Facebook and Google Chat integration in Outlook.com being discontinued

Microsoft has begun notifying Outlook.com users that the chat integration with Facebook and Google accounts will soon be discontinued, and users should move to Skype for instant messaging.

Users of Microsoft's Outlook.com email service will no longer be able to chat with their Facebook or Google Talk contacts through the web client as the integration is set to be discontinued.

Earlier today, Microsoft started sending out emails to Outlook.com users saying that the chat integration with Facebook and Google accounts will be removed in the coming weeks. Users can still connect to their Facebook friends using Skype, but Google Chat integration is going away completely.

As reported earlier, Google is dropping support for Jabber and moving to the proprietary Hangouts platform for chat. Due to this change, Microsoft won't be able to provide Google Chat/Talk integration anymore. The email mentions that the contacts integration won't be affected by the removal of chat and users will continue to get the latest updates as before.

Microsoft has recommended that users who wish to chat with other Outlook.com users right from the web client should link their Skype accounts with the email service and install the Skype plugin for video chat.

Via ZDNet