Get ready to bid goodbye to Skype. In a press release, Microsoft announced it would shut down its once-popular video conferencing app on May 5.

For users, Skype will go offline on May 5, when Microsoft replaces it with a free version of Microsoft Teams. Teams has been Microsoft’s chosen successor for years, offering the same kinds of video calls and group meetings.

Microsoft is closing down Skype, the video-calling service it bought for $8.5 billion in 2011 and which had helped spark a transformation in how people communicate online.

Microsoft will soon switch off Skype, a pioneering telecom and video call platform that emerged from the rubble of the dotcom era.

Skype was an a pioneer in live video-calling that was bought by Microsoft in 2011, but was later overtaken by competing services.

Skype will ring for the last time on May 5 as owner Microsoft retires the two-decade-old internet calling service that redefined how people connect across borders.

Microsoft said today that it will sunset Skype, the company that popularized voice calls over the web, in favor of its own Teams app.

When was the last time you logged into Skype? For many, it's been years, possibly since the pandemic lockdowns. This might explain why Microsoft is rumored to be pulling the plug on the once-popular service.