Today’s topics include Microsoft continuing Classic Skype support after customer cancellation backlash, and Toshiba releasing two new 12 and 14TB NAS hard drives.
Microsoft has decided to continue support for Skype 7.0, also known as Skype Classic, after receiving overwhelming customer criticism for announcing in July its plan to stop supporting Skype Classic Sept. 1 in favor of Skype 8.0.
On its Community page, Microsoft announced, “Based on customer feedback, we are extending support for Skype 7 for some time. … Thanks for all your comments—we are listening.”
Microsoft has not specified how long it will continue to support Skype Classic, but several IT analysts agree that continuing support for the older version is wise. According to analyst Rob Enderle, “People really don’t like change, and often companies have to roll back changes if they are too aggressive, due to customer resistance.”
Toshiba America Electronic Components last week launched its latest set of hard drives, the MN07 Series 12TB and 14TB 3.5-inch hard disk drives for use in network-attached storage platforms.
The MN07 hard drives utilize a helium-sealed mechanical design to achieve their massive capacities, and the 14TB model improves power efficiency by about 55 percent over its previous 10TB non-helium-sealed mechanical designs. The MN07 Series is designed for use in NAS appliances with eight or more drive bays and is suitable for NAS file and object storage applications that require disk drives with workload ratings of up to 180TB per year.
Additionally, both devices are designed for 24/7 operability and high reliability with an estimated mean time to failure of 1 million hours. They are also compatible with most popular third-party 3.5-inch NAS enclosures.