This version includes some improvements to the application of video calls, with the Microsoft has released a new preview version of Skype for desktop users Mac. The information in this article only applies to perpetual versions of Skype for Business that use the Windows Installer (MSI) installation technology.The information in this article doesn't apply to Microsoft 365 or Office 365 versions of Skype for Business, such as Skype for Business included with Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. To find out what version of Skype for Business you're using, see What version of Skype for Business do I have? For the latest mobile client updates, go to the app store for your mobile client (iTunes, Google Play, or Microsoft Store) to view details and install updates. This new version will be coming to Windows 8.1, Desktop Classic (Mac and Windows desktop versions), Android, iPhone and iPad, with a version coming soon for the Windows Phone platform.#1581: New Safari 15 features, Center Stage vs. #1582: iOS 15.0.1 and iPadOS 15.0.1, Apple Watch Series 7 dates, cautionary tale about backups, using Live Text and Safari extensions For previous versions of Skype for Business, only those that have extended support may continue to work with Microsoft 365 or Office 365, although with reduced functionality. For more information, see Microsoft Lifecycle Policy. If you have installed the plugin, make sure that youre using the latest version of OBS Studio.
#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. Apple lawsuit decided, Internet privacy limitations, combine Mac speakers #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 ![]() 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. When Twitter initially added the quick bar to its iOS client, they didn’t do it because they wanted to mess with their users they did it because they had to find a way to make money. Maybe there was some serious problem with the previous version of Skype. 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. It was easy to understand, didn’t take much space so I could always keep it visible, and it showed me all the information I needed to know. New Version Of Skype Full Virtual DesktopIf 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. To make all of this as efficient as possible, I’ve dedicated a full virtual desktop to Skype. I often chat with more than one person at the same time. 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). This is what it looks like:The sidebar on the left has a Contacts item and then a list of your chats. ![]() 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. Unless you switch to the Contacts screen, which then causes Skype to show two lists of contacts next to each other (the past chat contacts in the sidebar and the Address Book contacts in the main pane), you don’t actually see who’s online. More than once, I’ve waited for a friend to show up in the sidebar, expecting it to work like the old buddy list. Overlord raising hell save game editorBefore, 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. During an active call, if you move your mouse over the main pane (but not the sidebar), you’ll see a bunch of tiny icons pop up at the bottom.Clicking the second one splits the window horizontally, and adds a chat view below the call view. 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. Skype 5, in contrast, shows the avatars of two people enlarged in the upper part of the main pane, and then a horizontal list of the avatars of the rest of the people below. 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. As users learned more, they were able to make use of Skype’s advanced features. 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. The older version’s window was small enough that I could fit it at the edge of the screen if I need to know if somebody is online, I can see that at a glance. I like to keep Skype running all the time.
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