Good or bad thing?
Good good
Now if only they'd kill windows too ...
Well, they have Teams. And there are Alternatives. When someone count on that, it would need Time to switch, but because there are solid Alternatives, I wouldn't call it a big Problem - more a minor one.
I only use Zoom and that just recently, so I haven't anything to measure it with.
They majorly screwed up during the pandemic... after retaining majority of the market share for nearly 20 years, somehow a company that no one even heard of managed to fill a worldwide demand for video chat. And Microsoft did nothing about it. Even Microsoft these days isn't what it used to be.
I would try Jitsi instead but you need a GitHub account to host a room. I have to laugh at Microsoft killing Skype. Why? When I was running Teams during lock down it identified it as 'Skype for business'. I had such a poor experience with it I demanded that my supervisor use Jitsi for our Team meetings which she agreed to. Also used it for chatting with a T.A. (Teaching Assistant), more instant than email. The connection was always good ... so good that my colleague forgot to exit out of it and it had been up for 3 days. I don't go near corporations that make false claims, like Zoom who claimed it had E2E at launch when it hadn't. I avoid getting bitten in the first place. (cf. Once bitten, twice shy).
I have also used Jitsi to help @Deeanna with her hard drive installation of Windows 10, using chat. Connection over 4 hours, so that is connection from UK to Florida.
Good! It's old, bloated and resource-heavy. It was one of the first things I rooted out in a Windows installation.
Zoom I don't know now but i reading some time ago it is bugs like a Switzerland cheese.
Zoom isn't Chinese app?
i think they're doing a good job of that!
Killing Skype? Definitely a good thing. Put it out of our misery. I think most people will be using WhatsApp video calls. If I need to set up a video call I use the one in NextCloud, no time limits, and I can easily have 2-3 on the call.
Where I did find Skype useful was its ability to call through to an ordinary phone. We used that from abroad for calling elderly non-smartphone parents using WiFi hotspots at far better rates than the telco roaming.
Skype used to be the king of video/audio computer calls back in the late 90's and through the 2000's. By 2010, most people just used their cell phones, and Skype got less popular. Another thing that killed Skype, was when Microsoft acquired them, and ruined the connection performance.
OH! OH! (Those in the know, get the reference lol.)
Yeah, this was actually pretty useful to be honest. I had to use it myself a few months ago while traveling overseas and it was the best option.
Zoom has been pretty widely known and used in remote-first/distributed companies long before 2020. There's no doubt that the year 2020 brought it a large user base (to the point work from home became synonymous with Zoom calls), but I'd bet the remote work crowd is the people who were recommending Zoom when companies started to offer WFH facilities.
That's to say Zoom wasn't a company no one heard of. It was popular among remote/distributed companies.
I've always stayed clear of Whats App (never used it) and after seeing security issues in the past means I don't go near such things.
Zoom hit the headlines a few years ago when it had always claimed it had E2E from the get-go - it later transpired to be a pack of lies! Hence I will never touch it.
They also had this (since reversed, but who knows for sure?):
Another interesting facet on videoconferencing in general:
I don't like that FB own it, but its a handy tool for exchanging innocuous chat with friends and family. I have never used the video-call facility myself. I am an outlier in that I vastly prefer email for communication, but if I want to hear from friends I need to use WhatsApp or Telegram. None of it is secure, but treat it as equivalent to having a chat in public, you might be overheard.
I have only had about 2 videoconference calls with clients; much more often with far-flung friends around the world, its a wonderful facility.
Yeah, that's true. I didn't mean to exaggerate it too much with that statement, but I'm still standing by it as most people not working with computers (or even working remotely) didn't know about it. It really did get the world by surprise.
I was a bit shocked when I heard skype was being shut down. We in our household don't own or use smartphones, thus no WhatsApp; and we've used skype for some years to keep in touch with distant family. It was a great comfort during all the covid rubbish. Unfortunately one family member is a Windows-only guy; and we don't have Windows 11. Our other main contact is son, who uses mainly Linux Mint. I have no idea what we are going to replace skype with. I understand that Teams for a Linux OS might be available but does it run on Zorin?
Won't touch Zoom, too many holes in it.
You can use the Teams Webpage to just use Teams through browser.
Microsoft, in a fit of ineptitude, deprecated the previous version of Teams, but forgot to remove those packages from the GnuLinux client that you can install. So, they broke it.
And won't fix it.
Thanks for that; I'd better go off and do some research and setting-up.