Mac OS X version 10.5.8 or a later version of Mac OS. Available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. #1582: iOS 15.0.1 and iPadOS 15.0.1, Apple Watch Series 7 dates, cautionary tale about backups, using Live Text and Safari extensionsDownload Skype for your computer, mobile, or tablet to stay in touch with family and friends from anywhere.#1579: Apple “California Streaming” event, OS security updates, Epic Games v. #1580: iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, Apple Watch Series 7, redesigned iPad mini, and upgraded iPad, plus iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15 Smart displays, iOS 12.5.5 and Catalina security update, iPhone 13 problem with Apple Watch unlocking #1581: New Safari 15 features, Center Stage vs. Skype, the Microsoft owned video calling app, is gearing up to offer a tough competition to Zoom that has emerged as a popular option for video conferencing among a lot of people.
App Skype Mac OS X Version 10A few minutes later, she went offline, and came back shortly thereafter, apparently having updated to Skype 5. “Sure,” I replied, “you can do that, but you need to install the new Skype 5 beta.” I sent her the link. #1578: Apple delays CSAM detection, upgrade Quicken 2007 to Quicken Deluxe, App Store settlement and regulatory changesA while back, when Skype’s group video chat feature was still free, a friend of mine sent me a Skype message asking whether it was possible to do video chat with more than one person in Skype. Maybe there was some serious problem with the previous version of Skype. Maybe Skype had to do this. Unfortunately, instead of making the Windows version of Skype better, they’ve decided to fix the discrepancy by making the Mac version of Skype more like the Windows version.Now, I have to point out that Skype undoubtedly has constraints I do not know about. More than once, a Windows user has walked by my Mac, seen my version of Skype, and said something to the effect of “Wow, this looks so much better than the horrible mess we have on Windows!” It seems Skype has noticed that there is a discrepancy in quality between the two versions, and has decided to make the two versions more similar. A lot of the people here use Windows computers. This is what Skype used to look like:It had a simple window showing a search field, a counter for unread notifications, and a list of your friends, with the ones who were currently online at the top. In its initial state, it was extremely basic. The previous version of Skype was a very good piece of user interface design. Similarly, Skype probably has good reasons for why Skype 5 looks the way it does.Having said that, I really don’t like Skype 5. I often chat with more than one person at the same time. I often refer back to earlier conversations. I talk with eight people all the time. At work, my Skype needs are quite different from most people’s. I could add more people to the conversation, go back to earlier messages, or call people.But the previous version of Skype wasn’t just simple it was also flexible enough for advanced users. Who’s online? Did I miss something? Is it okay to contact a friend, or does he not want to be disturbed?With an active chat, Skype used to look like this:Again, simple and easy to understand, but still giving me everything I might need. If you had more demanding needs, Skype could grow with your needs.Let’s fast-forward to Skype 5. If you were a casual user, Skype was simple and easy to understand. Here’s what it looks like:Merely by switching to this virtual desktop in Spaces, I can immediately contact the most important people, and at a single glance, I can see who has written to me, and what they have written (which is important: to avoid being constantly interrupted, I sometimes turn off notifications while I’m working).This is a far cry from how most people use Skype, but my point is that Skype used to support both kinds of users. On the plus side, it’s now easier to add a new contact (not something you do that often), and I can decide whether to call somebody or start a chat by hovering over a contact.On the minus side… everything else. Instead, it’s overwhelming. And not just problems for advanced users, but also problems for casual users.It’s Too Complicated for Casual Users — The window no longer looks simple. Clicking a live chat shows the participants and any text or video associated with the chat.Immediately, there are problems with this. Clicking Contacts shows all your contacts in the main pane clicking a past chat shows information about the chat (start and end time, and any text messages that went back and forth). More than once, I’ve waited for a friend to show up in the sidebar, expecting it to work like the old buddy list. Instead, I probably see only the people I’ve talked to most recently, regardless of whether they’re online. Instead, I have a complex multi-paned window whose main pane shows entirely different things, depending on the application’s mode.No longer can I easily see who’s online. No longer do I see a simple list of contacts. Actually, there is a way, but it’s not obvious. How do you do that in Skype 5? If a video call is active, it occupies the main pane, which is also where the text chat would be so you can’t do both at the same time. What is this good for? Why would anyone ever want to do that? Making this view even more useless are both the inscrutable avatar pictures many people use and the generic icons Skype inserts for those who lack pictures.Something I’ve noticed even casual Skype users do is to send URLs by text chat during a video chat. For example, right next to the important Add Contact button, there’s a button that allows you to see the pictures of the people in your address book in a Cover Flow view. And those two lists behave entirely differently.There’s too much extraneous stuff in the main window. It was great for conference calls where you didn’t know each person’s voice, and it wasn’t distracting or obtrusive. Before, you saw a list of people, one per line, with green equalizer-like lights that lit up when that person was talking. So the feature is hidden, and poorly implemented, but at least Skype allows you to type chat messages during a call if you can figure out how.Also troublesome is how Skype changed group calls. Which, on a modern screen with a wide aspect ratio, is usually not where you want it. Earlier versions of Skype were simple to understand and easy to use, but they allowed users to grow. The constant shuffling of avatars is distracting at best, and annoying at worst.It’s Not Flexible Enough for Advanced Users — Skype 5 isn’t just harder to use for casual users, it’s also less flexible for advanced users. When someone is speaking, Skype moves that person’s avatar into one or the other of the top two spots, and pulses a gray outline in sync with the audio. Mac app for secure email appriverI like to keep Skype running all the time. There’s no way to see two or more chats next to each other.The default window is too large, and it can’t be made small without destroying functionality. I can’t be the only person who does that, can I? Skype seems to think I am. Surely, chatting with two people at the same time is a common use case. At first, I thought that I must be missing something. Skype 5, on the other hand, is a shallow app that doesn’t give its users room to grow.With Skype 5, I can’t see two chats at the same time. Now I’m duplicating functionality across two windows I end up with three different user lists in two different windows that all behave in slightly different ways. Even if I don’t hide the app intentionally, it eventually gets covered by other windows.I can’t see who’s online when a chat is active, unless I open a second window with a list of users. Skype 5’s window is way too big.
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