Skype Is Headed For The Digital Graveyard

The Microsoft-owned app that pioneered video and voice calling over the internet, appears likely have the rug pulled from under it in May, according to reports.

After years of half-hearted updates and a slow, agonising decline, it now seems that Microsoft will retire the once-dominant platform soon.

The recent discovery by tech publication XDA of hidden code in the latest Skype for Windows preview confirms the inevitable: "Starting in May, Skype will no longer be available. Continue your calls and chats in Teams."

Skype was a revolutionary product when it was launched in the early 2000s by founders Niklas Zennstrom of Sweden and Janus Friis of Denmark.

It connected people across the world with free voice and video calls, a feat that seemed almost magical at the time. But as the tech landscape shifted, Skype struggled to keep pace. The rise of smartphones, the explosion of social messaging apps and Microsoft's own internal missteps all contributed to its gradual demise.