Skype 5.1.0.914
Version 5.1.0.914 of the voice-over-IP application Skype restores a feature that had gone missing: highlighting the name of the current speaker in group calls. Also included in this release is the capability to select recently called numbers from the dial pad. Skype also says that several minor bugs are fixed, including a webcam detection issue. (Free, 20.2 MB)
They still haven't corrected the way Skype dominates your whole screen. It's a utility, it only needs to have contacts wide and thick enough to display a list of names, no top margin, minimal sidebar, etc. You can scrunch it up a bit, but it still sprawls all over the place.
TidBITS has a "why we hate Skype 5 so very very much" article in the works.
Make sure to send it to skype :)
The size of the Skype window is almost a dealbreaker for me. I can almost understand their wish to dominate the user window for free users, but I'm a fully paid subscriber and they should give me the option to resize their window to fit my needs.
Because of the way Skype 5 sprawls all over my screen like the Zerg infestation (I'm a Protoss fan, sorry Skype), I'm still using version 2.8 (which has a much simpler interface).
Fortunately didn't have any major bugs with that (apart from the usual resource hogging and rare sporadic freezes).
I'M back to Skype 2.8, at last.
Thank god for TimeMachine.
My installation of Skype kindly told me to upgrade, so I did. Only to be advised that the new version has code that demands more than my Powerbook G4 could ever deliver. So I had to search out and re-install Skype 2.8. You'd think there would be a way to test each system for its attributes before telling users to upgrade....
There absolutely is a way to test systems for compatible hardware and software, and this is just another example of how Skype needs to find some actual Mac programmers. :-(
Skype 5's new interface is the equivalent of asking people to learn to read a book upside down, because some software designer thinks it's "a better idea." Not a single non-geek (the target market) I know likes it. The person responsible for the Skype 5 GUI will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
I'm also not that enamored of the new Skype 5 interface. And the feature I'm missing most is the missed calls alert. Did they leave that out? In 2.8, the caller's icon would turn red to indicate they tried to call and you didn't answer. Am I missing something?
What an awful update - destroying so much functionality!
1) Video was in a separate window, which would remember its position (at the top of the screen just under the camera - allowing nice conversation.) The new 'all in a massive window' system forces me to keep that monster front and center to get the same convenience (or keep moving it around all the time).
2) Video window used to 'track' Spaces. I could switch to another Space - refer to a webpage or email or etc. - during our conversation, and the video would follow. No longer.
3) The History was _so_ convenient! Grandma would ask 'When did you last talk to your brother?' and in one click I had the answer for her. Now I can't even access that information during her call.
4) Before, I could Chat (type) with one person, while talking with another (for typing 'Hang on, I'll call you back', etc.). I can't see how that can work now, in the new unified window. (Hope I'm wrong about that ...)
I'm going back to 2.8 right now ...
I still am amazed how Skype bloated out this version with a totally useless interface and crap filled features. Grrrr....
I can' find the x to the right of voicemails on 5.1.0.914. Royal pain in the -)