back to article Microsoft introduces yet another Skype for Windows 10

Microsoft has announced a new Universal Windows Platform Skype app for Windows 10, alongside the three existing Skype apps – one for video, one for messaging and the long-standing desktop app. A preview of the new Skype UWP app A preview of the new Skype UWP app The Skype story on Microsoft's reinvented Windows platform is …

  1. hplasm
    Facepalm

    With all the random changes of direction at Redmond-

    - management meetings must look like the bridge of the Enterprise under fire, with Sadnav & Co careening off of the walls.

    1. Bob Vistakin
      Facepalm

      Re: With all the random changes of direction at Redmond-

      Does it run Hitler-loving sex-mad AI's?

      1. hplasm
        Happy

        Re: With all the random changes of direction at Redmond-

        "Does it run Hitler-loving sex-mad AI's?"

        Only the NT version...

      2. Mage Silver badge

        Re: With all the random changes of direction at Redmond-

        Use Firefox Privacy mode (Ctrl Shift P) if the Torygraph blocks you.

        1. msknight

          Re: With all the random changes of direction at Redmond-

          Despite changing direction on Linux in dramatic style, I bet an updated skype still doesn't get made available for Linux though. Boo... hiss...

      3. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: With all the random changes of direction at Redmond-

        I think MS might have done more to warn everyone about the perils of AI than anyone else up till now. Well done MS.

    2. macjules

      Re: With all the random changes of direction at Redmond-

      And not forgetting the new all-embracing 'Skype for Business' which is designed to push another product out of the way .. Lync .. err, which is also a Microsoft product.

      1. Richard 12 Silver badge

        Re: With all the random changes of direction at Redmond-

        That's just a rebranded version of Lync as far as I can tell.

        It's even bug-compatible.

  2. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. sabroni Silver badge

      Why are you logged into skype on four different devices at once?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        iPhone, Macbook, iPad & Work Desktop and sometimes a Home PC. Its not really that excessive. Its more a case of they don't make it easy to log out completely.

        1. regadpellagru

          "iPhone, Macbook, iPad & Work Desktop and sometimes a Home PC. Its not really that excessive. Its more a case of they don't make it easy to log out completely."

          Yes, and add my 2015 model of Samsung TV which had skype, which I've been happy to use, on the previous model. Now, it's telling me Skype will no longer work ! Also add Android. That multiplatform aspect was really a neat functionality.

          Now, that's all Windows 10 exclusive, which I really think is totally retarded. They really lost the plot at Redmond. Skype on multiple platforms was a good thing tm.

          Restricting Skype to UWP is gonna kill this app.

      2. jonathanb Silver badge

        So that you can answer incoming calls on whatever device is most convenient at the time.

    2. cambsukguy

      That happened previously but has stopped happening recently (for me).

      I currently have up to five devices that are Skype connected (it is common it seems). One of them is Firefox on Linux, which does Skype if you log into OneDrive.

      Anyhoo, if a message comes in, they all give a pheep, but, if I answer on one, and new messages come in, the others shut up - but only for a short time.

      All-in-all, a big improvement.

      I will give this UWP version a go since the desktop version hangs on one of my W10 machines.

      This ought to mean the WP10 Skype gets updated, that would be the point of UWP.

  3. David 132 Silver badge

    UI

    It also features what Stafford called a "streamlined user experience", removing clutter like rarely-used status updates

    I'm sure they'll still find room in the UI for adverts and sell-up nags exhorting users to buy more credit.

  4. Terry 6 Silver badge
    Facepalm

    What people actually do when they get their hands on the tech

    What people actually do when they get their hands on the tech is different from what they said they would do.

    This is a surprise?

    Even assuming the people they ask are in any way the same as the real users.

  5. Jess

    As long as they don't push it out whether I want it or not. Quite happy with the only Skype on this W10 machine being the pidgin plugin.

  6. Mage Silver badge
    Mushroom

    Single version?

    No it's stupid.

    The WHOLE idea of Windows 10 Universal is STUPID.

    Java has been cross platform since forever, but you write different SORTS of app and GUI to suit TVs, Desktop / Laptop (keyboard /Mouse) and small touch screens (phone). Even though technically you could run practically the same Java app on Desktop, phone and TV. In practice you use the cross platform ability to run on different OS, not radically different form factors. Really UWP is a stupid, in a different angle, as 320 x 240 Windows CE having a Win9x desktop instead of Zune / Win Phone 7 style.

