What does this mean?

 

"Starting in May 2025, Skype will no longer be available. Over the coming days you can sign in to Microsoft Teams Free with your Skype account to stay connected with all your chats and contacts. Thank you for being part of Skype"

 

Via MS account only?

 

PS I find SKYPE history fascinating. Like MS start in a garage;

 

"Skype was founded in 2003 by Swedish entrepreneur Niklas Zennström and Danish entrepreneur Janus Friis, with the initial code written by Estonians Jaan Tallinn, Ahti Heinla, and Priit Kasesalu, and was initially known as "Skyper."

Tech leader Sten Tamkivi headed Skype Estonia from 2005 to 2012, while Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus was the company's first registered employee, back in 2003; the company's headquarters in the Mustamäe district of Tallinn also proved a popular employer of expats in Estonia.

E-commerce multinational eBay acquired Skype for US$2.6 billion in 2005 and divested 70 percent of its holding four years later for US$2.75 billion to an investor group named Silver Lake, which included some of Skype's co-founders.

In 2011, eBay and Silver Lake sold the company to Microsoft for US$8.5 billion, with Microsoft launching Teams, a collaboration platform built on Skype's architecture, in 2017.

In its early days, Skype had been one of the first widely used VoIP platforms used to make phone calls, including paid calls (to non-Skype numbers) worldwide."

 

It means what it says. Skype, excellent in its day is now obsolete, or will be in May.

Skype is somewhat old and tired now anyway. 

If you need a MS account, just create one for that purpose and to retain some privacy, don't link it to any other account. Simplicity itself. 

 

Personally I prefer WhatsApp but that's another topic. 

Changing the chatting and video chatting aspect of Skype is easy. I use my Skype US number number for banking codes. THAT is the issue. There are lots of options out there, but after considerable research, none (so far) seem as dependable and cheap as having a US Skype number. I don't want a physical US phone and don't really know how I'd get my hands on one in the first place. 

However, it looks like that ONLY place I personally need the banking code option is Capital One Bank. I have a high-yield saving account with them. I have a Schwab account and they welcome expats.  I use my Thai address and phone number in their settings. When I was back home a couple of years ago I went to a Schwab office in Va Beach and told them EVERYTHING about me: I live in Thailand and have no intention of ever living in the US. Their response... "That's fine".