The messaging service is moving to a new architecture, and leaving some systems behind Skype is leaving behind its peer-to-peer roots and going all in on the cloud. While the popular messaging app made it this far by facilitating connections between computers for video calls and other communications, it’s moving to a cloud architecture that is supposed to improve performance and expand the service’s capabilities. According to Skype Corporate Vice President Amritansh Raghav, the architecture shift has taken three years of work. It is supposed to provide a number of benefits, including improved message syncing across devices. Certain Skype features are already built on top of the new cloud infrastructure, including the mobile group video calling and live translation features that the service introduced recently. It’s an important move, considering that Skype is facing competition from the likes of Google Hangouts, WhatsApp, Telegram, Line, and WeChat. It’s not clear what the privacy and security implications of this change to a centralized infrastructure are. A Guardian report from 2013 claimed that it was possible for Microsoft to hand over information sent through its Skype servers in response to government data requests. A Microsoft spokesperson didn’t offer much in the way of details about what this means for user privacy. In an emailed statement, the company said that the Skype privacy policy remains unchanged, and that all Skype audio and video calls are encrypted. With that transition comes the end of support for some legacy platforms. Skype is going to be shutting down its apps for televisions and the PlayStation Vita handheld gaming console. In addition, the service won’t support iPads and iPhones running anything older than iOS 8 or Android devices running anything older than version 4.0.3 of Google’s mobile operating system. Mac users will still be able to communicate with one another going all the way back to OS X Snow Leopard. Windows users will get the longest tail of support, however. Windows XP, a 15-year-old operating system that Microsoft hasn’t supported for a year, will get a Skype client that supports the new, cloud-based infrastructure. (Windows Vista, 7, and 8 will all be supported, too.) The news comes as Skype recently released a set of updates for its Windows 10 app beta on both desktop and mobile, along with new alpha clients for Linux and Chrome OS. This update replaces the original fifth paragraph, which stated that Skype had no comment, with information including a comment from Microsoft. Related content opinion NSA, FBI warn of email spoofing threat Email spoofing is acknowledged by experts as a very credible threat. By Sandra Henry-Stocker May 13, 2024 3 mins Linux how-to Download our SASE and SSE enterprise buyer’s guide From the editors of Network World, this enterprise buyer’s guide helps network and security IT staff understand what Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and Secure Service Edge) SSE can do for their organizations and how to choose the right solut By Neal Weinberg May 13, 2024 1 min SASE Remote Access Security Network Security news Frontier retains top spot among world's fastest supercomputers For the fifth consecutive time, Frontier tops the list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, but it's no longer the only exascale machine on the TOP500 list. By Denise Dubie May 13, 2024 6 mins CPUs and Processors Supercomputers Data Center news Nvidia teases quantum accelerated supercomputers Nvidia debuts systems powered by Grace Hopper superchips, adds AI and quantum to the HPC mix. By Lynn Greiner May 13, 2024 4 mins CPUs and Processors Supercomputers Data Center PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS NEWSLETTERS Newsletter Promo Module Test Description for newsletter promo module. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe