Microsoft Messenger Going Away, Welcome Skype

Scott from Souza writes: Yesterday Microsoft Messenger sent me an email telling me I had to "update to Skype" or lose my account. I assume, therefore, that I will also lose my Hotmail account and everything in it. I'm concerned that Skype is a social networking service (none of which I trust for security reasons). I have not been able to find answers to these concerns by searching online, and I was wondering what you and your readers know about all of this. Thanks much. Answer: Microsoft...