Why not make the new app smart enough to replace the task-focused apps by presenting a simplified UI on small screens? 'I can't comment on that,' said Stafford, though logically this is what should happen. 'We'll continue to add features,' said Stafford. Microsoft is also persevering with the separate messaging and video apps. UWP apps require Windows 10, so the existing desktop Skype will continue for users of Windows 7 and earlier, and will remain an option on Windows 10 as well. It also features what Stafford called a 'streamlined user experience', removing clutter like rarely-used status updates, and eliminating the 'old-school' top menu in favour of right-click options on objects like contacts. The user interface for the UWP app will feature an adaptive user interface so that it is suitable for a variety of screen sizes. Incidentally, those on Windows RT (the ARM version of Windows 8) still have the original Windows 8 Skype app. They were not a big hit with users, who complained of bugs and limited functionality. In November 2015, previews of those task-based UWP apps appeared, initially on desktop Windows 10, and then also on Windows 10 Mobile. 'We’re updating PC users of the Windows modern application to the Windows desktop application, and retiring the modern application,' said Skype's Aga Guzik, while also referring to forthcoming 'task-based' apps for messaging, phone and video. Windows 10, released in July 2015, featured a revamped Universal Windows Platform (UWP), based on Windows 8 but adapted so that application run in windows, and across multiple devices including phone, tablet, Xbox and desktop Windows.Īt this point Skype seemed to be retreating from the UWP. 'This is our big step forward together with Microsoft to introduce a completely new Skype experience, which is designed to be always on, immersive, effortless and fun to use,' said then Skype exec Mark Gillett at the time. When Microsoft launched Windows 8 in October 2012, complete with a new touch-friendly app environment, it included a new Skype application rebuilt for the new 'modern' platform.

The Skype story on Microsoft's reinvented Windows platform is anything but smooth.

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