Your memories as Microsoft shuts down the video calling service

From the flourishing long -term love to help families stay connected, for years Skype occupied a unique place in people’s hearts.

In the days before Zoom, WhatsApp and the teams, the video call service was once one of the most popular websites in the world.

It allowed people to make computer calls to free computer, and then became the way users could make low -cost calls to fixed and mobile phones to people in other parts of the world.

However, in recent years, Skype has decreased as its own Microsoft focused on equipment. Its services will be closed forever on May 5, with the Skype For Business characteristic as the only part that remains.

These are just some of the many people whose lives were played by Skype since it was launched in 2003.

Weng and Owen Williams have a lot to thank Skype, it is one of the main reasons why they are married.

In 2012, Weng left Macao, China, to start a six -month internship at a National Trust’s place in Carmarthenshire, Wales.

Feeling a bit nostalgic, she would talk to friends and family in Skype. Then with Owen, who also worked for the National Trust.

At first they were friends, but after WENG returned to Macao, the romance flourished for months of Skype chats and visits to see each other.

“Skype was a very important part of our relationship,” he said.

When they decided to embark on a long distance relationship, Skype was the glue that heroates him together.

The video called every day, even when Weng sent Owen a birthday cake and he cut it in front of his duration.

“That was quite sweet,” he said. “Skype kept us.”

The couple finally committed, and Weng returned to Wales in 2015.

Now, they are happily married.

Like many over the years, Erica de New Zealand used Skype to communicate with a loved one while they were in another part of the world.

In his case, he was husband when one of them was on a work trip.

After his death in 2017, Skype Tok in another role for Erica, who spoke with the BBC anonymously.

“He was cleaning his files to dismantle his work computer,” he told BBC News.

“I had the opportunity to review these messages that we had exchanged and I realized how they inadvertently documented a period of anguish and anguish in our relationship.”

What Erica did then tried to contribute a closure to this difficult period in his life.

“I sent a posthumous message to your Skype address to which, I, or he, answered from your computer,” he said.

Erica said that later a round -trip letter conversation began “approximately a period of weeks”, where he would send a message to his Skype address, then he would respond to herself from her account.

“In this exchange, we answered the messages and questions of the other with all the apologies and regret that we had news of each other,” he said.

“It helped me move on. I believed it.”

Since 2003, Susan Bertotti has lived in Chile. Skype has been his way of keeping his mother Vera, who lives in Milton Keynes.

During the last 15 years, they have been talked about every day that are separated in Skype.

From sharing Christmas memories to showing their gardens in Chile and England, the application of video calls has been a constant.

“Skype has given my mother the most wonderful nearby connection all these years,” Susan said.

When she became her mother’s caregiver, Susan used the application to deal with her entire life in the United Kingdom in the United Kingdom.

As the years, the family starts using WhatsApp, but still use Skype to configure their chats. Vera is now 99.

“It will be a great loss for me,” Susan said.

“I will make calls at the distance lost now at your exit, and that will be horrible, or I will have to send an email.

“I am very disappointed to lose Skype.”

Being able to call International without large rates is an important part of Stan Calderwood business.

The day it was announced that the service would be closed, had used the times of Sueight to call the agents, counters and lawyers of the property in Canada about the sale of a property there.

“You can’t call everyone at WhatsApp, Zoom or teams,” he said.

“You have to call people in their mobile phones and fixed phones, particularly companies.”

Stan is now looking for a new low -cost alternative for cheap international calls.

While Skype fell in recent years, he still had millions of users, with the Statista website stating that he had almost 28 million from March last year.

So what will happen now?

Microsoft says that Skype’s free services will be retired, and users have an option: go to the equipment or export their Skype data, including chats, contacts and call history.

“The moment of this change is driven by significant advances and the adoption of Microsoft teams,” said a Microsoft spokesman.

“The teams sacrifice many of the same central characteristics as Skype.”

Meanwhile, the firm says that its Skype for commercial users is not affected by change and service continuously.

One of those clients is the Ministry of Defense (MOD). His spokesman told the BBC that the MOD retires most of his Skype service as the equipment moves, but a “small user group” will continue to use the commercial version of Skype.

For Skype customers who pay a subscription or have credits to make calls to fixed and mobile phones, they can use Skype Dial Pad on the equipment. When you finish your credit or subscription, there will be no way to use it continuous.

Skype, as we know, and with it, one of the most collectible technological products of this century.