Microsoft is reportedly getting ready to kill off the Rooms chat feature it introduced with its Windows Phone 8 back in 2012.
With the latest Windows 10 set to hit the general public later this year, Microsoft is looking to add new experiences and features and remove old ones that no longer fall in line with the company's efforts and vision.
Back in 2012, one of the biggest new features of Windows Phone 8 was Rooms, which allowed users to chat and share photos, notes, and calendars in private groups. Rooms was basically an extension to the People hub on Windows Phone 8, creating virtual chat rooms for users.
It now seems that the Rooms chat feature is approaching its demise, however, as Microsoft has announced that it will end support for the service as soon as next month.
"We're making way for new features in Windows 10 that will help you stay in touch with the people that matter most," Microsoft explained in an email, as cited by The Verge.
From March onward, Windows Phone 8 users will still be able to view their existing Rooms, but will no longer have the ability to create new ones or send any messages through this feature. Meanwhile, those who update to the Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones will see no trace of this feature at all.
Microsoft recently released the preview build of Windows 10 for phones and the feature was already nowhere to be found, but the company's statement now clearly confirms its plans to ditch Rooms altogether. The feature will not only cease to be available in March on existing Windows Phone smartphones, but it will not make its way to any future versions of the OS.
Microsoft made significant efforts in recent times to make its services more widely available, bringing them to as many platforms as possible, and this move to kill off Rooms makes sense. Only Windows Phone users could enjoy the full functionality of Rooms, and Microsoft wants to play nice with other operating systems as well. Cross-platform messaging services have become increasingly popular through the years and will surely continue to grow even further, diminishing the need for services such as Rooms.
