Contractually...
there are a lot of Gordian Knot-esque mutually binding agreements between various companies that were involved ...(at least with the n8x0..) with the making of the nxx0...
I don't believe any one of them can just dictate policy...remove this..change that...alter the other...etc. without the ok of the other players...

Meaning...I am not sure macroswift can extricate skype on the nxx0 line.
Or else it would have been long done by now.
They just would have had to flip that little virtual switch ..and "poof" no more skype for the nxx0 ...
It isn't rocket science...it's contractual obligation that hinders the shut down...
I mean really ...
When I really look at the topic...
sure we may possibly be lucky...
sure we may be dodging not bullets...freakin' lasers and rail guns by now frankly..
sure it may be because we are small community of users...

But really ...we are a loud bunch who have been very highly critical and disdainful of microsoft ...for a long time now...
If anything....we are a bad reminder...a thorn they would like to be rid of ...

The reality is...that much more current...relevant...devices...with more end users...and larger communities ...have lost their skype functionality...
and yet we are still here.
It has been 3 years since this thread was created..
3 years of microsoft cutting the functionality for devices...
but we are still here.

Possibly things may change....we may still lose our skype...
who knows?
can't rule out the possible...
but logic and the statistical odds thus far seem to point to a long standing issue that has been our bane and our saving grace...

We could never get the proprietary goods for our devices...
all the black boxes and blobs which could have freed our devices...
and why couldn't we?
Because of the various companies who all ,made contractual agreements with one another while developing the nxx0's
They won't let their fellows have knowledge of their work...
Nor will they let us be privy to it...
So...everything is tied up in a nice little Limbo...
and I believe that includes our skype functionality...

One thing I do know for certain...
I just got home ...
I pulled out my n800s and n810s ....
fired them up...(actually I have one n800 that i run all day and night for the cat and puppy playing 1000's of baroque tunes on xmms...so I didn't have to fire one up..it was already running....
Started up skype on the pair of them...
called my cell...
it rang...I answered...I had a good conversation with myself...(the echo helped make it feel more conversational ....)
Voila.
Skype still functions on n8x0's ....
for now...
possibly until they fall apart ...
gazillions of years from now...