The once legendary Skype has become a thing of the past

Microsoft's dream came true at the end of 2011, when it finally managed to take over the largest internet telephony provider Skype. The takeover took a good five months, as the computer giant needed the green light from both American and European antitrust institutions. With this move, Microsoft actually made the largest purchase in its entire history. The computer giant paid an estimated 6.2 billion euros for Skype in 2011.

Skype and Microsoft had very ambitious goals for the future, aiming to reach a billion daily users. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. What's more, Microsoft recently announced that Skype would be shut down in May of this year. It's no surprise, given that Skype has been overshadowed in recent years by competitors like WhatsApp, Zoom, and Teams, which is also owned by Microsoft.

What will happen to Skype users? Until May of this year, they had the option to sign up for the free version of Microsoft Teams with their Skype account. Starting in May, Skype became a thing of the past, as it is no longer available to users after 22 years.

What to do next? One option is to switch to Microsoft's online chat service Teams. If Teams doesn't suit you, you can of course opt for one of the competing online communication applications. The offer in this area is actually diverse, and most of them are completely free to use.