Looks like the Redmond software giant is killing Skype. Its latest preview for Windows includes lines that hint that it will be closed in May. "Starting in May, Skype will no longer be available. Continue your calls and chats in Teams.", says the hidden string resource.
Skype has a rich history of ups and downs. It was ]launched in 2003 and quickly gained popularity due to its ease of use and the ability to make free calls over the Internet. It offered decent quality audio and video calls and was extremely popular until the advent of mobile messengers, which pushed it out of the market.
Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011, and use it to replace its own products, such as Windows Live Messenger. The company made several efforts to redesign the app and make it more modern. But nothing helped. The current app is slow, especially on mobile platforms, and doesn't look attractive to the end user. It doesn't offer anything that works better than in competitor messengers.
At some point, Microsoft was shipping Skype with Windows and Windows Phone. But now it offers Teams for the same purpose.
The company didn't make an official announcement yet, but it is obvious that its days are numbered. Skype is on the way to Microsoft Graveyard.
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It probably would have been better off if Microsoft had never touched it in the first place.