Stop Forced Skype Upgrade

townsbg said:

I've been using Skype 7 for a while now however starting today when I open Skype it closes and I get a message that I have to update. The only options are to update or close. ...

Why not update? This behavior could be Skype's way of protecting the user base from a newly discovered security breach.

Most likely what you're seeing is a desperate MS attempt to make all users to downgrade to Skype 8. Skype 7 was anounced to be "discontinued" at some point, and many people was forced to download the new one, as the old version simply stoped working (without any real reason behind it, other than "programmed obsolecense").

I'm not aware of any way of keeping version 7 running, as it refuses to run, presumably on MS command. The trick of using a fake SkypeSetup.exe served well to prevent updating from minor versions of 7, but for 8 it no longer uses the same, so it won't work.

I'm afraid that the only way it to downgrade to Skype 8, or, even better, leave Skype altogether.

MourningStar said:

Why not update? This behavior could be Skype's way of protecting the user base from a newly discovered security breach.

Why not? The most important reason is that the new version is much worse than the previous one, in so many senses. The security excuse is frequently cited to be the cause of forced updates, but there is little evidense of actually being true. Even then, even if there's a brutal security problem, it's the user's decision wheater to install the new one or not, not the developer, plain and simple.

And we all know that Microsoft doesn't cares about security, but is obsesed to treat every single program as if it was running on a tablet, depriving of important features in the process. Skype 8 is one of the greatest examples of such thing.