Skype Garage

Production version of Skype 3.8 for Windows now available

Start downloading it now.

With Skype 3.8 open beta we introduced some cool features and possibilities. Most importantly, we resolved many problems that you’ve told us about.

I would like to thank everyone who has taken their time and given us a piece of their mind. You are welcome to continue discussing Skype 3.8 on our forums or post problem reports on our public issue tracker Jira.

The newly released build 3.8.0.115 brings you the following changes:

• change: Updated Extras manager to version 2.0.0.55
• change: Firefox plugin updated to version 2.2.0.80
• change: Internet Explorer plugin updated to version 2.2.0.176
• bugfix: Account creation without a valid email address was not communicated correctly
• bugfix: Skype occasionally crashed on startup when some specific sound cards were set as windows default
• bugfix: Skype did not always go to “Away” and “Not Available” status automatically
• bugfix: After locking the screen, video froze or went blank
• bugfix: When user was not able to connect he was forwarded to wrong webpage
• bugfix: Windows Vista screensaver was not disabled during video call
• bugfix: Any link containing “+” was not clickable in a chat
• bugfix: Skype crashed when set web cookies got damaged
• bugfix: Video resolution did not scale up correctly in some instances
• bugfix API: App2App transfers were disabled when File Transfer was disabled
• All localizations updated

With Skype 3.8 for Windows beta we have made our own UPnP implementation which is no longer dependent on Microsoft UPnP framework.

UPnP is an industry-wide protocol designed for automatic device configuration. Its main purpose is to provide seamless “just works” experience when a new device is connected to network.

Most major consumer router vendors are using UPnP in their devices. Skype uses UPnP to configure the firewall for best possible call quality.

Since Skype version 3.0 Skype has relied on Microsoft UPnP Framework to configure devices. However there are a few concerns if UPnP Framework is used in conjuction with Internet Connection Sharing as described in Microsoft knowledge base article 886257. Due these issues Skype provided opt-in check box under advanced connection options.

Skype for Windows version 3.8 has new UPnP implementation which does not depend on Microsoft UPnP Framework anymore and hence issues outlined in Microsoft KB article do not apply anymore. Along with that change “Allow Skype to modify my firewall settings” checkbox has been removed. Since Skype for Windows version 3.8 the UPnP is enabled by default.

New UPnP implementation is already available on Skype 2.0.0.68 for Linux and will come to Mac users soon.

People who are concerned with overall UPnP security should disable UPnP on their firewall device. For assistance see your firewall manual.

We are proud to present the beta version of Skype 3.8 for Windows. This new version brings to you mainly quality improvements and slightly reduced installer size.

This is beta software, which means that we are still working on it. So it may not always behave as it should.

Download and try it out.

In case you see anything which is not behaving as you’d expect then please let us know in the forum for Skype 3.8 beta or report an issue in our public issue tracker Jira.

We are very thankful for all kinds of feedback.

Major changes in this version are new implementation of UPnP, improved audio engine and the new Extras Manager. In addition to these new things we have fixed numerous video-related bugs.

Read more about our new independent UPnP implementation here.

There is also one known issue in this beta version: you cannot send voicemail to people who have not authorized you. We are working on fixing this in time for the public version.

Full list of changes for 3.8.0.96:

• known issue: Sending Voicemail to not authorized user fails
• feature: New UPnP implementation
• feature: Extras Manager 2.0
• feature: Profile picture hidden by default on authorization request
• Improvement: Audio call quality
• Improvement: Internet Explorer add-on updated
• Improvement: Firefox add-on updated
• Improvement: Skype4COM updated
• change: Default video resolution for Pentium 3 and slower computers is 160x120 pixels
• bugfix privacy leak: Moodmessage and online status exposure to web browser via internal interface
• bugfix: Rarely contacts were lost after upgrade
• bugfix: Public chat links did not work on Vista
• bugfix: My video was froze on video call for some users
• bugfix: Call went to Voicemail even if not selected it in options
• bugfix: Sometimes video was black for receiver
• bugfix: Sometimes video preview was frozen
• bugfix: High Quality Video was not possible with Core2Duo E8200 CPU
• bugfix: Users who have not logged in for long time were not found with search
• bugfix: Skype sometimes crashed during file transfer
• bugfix API: It was not possible to forward call if username had a comma in it

Skype has released a hotfix version of Skype 2.0 for Linux.

