Redmond brings the Skype name and Microsoft account closer

Oct 19, 2016 08:46 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft is making a new change to the way users log into its services, finally allowing them to access OneDrive, Xbox, Office, and others using directly their Skype names.

The company made the announcement today, explaining that the purpose is to bring closer together the Microsoft account and Skype names, which can only lead to a streamlined experience for users who access various Microsoft services and don’t want different handles for each of them.

Skype experience not impacted in any way

If you’ve been using the same Microsoft account to connect to Skype and to any other Microsoft service, this change might not mean much for you, but for others, it’s a godsend because they can simply use their Skype names to access files stored in the cloud or get into Office accounts too.

“You may have recently noticed a few changes in the look and feel of your Skype account. We’ve been working to bring Skype and Microsoft closer together and are excited to announce that soon you will be able to use your Skype Name to sign into other Microsoft services like Xbox, Office and OneDrive,” Microsoft explains.

“With a single sign-in (and an email address for certain services) you will soon be able to have fun on Xbox Live, access your photos and documents through OneDrive, check your email on Outlook.com, and connect with your friends and family on Skype.”

The company also explains that the Skype sign-in screen, password change, and account recovery flow are all managed by Microsoft, but this doesn’t mean that using Skype is impacted in any way, it guarantees.

Without a doubt, today’s announcement makes sense given the fact that Microsoft is aiming to offer a more unified experience across all of its services, and providing access to other services with the Skype name is the right step in this direction. Skype already has millions of users, but it’s not yet clear how many of them are actually users of other Microsoft services.