Microsoft has announced that in the first quarter of 2013 MSN (or Windows Live Messenger) will be killed off worldwide with the exception of mainland China. Instead the service is going to be replaced by a brand new rockin’ version of Skype.
The new version of Skype has received a face lift in more ways than one. Not only is it now integrated with Windows 8, but you can now sign in to it with a Microsoft account. This will mean that you don’t have to maintain two different contact lists and you also have all the added benefits that Skype brings such as internet calling and better mobile integration. Tony Bates, president of the Skype had this to say:
Our goal remains to deliver the best communications experience for everyone, everywhere. We want to focus our efforts on making things simpler for our users while continuously improving the overall experience.
Microsoft purchased Skype back in May 2011 for a reported $8.5 billion. I think what Microsoft need to concentrate on is making the whole process as seamless as possible so as to not have a repeat performance of the Outlook.com fiasco. Maybe automatically porting a users contact list over to Skype when they start using it. Let’s hope they can do it.
There is also talk of possibly integrating Skype in Facebook eventually so that you can do one click video calls straight from your Facebook stream. Here is a short video introducing the new version of Skype on Windows 8:
I’m not really a Skype or MSN user any more so I don’t really think this will affect me much, but what do you think? Is this a good move or bad move on Microsoft’s part? Tell us why in the comments or come and discuss it more in the forums.
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