quality or reliability issues resulting from old technology and new technology interoperating. We know change can be hard, so we’re working to make the update as simple as possible. For help with the upgrade, please visit our support site. We appreciate the support of the Skype community as we upgrade the experience and listen to feedback along the way.
Everything about this new version, from the underlying performance improvements to the usability enhancements, is designed to keep you connected to the people who matter most. We built Skype version 8.0 based on feedback from our community—adding exciting new features while ensuring it’s simple to use with the same familiar interface of Skype version 7.0.
