Current versions of Skype - like version 7.44 for Mac - come with amenities like better previews of websites and better support for emoticons and other content in the input box for chats. It's been migrating the app to its Azure public cloud infrastructure, and adding chatbots.

Still, Microsoft has been doing a lot to improve Skype in the past year. So it's not as if this is very old software. Version 7.18 of Skype for Mac and version 7.16 of Skype for Windows both came out less than a year and a half ago - in December 2015. But that doesn't mean the upcoming move won't rankle some people. This isn't the first time Skype is retiring old software. VentureBeat reports: 'If you're one of those users, all you'll need to do is download the new update,' the Skype team said in a blog post. Microsoft said today that starting on March 1 people will no longer be able to sign in to version 7.16 of Skype for Window desktop and older versions, and version 7.18 of Skype for Mac and older versions thereof. If you're using an older, outdated version of Skype, you may want to consider updating soon.