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Skype 5 for Mac out of beta, group video calling part of Premium subscription

Skype has released the latest version of its communication software; it's out of beta and ready for download. The beta version of Skype 5 for Mac has been available for a little while now, but this is the final version they've settled on, featuring a more minimal interface with simpler views, less whitespace and more information about contacts and communications all condensed in one place.

The group video calling that was available for free in the beta has been moved into the Premium subscription model, where it's included with customer support calls for a day pass of US$4.99, or an $8.99 per month subscription. New users get to use the service for free for seven days, so if you just want to try it out, you can do that.

Unfortunately, a lot of the feedback on this version so far has been pretty negative, but many of the complaints we saw were about the extra whitespace and window size issues, so maybe this latest version will fix most problems. Skype is available as a free download from the website, and of course Skype Credit and Premium services are an extra charge.



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Skype has released the latest version of its communication software; it's out of beta and ready for download. The beta version of Skype 5...
 

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Dean

Skype is the worse face to face thing out there..voice movement is always out of sync with ones voice, terrible reception...I now use Logitec Vid, a free download...EXCELLENT quality and ones voice actually sync's with their mouth...check it out!

February 03 2011 at 11:51 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gillan

Ebay should just sell it... on Ebay.

I know 19 year olds that could write a better utility.

January 27 2011 at 4:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
brotkel

I submitted feedback during the beta, and while they didn't go so far as to ditch their whole one-huge-window UI, it looks like they did implement a few things that I asked for. Screen sharing is now no longer hidden under the file sharing submenu and the text in the main window has been normalized to a reasonable size. T

here is also a button on the top right side of the main window (just under the search bar) that opens a clean, tidy list of online contacts. If they had given me the ability to have this open when Skype launches, then I could hide the atrocious monster window behind my browser and be fairly satisfied with 5.0. Well, that and give me the ability to not get notifications for birthdays for God's sake!

January 27 2011 at 4:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Luca

The new version is like having a Windows window on my Mac! No sense at all! Back to 2.8 after 1 minute.

January 27 2011 at 3:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Norman

Such a shame! This version has the worst interface in software history. I registered at skypes forums just to tell them, and i was shocked. There were like 5 threads, each filled with a lot of peoples comments on the horrible interface. That was like 3 months ago. And they didn't change a thing. So stupid not to listen to costumers (or common sense, the interface totally sucks).

January 27 2011 at 2:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Norman's comment
Yuusharo

What exactly is bad about it? Online contacts are separated from offline, each contact has an easy-to-reach button for video and voice calls, has a list of recent conversations on the left sidebar for, again, easy access, and it sits quietly in the dock until someone gives me a ring.

So.... what's the problem exactly? I'm still not getting why everyone's upset.

January 27 2011 at 3:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Norman

The thing uses like 5 times the display space, you can not turn off those stupid "people that you skyped with in the last 2 weeks" on the lower left, and there is a lot of stuff shown that noone wnats to see.

January 27 2011 at 3:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mp1963

Seems that Skype chose to completely ignore the comments about the UI from the people who tried the 5.0 Beta. Tried the release version tonight, found it truly awful and have rapidly reinstalled 2.8 which does exactly what is required of it with a minimalist UI that simply works. Sometimes you have to wonder what Skype are thinking.....

January 27 2011 at 2:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
L. Williams

The ONLY reason I was looking forward to Skype 5.0 was for the group video conferencing feature. This was THE big deal about the new version. Now they've done a bait and switch and will be upsetting a lot of people. It's like buying a car and having it come with only a driver's seat, then being told "Oh, if you want to have other people in the car, the additional seats are extra!". What an abysmally bad move on Skype's part.

Oh, and the new interface is terrible as well. The old Skype 2.8 was neat, compact and worked very well. They've turned Skype 5.0 into a clunky Windows program with bad aesthetics. I depend on Skype to keep in touch with clients, but after being excited at the video conferencing possibilities, I'm left with a very sour taste.

Skype: Do the right thing and make video conferencing free. You never told us it would be a paid service, so you shouldn't be telling us this now--and hire a new design team to bring back the Mac aesthetics to the user interface design.

January 27 2011 at 2:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to L. Williams's comment
Yuusharo

Skype never hid the fact that it would be a paid service in the future. Its always been that way, even with the Windows beta. This taken from their blog in May of last year:

"Group video calling is just one in a set of new premium features you’ll see us roll out during 2010. We haven’t set prices for these premium features yet, but rest assured that we’re still absolutely committed to bringing you free voice and two-way video calling."

January 27 2011 at 3:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Yuusharo

I've been using the beta on my Macbook Air for months. Guess I don't have much to compare it too, since I never owned a Mac before then and didn't use 2.8. But I've never had a problem with it. Looks good, performs well, and makes voice and video calls. I don't see what the big deal it.

Works for me.

January 27 2011 at 2:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Justin

Perhaps you'd like to add your UI opinion in their forums?

http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=793299

January 27 2011 at 12:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Peter

The thing is every bit as hideous as the beta was. They really have some guts to push this crap again and say they listened to user's feedback. They may have saved a few pixels here or there but it's still hogging up half of my 27" screen which is definitely not what i'll be having. Let's hope the 2.8 keeps working for a long time or it's bye bye Skype for everyday use here

January 27 2011 at 12:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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