This version brings to you support for uPnP, which helps many persons behind NAT to achieve better Skype experience.

The new baby 2.0.0.68 fixes also two crash bugs which may have affected some of you unfortunately. To be specific: * Skype crashed when user upgraded from 1.3 and had autologin enabled * Skype crashed when user with enabled auto-sending video was added to conference call

Thanks for everyone for the great amount of feedback. We love to hear it and make things like you wish. Keep it coming through forums or our issue tracker Jira.

Download and enjoy .

Today is the day. The Sputnik has taken off.

Skype 2.0 for Linux production release is here. Now Linux audience can see and believe.

Download it now and continue reading.

We thank every single person who has taken their time and effort to give us feedback on Skype for Linux. It has helped us tremendously to iron out glitches from the beta release. Thanks .

We are here to listen, you are welcomed to bring on all future comments, feature requests, feelings and issue reports to us. You can leave them on our forums or post issue reports in public issue tracker Jira.

Skype 2.0.0.63 for Linux is the Gold, it brings you following goodies:

• feature: Add call cost per minute to 1:1 SkypeOut calls.
• feature: Add UI detection of Slovak, Farsi (Persian) and Vietnamese language files.
• feature: Added privacy option to disable the sending of the number of contacts you have to your contacts.
• feature: Implement HashLinkURL to provide easy links to #12345 references in chats.
• feature: Shadows on user avatars on contact card.

• feature: Show an indicator when the user is on an embedded device such as a Skype phone.

• feature API: BTNPRESSED/BTNRELEASED are now implemented.

• feature API: SEARCH ACTIVECHATS is now implemented.

• bugfix: 1:1 chats should not have Leave Chat button.

