Some days ago a new version of Skype is present on my Windows system. I have a relatively older notebook so I’m paying close attention to what is running on my machine. I was surprised as I found it running in the background without my permission.

No way to quit?

But I was even more confounded as I saw the option “run skype when windows starts” or something similar was removed from the options menu. It is also difficult to close the program, you have to log off, then search for the icon on the notification area, right-click…

I searched on the internet and found no solution. Skype didn’t appear in Task Manager Startup section nor in Control Panel either. I suppose they want to compensate falling subscriber numbers with this trick. The only person still using Skype in my circle of interest is my mother, but I can receive her calls with Skype Lite for Android on my phone. So, I finally uninstalled the desktop software. But I hate you, Microsoft, you robbed me 40 minutes of my life. (But you gave me a Steemit post idea.)

Make it lite

The Skype Lite application needs much fewer resources than normal Skype. By the way, Facebook Lite and Messenger Lite are useful the same way. You have contact with friends who are using these old fashioned systems, but you don’t need a power plant to operate them. (Skype Lite occupies 66 Megabytes on my phone at the moment.)

I’m not the only one complaining, the reactions of people on Reddit are interesting. “This is bloody malware”, “Don't you just love how Microsoft keeps forcing stuff on you?”, “Honestly I think it is because they want investors to see huge subscriber numbers” “it's guaranteed a scam to boost their unique numbers”.

You get what you don't want

Possibly they will get to the opposite result with this aggressive behavior because I’m not the only who uninstalled this crap either. “I just uninstalled mine. Haven't used for years – wrote a user. “I haven't used Skype in two years but today it decided that I was going to log in and I guarantee they count me as an active user now so they didn't look so weak compared to discord” – wrote the other.

“So I uninstalled the damn thing. If I need it, I'll install it just for that occasion, then promptly uninstall again.” Others were struggling even with uninstalling the software. Not very user-friendly.

(Photo: Pixabay. I'm on Discord.)