Robert Carpenter
Banned
But the thing is... They never said when they were going to release Skype. I am absolutely 100% positive that it will be released as an integrated part of the OS, just like they said they would. NOTHING indicates otherwise. In fact, their not releasing another updates app for it leads me to believe this is more the case than ever. How do you release an OS integrated Skype? They have to wait for an OS update. At the same time, releasing an OS update just to roll Skype in, is a wasted opportunity to tuck in a bunch of other features and fixes - like support for CalDAV. Releasing another OS update is especially unlikely at present, because the previous OS update is still in the process of rolling out. I admit, some carriers have not handled that well, but that doesn't mean MS isn't working on Skype for WP8.
Everything I have seen indicates MS is dedicated to it's 3 prong ecosystem of Windows 8, Windows 8 RT, and Windows Phone 8. Being familiar with how these things are developed and rolled out, I would be surprised if there was any variation in the path that they have taken. They are in the process of making huge backend changes to Skype, which will enable the OS integration everybody is pining for. But they have to wait for the right window to roll out an OS update.
Carrier updates won't always take forever. Portico pertained to certain features that were carrier specific. That means they had to check compatibility because the way it worked with their system changed.
Do you really think when Microsoft adds a notification center, for example, carrier's will need to approve it? No, because a notification center will not break or change the way it works with the carrier. Fixing sim card errors is carrier dependent. Most other changes are not.