Microsoft has removed the good old classic Skype for Desktop app from their official web site. The links now point to another version of Skype, which is Electron-based and has a completely different UI. Here is why it happened and how to download the classic app.
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As of this writing, there are three versions of Skype available on Windows.
- The mentioned classic desktop app.
- A Store app (Skype UWP) intended for Windows 10 users.
- A modern app built with the Electron platform for earlier versions of Windows and some older releases of Windows 10.
What exactly happened with the classic app
Recently, a flaw was found in the classic Skype app's installer. Due to this issue, malware could replace Skype's files in the temp directly before the installer was finished doing its work. The setup program doesn't check if the files it executes are genuine or whether they've been tampered with, so this was a high security risk.
Instead of fixing the installer, Microsoft has removed all links to the classic app. The official explanation of the situation is given as follows:
At Skype, we take security very seriously.There was an issue with an older version of the Skype for Windows desktop installer – version 7.40 and lower. The issue was in the program that installs the Skype software – the issue was not in the Skype software itself. Customers who have already installed this version of Skype for Windows desktop are not affected. We have removed this older version of Skype for Windows desktop from our website skype.com.
The installer for the current version of Skype for Windows desktop (v8) does NOT have this issue, and it has been available since October 2017.
So, the company recommends switching to Skype for Windows Desktop version 8, which recently reached the production branch.
However, there is a glitch. The newer app doesn't officially support Windows 10 version 1607 and ABOVE. The list of compatible operating systems is given below.
| Version | Windows 10 Version 1507, or version 1511 |
So, the classic app was the best choice for those who needed the Desktop version to run on Windows 10 Anniversary Update and above.
If you are one of them, you can grab the classic Skype for Desktop app as follows. Do it quickly, because the files will be removed from Microsoft's servers soon.
Download Classic Desktop Skype Version 7
- Open your web browser.
- Navigate to the following link: Skype for Windows Desktop 7.40 (exe installer).
- To download the MSI version of the installer, use this link instead.
- Download the installer and install it (or save it for future use).
The links above point to the classic (Win32) Skype app version 7.40, so you can use it on any supported Windows version.
That's it.
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Wow, what an excuse! Now we need to replace Windows with some kind of different OS as everyone knows that Windows because of their high user quantity is the most prone to malware.
Linux is suitable/usable, if your hardware is supported. Hardware support is real pain in *ss.
You can use Skype Version 8.15.0.4 on any Windows 10 machine but, you have to download it on a Windows 7 machine, (trying to download it on a W10 machine will simply re-direct you to the Store), port it over to the Windows 10 machine and install it in Compatibility Mode:
https://imgur.com/a/uV6db
Its only gonna happen in Edge. In other browsers you can download Skype 8 on https://www.skype.com/en/get-skype/ page on Windows 10.
Nope! Re-directs me to the Store!
>However, there is a glitch. The newer app doesn’t officially support Windows 10 version 1607 and ABOVE. The list of compatible operating systems is given below.
You just need to run installer in compatibility mode, instead of sticking to old vulnerabilities and outdated expirience. 7.** versions features ads too. It is also posibble to have Skype Preview too. https://www.skype.com/ru/insider/
Thanks mate. The compatibility trick works.
Archive.org?
Thanks a ton!
You’re most welcome.
Oh no!
I was too late!
The files have been removed form MS servers.
What can I do?
Hi Lesley,
Try the “Resurrect Pages” Extension for Firefox which can resurrect links too by the context menu.
If you can’t, don’t want to, then pay a visit to the Wayback Machine and enter the broken links there! Worked for me!
Good luck! :)
cry, cause Skype 8 is horrible!