    At best the Win10 Universal idea suits tablets 6" to 10" that might or might not have keyboard, but typically ends up only really suiting phones and small tablets.

    MS have made a pig's breakfast of Skype updates ever since they bought it. The Adverts are an insult on a platform you have to buy (Windows), yet the Linux version Skype is Advert free. (though no idea if voice and video still work, I only use text,)

    MS should look at QQ. Different version for mobile and Desktop (though sadly the Linux version is only in Chinese).

    Really with Ribbon and Vista it was obvious MS had lost the plot. They added flat and tiles and phone centric to desktop, yet phones are a TINY percentage of their market. Are they determined to drive people to OS X, iOS, Android and Linux?

    (Maybe the MS SQL on Linux is part of plan B if they manage to kill wildly successful for 25 years Windows and Office.)

    1. bombastic bob Silver badge

      Re: Single version?

      "The WHOLE idea of Windows 10 Universal is STUPID."

      along with how the intent of 'Universal' seems to dumb EVERYTHING *DOWN* to the 4" phone screen.

      This calls for an open source alternative, maybe from Mozilla, or Google? Maybe we can start with a LINUX version, then go from there...

      Universal [cr]apps ONLY run on 10, which is barely 15% of computers, so why bother? *NATIVE* appLICATIONS run FASTER, load FASTER (unless they use '.Not'), and [unless you deliberately break it] run on OLDER platforms, including XP.

      why not just have separate mobile and desktop versions? Oh, that's right, windows on mobile is a PATHETIC percentage of the market. [yet Microsoft tailors EVERYTHING TO IT]

    2. SeanEllis
      Flame

      Re: Single version?

      Absolutely. Some time ago I got into a discussion on the Skype community forums, bemoaning the enormous new chat UI, and the lack of options to rein in its voracious appetite for screen real estate, or even to change the color to something more functional. This was just the start,and the more I looked at the Skype UI, the more appalled I was, and it ended up as a massive blog post.

      In case anyone's interested, it's here: http://www.moteprime.org/article.php?id=59

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Single version?

      > The WHOLE idea of Windows 10 Universal is STUPID.

      > Java has been cross platform since forever, but you write different SORTS of app and GUI to suit TVs, Desktop / Laptop (keyboard /Mouse) and small touch screens (phone). Even though technically you could run practically the same Java app on Desktop, phone and TV. In practice you use the cross platform ability to run on different OS, not radically different form factors. Really UWP is a stupid, in a different angle, as 320 x 240 Windows CE having a Win9x desktop instead of Zune / Win Phone 7 style.

      Methinks you need to read up on what UWP is.

    4. hitmouse

      Re: Single version?

      "..yet the Linux version Skype is Advert free."

      Because advertisers recognise that once someone has Linux they yearn for nothing else but an opportunity to tell the world that they have Linux.

  7. Daz555

    Great - universal app for Windows 10 I don't want or use whilst at the same time killing Skype on my smart TV that I DO use several times a week. Well done Microsoft.......

  8. ad47uk

    The problem with the versions in Windows 10 is that you need a MS account to use them,. I still have my old Skype name soi I would always use the desktop version anyway even if I used Windows 10.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This time it's a complete Universal app

    Sorry, did you mean this time it's complete and utter crap?

  10. adnim
    Meh

    Rather pay

    for a phone call... POTS has been consistent during my lifetime. Although not "free".

    1. Roland6 Silver badge

      Re: Rather pay

      The one thing that 'competition' hasn't done is to make Standards-based phone and video services a standard telco/ISP offering.

  11. David Austin

    I Just don't care anymore.

    Let it go Microsoft - the rest of us have.

    Windows (Live) Messenger user that was forced to go onto Skype when they "merged" the platforms.

    IM has always been a second class Citizen on the Skype Platform: It's 3 years after the Integration, and there's still a bunch of features not ported over: Custom Fonts, Tabbed conversation Interface Remote Assistance...

    Up to now, my contact list has kept me suck with it, but something seems to have changed this year: Loads of people moving to different platforms, so I've jumped to the excellent Discord, along a bunch of other people, and we're not looking back.

    So long Skype. It's been necessary.

  12. 0x407ab506

    Before they 'merged' windows live messenger and skype, I used both. Now I can't use one and won't use the other. They botched merging contacts and lost features that made them worth using. Looks like it is getting worse. Good governance MS.

  13. Jason Hindle

    Oh FFS Microsoft!

