The company won’t discontinue the entire desktop API in December

Nov 7, 2013 07:48 GMT  ·  By
The chat support for the old Skype desktop API will still be retired this year
   The chat support for the old Skype desktop API will still be retired this year

Microsoft had a change of heart and decided to postpone the retirement on certain parts of the Skype desktop API, saying that it wanted to help developers find alternative options for the existing tools.

The initial idea was to discontinue the entire desktop API in December, but the developer community called for the company to change its mind and delay the decision until suitable replacements are found.

Redmond is now claiming that both call recording and compatibility with hardware devices will continue to be available “until we determine alternative options or retire the current solution,” adding that the chatting options for third-party applications would still be discontinued by the end of the year.

The reason behind Microsoft’s decision remains basically unchanged: the existing API doesn’t support mobile application development, and with the company focusing so much on mobile platforms, retiring the current version is the only way to go.

“The current Desktop API extensibility model wasn’t built for the cloud connected world – as extensibility is only available on the Windows Desktop and Mac clients, leaving the Windows 8 store app, mobile apps, web experiences, and Xbox out of the [always] connected experience. The extensibility model of running only on one type of end point needs to evolve to benefit from this new design pattern,” the company said in a post.

Developers launched a petition last month to ask Microsoft to at least extend support for the existing desktop API, claiming that its official retirement affects their businesses due to the unavailability of some specific features.

“The decision to discontinue Skype's Desktop API impacts our ability to use Skype within my normal Skype calling activities. Please reconsider this decision and provide a migration path such that the user functionality provided by these API's is sustained. In summary we request that Skype/Microsoft provide continued support for third party Skype utilities that have become mission critical to Skype's users,” the petition reads.