Skype, despite built-in advertising and no privacy guarantees  is still a very popular Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and instant messaging (IM) client. Indeed, Microsoft is replacing Windows Live Messaging with Skype. Skype has another problem that’s becoming increasingly troublesome: It doesn’t support Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

This is rather odd. Windows 8, and earlier versions of Windows, support IPv6.  With the last IPv4 addresses vanishing, more and more businesses and groups are moving to IPv6 and most MIcrosoft applications have long supported the next generation Internet protocol. By staying stuck in the IPv4 lane, Skype will not only become unusable for smoe users, it’s also becoming an obstacle to IPv6 adoption.

Cameron Byrne, Technical Staff Architect at T-Mobile, observed on the IPv6 Internet operators list that “Yet another year goes by, and Skype still remains one of the most popular apps, and thus its IPv4 dependence blocks meaningful IPv6-only adoption. Skype is the poster child of IPv4 dependence.“

VoIP and instant messaging problem looming: Skype doesn’t support IPv6. More >