Ok, seriously? Classes determine your major skills, therfore if classes are taken out there ARE NO MAJOR SKILLS. All skills level you up in skyrim, they say that over and over again. You have to be both deaf and blind to miss that.
Well, first of all, they don't say it over and over again. They're just quoted by multiple people, which means that the same information comes up over and over again. But when it comes to information - you must be very naive if you think that gamer magazines and e-zines never misquote the developers or say things that are gross speculations or exaggerated truths. That is why it's smart to listen to what the devs themselves are saying, or read it if it's a
direct quote. Imagine then, if one gamer mag just quote from a quote from a quote. In Norway we got an expression - "One feather turns to five hen".
Second, having Major skills in a game simply means that you got a set of skills that are better than other skills - that's got nothing to do with specific Classes in a game. I mean, you seriously think that it's impossible to have major skills in a class-less game? That's like saying that it's impossible for me to ever learn Skating, just because I don't call myself a "Skater" per se. Just because something was done in a specific way for one game, doesn't mean that it's set in stone for the next game.
Classes could still exist with the removal of the Major skills, it's just that the definition of a Class changes. Likewise, if the class system is removed, then major skills can still be assigned. It's just that they'd have to be defined in some other way than choosing them in Chargen and naming a class for it.
Possible Chargen for Skyrim:1) Name, Race and Gender
2) Major skills (+X skill points to each, or w/e)
3) Birthsign
4) Start game
No class system at all, instead your "class" is defined naturally by the skills you've focused on. Only difference is that the Major skills in Skyrim would not be as static and absolute as the Major skills in Oblivion.