Microsoft To Discontinue Google Chat And Facebook Chat Features On Outlook.com

Microsoft today sent an email to Outlook.com users that they will be ending support for Facebook Chat and Google Chat in Outlook.com. Microsoft is asking users to use Skype service to connect with others. Read the full email below.

Dear Outlook.com Customer,

Within the next couple of weeks, we will be discontinuing support for Facebook Chat in Outlook.com. And due to Google’s decision to discontinue the chat protocol used by the Google Talk platform, we can no longer provide Google Chat in Outlook.com. We understand that this may disappoint some of our customers, but we hope that you’ll try Skype for Outlook.com chat, and voice and video calling, so you can take advantage of the more robust ways to keep in touch with friends and family.

This update will not impact the connection to your Facebook and/or Google accounts, which means your People page will stay updated with the latest contact information from the services you’ve connected.

We’re confident that Skype for Outlook.com provides the best experience for chatting and making voice or video calls, right from your inbox, when the conversation warrants richer communication than an email exchange.

Here are the steps to get started:

1. Activate Skype for Outlook.com by clicking on the Messaging icon in your inbox header.
2. Click on the Skype icon to join or sign in. Link your Outlook.com email with a Skype ID if you already have one, or use your Outlook.com address to create a new one.
3. Navigate to the People page, and add existing contacts as Skype contacts, or add new contacts. You’re ready to start chatting.
4. To make free Skype to Skype video and voice calls right from your inbox, simply download the plugin.

We remain focused on making Outlook.com the best email service available. Thanks for your understanding and continued use.

Sincerely,
The Outlook.com Team