• bugfix: Add a blinking window effect for some windows which are already open when we get a new chat message.
• bugfix: Add a workaround for a KWin issue preventing closed minimized chats from being reopened.
• bugfix: Add bubbles from mood message to avatars on contact card.
• bugfix: Add right-click context menu to chat window for copying text/links.
• bugfix: Avoid status text being truncated on status button in profile editor.
• bugfix: BTN_PRESSED YES should activate Call functionality regardless of double-click action.
• bugfix: Be sure the chat window doesn’t reappear after we leave the chat.
• bugfix: Call Ringing sound shouldn’t be audible during Do Not Disturb status mode.
• bugfix: Can’t add a contact to a chat using drag and drop.
• bugfix: Change Call Hold/Resume button at the correct times (even when changing hold/resume during fullscreen video)
• bugfix: Change file transfer filename to saved filename if different from original filename in transfer window.
• bugfix: Compare chats in recent chats/etc menus correctly to check if they are unread.
• bugfix: Contacts shouldn’t disappear when they’re moved between columns when receiving contacts.
• bugfix: Copy URLs to both X selection and Clipboard, as users may want to middle-click the copied link into their browser.
• bugfix: Crash after 2 minutes of signing in if we are signed out at that time.
• bugfix: Crash after signing in with incorrect details after signing out.
• bugfix: Display video in full-screen at correct aspect ratio regardless of monitor dimensions.
• bugfix: Do not always put new chat windows at top left corner if no previous setting found, let window manager determine position.
• bugfix: Do not freeze when opening options dialog
• bugfix: Do not initialise /dev/video0 whenever we start a video call (could prevent video from working when video0 fails)
• bugfix: Do not instantly close Voicemail events when clicking the play button in new events panel.
• bugfix: Do not let Voicemail messages continue to play in the background after closing them.
• bugfix: Do not show authorisation options in context menu for events if we already authorised the user.
• bugfix: Do not unnecessarily init device twice when starting video (speeds up video init by 50%)
• bugfix: Downscaling for Myself View / Oversized Video on X11 (non-accelerated).
• bugfix: echo123 should be called Skype Test Call and should not have an ‘Request Authorization’ option.
• bugfix: Ending an incoming conference call should be allowed to redirect to Voicemail also.
• bugfix: Escape should close send contacts window before we attempt to send contacts.
• bugfix: Fix for chat being stuck in unread state in certain cases.
• bugfix: Fix for video output when not using XShm extension.
• bugfix: Fix locking up the client for up to 30 seconds randomly sometimes for heavy Skype users.
• bugfix: If main window is thinner than login window and right-aligned, it would move to the left after restart.
• bugfix: Incoming calls should be redirected to Voicemail if configured to do so and another call is active.
• bugfix: Make ‘Invite selected contacts to conference call’ option work in contact list multiple selections menu.
• bugfix: Make contact list even more responsive whilst loading historical calls.
• bugfix: Make login/startup much faster and cleaner.
• bugfix: Make missed event text for birthdays clearer.
• bugfix: Many bugfixes to video in call window to handle window updates during paused video calls.
• bugfix: Only move main window if we have a previously saved position.
• bugfix: Only play chat message sent sound for actual sent messages and emotive actions.
• bugfix: Properly remember unread chats as unread after a Skype restart.
• bugfix: Receive Contacts should close when Escape is pressed.
• bugfix: Remember ‘Show Myself View’ setting during the video call (when switching to fullscreen and back, etc).
• bugfix: Remember chat splitter arrangement per user for 1:1 chats.
• bugfix: Remember chat window position per user for 1:1 chats.
• bugfix: Remember show/hide chat member list setting per user for 1:1 chats.
• bugfix: Remove grey contact card background.
• bugfix: Reordered Voicemail Options dialog to keep individual Voicemail features independent.
• bugfix: Send Contacts should cancel and/or close when Escape is pressed.
• bugfix: Shortened SkypeIn and SkypeOut call error messages.
• bugfix: Shrink myself view so it scales better on Xv and properly on X11.
• bugfix: Starting a conference call with a MySpace contact would result in a single call being made to ‘myspace’.
• bugfix: Stop window from moving lower and lower on each restart.
• bugfix: Update chat window area size correctly after clearing to avoid mystery scrollbar returning.
• bugfix: Video call window is out of shape if the contact has a really long name.
• bugfix API: SET CHATMESSAGE [id] SEEN should remove now-read chats from events panel.
• All localizations updated: Bulgarian - Nikolina Filipova and Nikolay Filipov, Simplified Chinese - Asus, Traditional Chinese - Asus, German - Claudius Henrichs, Estonian - Eve Loopere, French - Cédric Lamouche, Italian - Vincenzo Reale & Marco Cimmino, Japanese - Asus, Korean - Asus, Latvian- Intars Students, Lithuanian -Viktoras Kriukovas, Polish - Karol Szastok, Portuguese Portugal - Gustavo Adolfo Silva Ribeiro Felisberto, Brazilian Portuguese -Asus, Romanian - Peter Henning, Russian - Pavel Shevchuk, Spanish - Asus & Carlos Johnson, Thai - Asus, Turkish - Ömer Emin Dede

Skype has just laid a new golden egg, Skype 2.7 for Mac. It gives you a good tool for next 100 billion minutes of Skype calls.

We’ve worked hard to iron out bugs and to improve your overall experience while it was in beta and now with the release of Skype 2.7 Gold for Mac we’re proud to announce that it’s ready for production level usage.

We would like to thank everyone who for the feedback and those who helped us on make it the best version of Skype for Mac yet. Keep the feedback flowing through the Skype forums and our public issue tracker .

Skype 2.7.0.257 brings you following goodies:

• improvement: Optimized quick filtering history
• improvement: Improved connection speed to Skype network from restrictive network environment
• improvement: Improved stability and quality of video
• change: Added (myspace) emoticon
• change: Added error message for SkypeOut error #1102
• change: Default destination folder of file transfers changed from Desktop to Downloads
• change: If there is a pending file transfer then after restarting Skype that pending file transfer will be focused in the file transfer window
• change: New 512px volume icon of dmg
• change: Switched icons in the dmg background image

Continue reading "Skype 2.7 for Mac Gold" »

Today Skype has released a updated beta version of Skype 2.0 for Linux.

