Google Toolbar bumped from Microsoft's Skype

Skype’s first software update after Microsoft formally took control was to bump the Google Toolbar from the product's Windows installation.

“Removed Google product bundling,” Skype notes in its version 5.6 Windows update, released Friday.  

The update also fixed a bug that made Skype crash in the Windows 8 developer preview and a click-to-call problem in Firefox.

Google’s toolbar may no longer ship with Skype, however newly anointed president of Microsoft’s Skype Division, Tony Bates, assured customers that Skype would continue to support non-Microsoft platforms. 

“I’m sure in a lot of people’s minds, post merger, the simple question is: ‘Will the Skype experience change?’ The answer is an emphatic no,” said Bates in a video posted on Microsoft's blog shortly after the merger was completed. 

“The value proposition of Skype is being multi-platform across different devices, whether it’s PCs, desktops, mobile phones, whether it’s in the living room.”

Microsoft and Skype were alike in many ways, according to Bates. “They’re disruptive innovative software oriented companies.” 

Bates escaped Skype's pre-merger cull in June which targeted a number of the company’s leading executives.