Re:Estonia to relaunch Skype as Europe's sovereign platform
by timpan on Wednesday April 01, 2026 @12:27PM
(#47603048)
I hired a guy who was one of the video quality engineers at Skype. He had just been laid off but he was one fine engineer! This seems like a fun project.
Re:Estonia to relaunch Skype as Europe's sovereign platform
by vintagedave on Wednesday April 01, 2026 @02:12PM
(#47604446)
I really hope this isn't an April Fool's. Skype was an amazing platform.
Then:
* Removal of peer to peer
* Windows UI redesign, away from classic usable Windows
* Mac UI also changed to web-style (which (obviously personal opinion) was a real kick in the face to people who use Macs and valued Mac UI. The UI wasn't flashy. It worked and it fit the system.)
* Emojis everywhere. I used to use it for work. I recall an eternally bouncing emoji for a while during every work call. Incredibly distracting.
* Covid's opportunity completely missed. Zoom and the rest took over.
* Oh, no-one's using Skype, I wonder why.
If they brought back Skype as a well designed, native UI-first, peer to peer, secure, EU-governed platform it stands a chance of outstanding success.
Re:Estonia to relaunch Skype as Europe's sovereign platform
by zxspectrum1982 on Wednesday April 01, 2026 @05:11PM
(#47606617)
Don't forget about live speech translation. You could speak one language, the other guy a different language, yet you both heard your language all the time.
„By the creators of Skype“ would of course also carry significant weight.
Then:
* Removal of peer to peer
* Windows UI redesign, away from classic usable Windows
* Mac UI also changed to web-style (which (obviously personal opinion) was a real kick in the face to people who use Macs and valued Mac UI. The UI wasn't flashy. It worked and it fit the system.)
* Emojis everywhere. I used to use it for work. I recall an eternally bouncing emoji for a while during every work call. Incredibly distracting.
* Covid's opportunity completely missed. Zoom and the rest took over.
* Oh, no-one's using Skype, I wonder why.
If they brought back Skype as a well designed, native UI-first, peer to peer, secure, EU-governed platform it stands a chance of outstanding success.
Thankfully this seems to be an April's Fools joke.