    Make your minds up. Is the universal app every bit as good as the desktop app? Will I receive notifications in the same time frame as I would with the desktop app, as opposed to hours later (over the same bloody connection, as I found when messing about with old Skype Universal in 8.1?

  14. Someone Else Silver badge
    WTF?

    Barbie Stafford, Director of Product Marketing.

    Really?!? I mean, really???

  15. x 7

    I just find it amusing that the Microsoft spokesperson was Tech Girl Barbie

  16. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge

    Best UI for Skype...

    that I've used didn't have a Skype specific UI at all. Seamless integration with mobile phone function on the Nokia N9.

    Skype credentials were setup via the account configuration. Contacts had field for Skype account name. To male a Skype call, just use the dialler, find your contact and select call using Skype. Same for messages - integrated into the messaging app. There was no video - but that didn't bother me - it was, for me any case, just a device for making and receiving voice calls

  17. Bluto Nash

    Why, MS?

    When possible, I still try to use Skype. Why? Because two of my kids live a few states away and it's nice to video chat with them. Hearing them, while always a treat, really can't compare to seeing them as welI. We can voice chat any number of other ways, but have yet to find another common application that will work on multiple platforms reliably. Add to this the fact that THEY know how to use Skype, so there's no learning curve. It's regrettable that MS is fragmenting and effectively killing off the platform, especially for Linux users, as it at least used to be one of the things that worked properly most of the time, regardless of OS.

    1. Bluto Nash

      Re: Why, MS?

      Really? I guess that downvote was for not yelling "EVERYTHING MS touches becomes crap" like I'm supposed to? Geez. My point was that it would be nice to use a product that was comparatively easy to use AND cross platform. Skype filled that need - my kids already know how to use it, and at this point it DOES WORK. Yes, I could go through writing a doc on how to set up a SIP account and use Jitsi, or go through the authentication processes to get qTox working. However, the fact remains that they use Skype to talk to each other as well as other relatives (that are all Win users). I'M the one that's using Linux on a couple of regularly used boxes, and I was bemoaning the fact that MS is indeed "fragmenting and effectively killing off the platform," because that's the result. Will my kids see any difference? Nope, because they and their friends (and grandparents, etc.) are still on the fully supported MS platform.

    2. Jess

      Re: yet to find another common application that will work on multiple platforms reliably.

      https://www.getonsip.com/webrtc/ Need an up to date browser only (i.e Not IE) Only the receiving end actually needs an account.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Skype

    It is amazing that it has taken this long for the M$ product planners to realize that what people want is not what they say they want.

  19. Richard 12 Silver badge

    They have to be quick

    Or either WhatsApp or Snapchat is going to eat their lunch.

    My wife no longer uses Skype to talk to her parents as it became "too hard" for them to use it, so they have moved on.

    1. Jess

      Re: They have to be quick

      Whatsapp can be pretty good for audio calls, but obviously fails when you roam into 2G.

      For text comms, telegram messenger is much better though, because it's not tied to one device. (It can even run on pidgin).

      Skype is a total joke as an IM system. Message delivery is somewhat unreliable in my experience. The online status of the contact list is highly dubious. (Not least of which that it shows different people on different devices). It only seems viable if you use another medium to ask someone to go on it. (In which case you might as well send then to http://getonsip.com). The other thing wrong with Skype is Microsoft pulling the plugs on systems for no good reason. e.g. a Power PC Mac will not connect. However if you modify the version string to match the current version, it works fine for audio, and seems to have a more honest list of online contacts too. (This even works on the last G3 compatible version).

      It's a shame sip isn't a bit easier to set up. I have a nice desk videophone, but the majority of the calls I get are just standard land line calls. (And a few web based audio only calls).

      X-Lite 3 is still the best video phone software I've seen.

  20. DaveMellor

    Ouch Microsoft - foot shooting again

    The new Windows 10 Skype was completely unusable IMHO. No contacts pane, no configuration options for appearance (useful options that is). Plus Skype on my Samsung Galaxy no longer works (although I don't know what version it is now). It worked a few days ago.

  21. DaveMellor

    Old news

    This article is over a year old - only just noticed! I just happen to have a new laptop and was configuring Windows 10 and Skype and this appeared as though it was new news!!!

    Not fake just OLD. Still, previous comment is true!

    BTW why does it offer to configure Micrsoft mail client when I attempted to sen corrections to my previous comment! Deeply antagonised.

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