back to article Whatchu got for us this week, Microsoft? Skype, Powerpoint tweaks and – oh – another foldable

In a week that saw developer goodness aplenty in Connect(); and Microsoft face a Chromium future, there were some other adventures in Redmond you may have missed. Skype goes Away and makes its home in the System Tray Microsoft continued to make good on its promise to keep closing the gaps between the much-beloved (at least, …

  1. getHandle
    FAIL

    From the title

    I thought this was going to be another list of MS outages!

    1. the Jim bloke

      Re: From the title

      .. just wait

      1. EnviableOne
        Windows

        Re: From the title

        waiting on 10am PST.....

  2. N2
    FAIL

    I could not keep up

    With Skype,

    It was impossible to click the 'deny' button fast enough when it wanted to connect the rest of the world to my computer.

  3. SeanEllis
    Flame

    This is how bad the development cycle has become for Skype: it is now newsworthy that MS is merely restoring functionality to Skype 8 that already existed in Skype 7 (and in many cases Skype 6, 5, ... and so on).

    The features and options in Skype 7 didn't just blow in on the wind as spores and start growing on the code. No, each one was the result of a user requirement that survived triage, design, development, testing, and deployment.

    To casually toss them aside in the "upgrade" to Skype 8 is to disregard the users being served by those requirements. For months people ignored the state of Skype 8 because they could continue using Skype 7, and they probably assumed that Skype 7 would be kept around until Skype 8 met parity.

    We wrongly presumed that this was the minimum possible level of functionality.

    Now Skype 7 is being retired in waves, people are being forced to use Skype 8 and they don't like what they see. And although MS is making an effort, it's not at the priority it should be.

    Many users are locked in to Skype by network effects. But if sufficient users abandon the platform, those same network effects can work against you very quickly indeed. Just ask MySpace.

    1. Teiwaz

      This is how bad the development cycle has become for Skype

      Seemingly, it and all MS products.

      They seem to be going for a regular state of well below sub-par, that way they have to put less effort into being barely competent.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "To casually toss them" live on www.Skype.xxx/ate

  4. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    Subtitles AKA voice recognition on everything

    Yeah... time to look at alternatives.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

  5. windy_miller

    Skype 7 is still working

    I thought Skype 7 was supposed to have been disabled by now? Its still working for me.

    1. joed

      Re: Skype 7 is still working

      For now it's "still working" but it keeps nagging about impending doom.

    2. SeanEllis

      Re: Skype 7 is still working

      It's officially no longer supported since 1 November, and they are shutting people down in "waves" and forcing them to "upgrade" to Skype 8. So Skype 7 will continue to work for a while, but how long a while is depends on the whims of Microsoft and which wave they assign you to. It could be switched off in 5 minutes, 5 days or 5 months - we have no idea.

  6. cambsukguy

    Just make a Windows PC...

    … the size of a phone - even a biggish one.

    Make sure the 'skin' makes it as much as possible like WinPhone, including a good, I mean GOOD, camera.

    Add folding, add running 'real' PC Apps by ARM emulation if you wanna.

    Make it thick, make it heavy, just MAKE it! Soon, my 950 is like good for another year, tops.

    And yes, you may call it a Surface phone - it will have surfaces after all.

  7. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    "...yet another foldable device..."

    I generally put my slab phones into 'leather' cases with folding covers. The cover protects the screen (without the condom-like qualities of screen protectors).

    Folding gadgets would offer such screen protection as an inherent advantage.

  8. Anonymous Bullard

    Skype??

    Wow, that's a blast from the past!

  9. Muppet Boss
    WTF?

    Skype subtitles, surely no use for targeted ads?

    I remember asking a chap living in Beijing on Skype whether the smog was bad there at that moment because I was travelling there in a week. Less than 2 minutes after in an unrelated web browser window I was shown a context ad touting cheap flights from London to Beijing. For the month of my travel.

    So with subtitles, now I don't even have to type to receive useful personalized ads? Wow. sounds like a great deal!

    /sarcasm off

  10. Howard Hanek
    Windows

    Swamp Thing

    Visions of that head slowly rising out of the green goo where so many MS 'Projects' found their final resting places.

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