14 DAY TRIAL // Skype clarified the association of Microsoft's Windows Updates with the Voice over Internet Protocol service's critical system crash on August 16. The initial explanation presented by Skype about the two days long disruption referred to a large volume of simultaneous reboots caused by the worldwide deployment of Windows updates. However, the VoIP company did not specifically cast the blame on Microsoft, instead merely stated that Windows Updates generated a fertile context for a previously unknown bug in the self-healing mechanism of Skype's network to produce a generalized failure that grew in proportions failing to repair the broken down service.
"We don't blame anyone but ourselves. The Microsoft Update patches were merely a catalyst - a trigger - for a series of events that led to the disruption of Skype, not the root cause of it. And Microsoft has been very helpful and supportive throughout," stated Skype's Villu Arak. "The high number of post-update reboots affected Skype's network resources. This caused a flood of log-in requests, which, combined with the lack of peer-to-peer network resources at the time, prompted a chain reaction that had a critical impact. The self-healing mechanisms of the P2P network upon which Skype's software runs have worked well in the past. Simply put, every single time Skype has needed to recover from reboots that naturally accompany a routine Windows Update, there hasn't been a problem."
Microsoft did reveal that it was not at fault for the Skype crash. Christopher Budd, Microsoft Security Program Manager responded to Arak in an effort to deliver the Redmond company's own perspective over the matter. According to Budd, the releases made available via Windows Update starting on August 14 were checked in order to determine if indeed there was something out of the ordinary. Budd explained that Windows Update was not responsible for the extensive Skype downtime. Additionally, David Overton an ISV Partner Account Manager at Microsoft and Miel Van Opstal Enthusiast Evangelist with the Redmond Company also came out and stated that Skype's claims were not accurate in the least.
"I've done some checking and the Windows Update this month caused reboots like it did any other month, yet no other month has this process caused any SKYPE issues. Since there was nothing different this month, the only conclusion I can come to is that this is rubbish. What is more is that Windows Update staggers updates to avoid a world wide reboot and Internet load problem. Given the total collapse of SKYPE I think they are trying to avoid the fact that they have a problem. If rebooting PCs can bring their network to a grinding halt then I would say they have a major architectural issue!" Overton commented.
"Despite the evil theories that go around, and in answer to the dozen phone calls I got from friends that asked me if it was on purpose to show the power of Microsoft: No. We don't control the world, nor the universe. We didn't crash Skype and what happened wasn't our fault and it was not on purpose. It was just a get-together of inconvenient circomstances that lead to the discovery of a bug in the Skype software," said Van Opstal.