When Microsoft purchased Skype, it was expected that we would see strong integration of the voice over IP technology within the various Microsoft operating systems. Skype for Windows Phone OS was just a matter of time before it came out.
Well, it’s taken much longer then anyone expected to get to this point, but finally, Redmond has come out with Skype for their mobile operating system. The released version is still in beta meaning that there are the possibilities bugs and glitches being present, but it does give users the opportunity to see what is coming. According to Microsoft, if all goes according to plan, a final release of the Skype app for Windows Phone will come out in April. Another thing to point out is that the beta version of Skype is in fact an app that needs to be downloaded and installed as the company is not quite at the point of integrating the software into their mobile OS.
One of the ironies in all of this is that Skype is available for Android, Symbian and Apple’s iPhone. There used to be a version available for Windows Mobile but that is no longer available when Microsoft made the announcement that they were moving away from Windows Mobile. As such, it would seem that Skype, a Microsoft product, was available for all of the other major mobile platforms, but not for Microsoft’s own OS. This of course will now change. To run the free app, you must be running Windows Phone 7.5 at a minimum.
