Skype being bought by M$

To be honest, Google already has all the information you may have in your Skype profile. It’s not like it’s full of insanely private and extremely secret data, or you wouldn’t have let Skype use it in the first place.

And Google at least has the habit of driving things forward and opening stuff up. Out of all the big players, I’d rather it be them than the others, if only because of that.

=Alex= wrote:
http://blogs.skype.com/en/2011/05/microsoft_will_acquire_skype.html
http://www.itworld.com/open-source/163509/microsofts-reported-skype-acquisition-may-impact-linux-users
I’m jumping off that sinking ship. What alternatives are the other Skype users here going with?

I don’t get why it’s a sinking ship, or why you are suddenly looking for alternatives?

Is it because it’s Microsoft and a headline (you don’t like MS for whatever personal and utterly valid reasons I am sure… since you’re reaction is so strong, i assume you’re running OSX or Linux?), or upon purchase did Skype - which is a service after all - suddenly cease to function, cost money to function, or some other horrible outcome?

I’m a little baffled why a take over should initiate such a strong response…unless it’s not a genuine action, just a statement you are making

There are alternatives, uni would never even let us use Skype but installed Voipfone or something.

FriendlyFire wrote:
I would rather have them independent or bought by Google, but yes, it’s better than Apple or, dear god, Facebook. Chances are multiplatform support will get a little sketchy.

Totally agree.

OSHI-

I just realized the already sketchy Linux/Mac versions are probably going to die altogether now.

first i think M$ buying them out will do allot for Skype. As well as you can expect Skype core to be used to enhance or see it fully integrated into Windows Phone 7. And probably into Windows Live Messenger as well.

As for Facebook, well M$ owns a good stack in FB so FB will have full access to the Skype plate form so expect some huge changes to FB’s Skype support in the near future.

Google did year look at Skype , however they were just window shopping , their interest was far from serious.

I am iffy overall on skype, i use it but then again i don’t. meaning i have an account but rarely use it.

Oh, almost forgot. Those concerned about a linux/mac version i would not worry too much about that, you might find that Microsoft will surprise you.

Vesko wrote:
OSHI-

I just realized the already sketchy Linux/Mac versions are probably going to die altogether now.

I read an article whereby it highlighted that the fact it ran on Linux/Mac was a huge positive for Microsoft… shrugs

Chips wrote:
I don’t get why it’s a sinking ship, or why you are suddenly looking for alternatives?

Like you mentioned, the only ones with a strong reaction to this are those running Skype on non-Windows machines.

Microsoft is unlikely to kill support for Linux/Mac while it can still make money off of it. If those platforms become unprofitable, then yes, of course they’re going to pull support.

The minimal support they get now, however (I believe Linux is about three version behind Windows?), suggests that Skype has already worked out that the profit to be had outside of Windows is minimal, and having themselves absorbed into the company that allows them to make profit seems to be a sound business move. They keep their jobs, and Microsoft reaps the benefits of having a highly successful VoIP and IM client on it’s belt.

Really, in the end, it’s easily compared to the gaming industry. A vast majority of developers don’t bother to make their games compatible on other OS platforms, and when they do it’s generally as an afterthought. The reason is simple; they stand to make a much bigger profit out of Windows.

Now, what would be ideal for everyone, would be an open source VoIP and IM program that is backed by enough advertising to make it mainstream.
But, well… Open Source and advertising don’t exactly go hand in hand.

In conclusion; Suck it up, until secondary Operating Systems become just as popular as Windows, this is going to keep happening. And when you’re using programs mad by corporate entities, there aint squat you can do about it.

Just for you cross platform worriers, MS and Skype held a press conference, stating that they’d actually expand upon cross platform support. So there.

=Alex= wrote:

Sizer wrote:
Just for you cross platform worriers, MS and Skype held a press conference, stating that they’d actually expand upon cross platform support. So there.

I’ll believe it when they go along with that.

Not to sound like a fanboy, but I imagine that means more MS ads on Apple and Linux systems. >_>