This release introduces some new features and numerous bug fixes, all of which are listed below.

Download it now or continue reading.

So why the name “X Marks the Spot”?

We thought ‘X Marks the Spot’ would be a fitting name as we introduced X11 overlay support - which means Video calls now work for those who don’t have enough (or any) Xv ports available and as such couldn’t get Video to work in previous Betas. X (X11) marks (draws on) the spot (the window area)

We would like to remind to you that Skype 2.0 for Linux is still in beta version, and thus we’re still working hard to improve the client to a point that we’re happy to call it gold/stable. Please let us know when you encounter any issues. You can discuss Skype for Linux on our forums or report issues on our public bug tracker Jira.

Skype 2.0.0.43 for Linux, brings you following enhancements:

• feature: Additional X11 overlay output support for video calls (without using Xv).
• feature: Automatic scrolling whilst highlighting in chat.
• feature: Click-and-hold for Call button on contact card to make SkypeOut calls to contact’s Home, Office, Mobile numbers.
• feature: Click-and-hold for Call button on incoming call popup to invite to conference call.
• feature: Click-and-hold for Add/Search Contact button to give quicker access to Add/Search options.
• feature: Preload all chats with a topic into event history.
• feature: Show birthday present in contact card on contact’s birthday.

• feature: Translations now also available in Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish and Thai.

• bugfix: API: Don’t bring up new chat window for an empty chat from CHAT CREATE.

• bugfix: API: Don’t respond to CALL command with OK.
• bugfix: API: Starting conference calls with CALL skypenameA, skypenameB now works as expected.
• bugfix: Allow user to change from a video device that no longer exists.
• bugfix: Always expand the contact card by default in 1:1 chats.
• bugfix: Bring chat window to the front if it is already open and is requested to be open.
• bugfix: Change red cross to green tick when file transfer is completed.
• bugfix: Chat find failure error dialog should be centred on the chat.
• bugfix: Chat member list no longer accepts any keyboard focus.
• bugfix: Clicking on the scrollbar in chat no longer loses focus on chat input area.
• bugfix: Correctly show mute status for mute events that happen outside the call window.
• bugfix: DBUS checkbox was offset in Options dialog.
• bugfix: Don’t allow a conference call to be invited to a conference call.
• bugfix: Don’t display Leave Chat dialog when using /leave feature, but still leave and close the chat window.
• bugfix: Don’t double-escape spaces in file paths.
• bugfix: Don’t remove current index when closing the last contact card.
• bugfix: Don’t remove the old SkypeOut number before adding the new one on rename, incase it fails.
• bugfix: Don’t send escaped version of the topic when changing topic.
• bugfix: Don’t show age in birthday reminders for contacts born in the future.
• bugfix: Don’t show the option to invite to a conference call when we are not the host.
• bugfix: Escape should close Invite user to chat dialog.
• bugfix: Escape should close error dialogs.
• bugfix: Event history filter type is forgotten when switching between contact list and event history.
• bugfix: File transfer widget didn’t update the number of people sending to when removing a transfer.
• bugfix: Use ‘Call Failed’ notification when Voicemail fails or is cancelled.
• bugfix: Fix a bug with speaking indicator conflicting with Call on Hold status messages.
• bugfix: Fix a regression with Shift-Arrow/Ctrl-Arrow in main list.
• bugfix: Fix crash in Rename Widget when trying to change to a PSTN number that’s too short.
• bugfix: Fix crash on incoming conference call.
• bugfix: Fix crash when entering short phone number in Add SkypeOut dialog.
• bugfix: Fix escaping issues in Profile Viewer.
• bugfix: Fix for a layout drawing bug in transfer window when adding to expanded transfer groups.
• bugfix: Fix for issues with holding calls and duration continuing
• bugfix: Fix for listview layout breakage when window is sized at minimum.
• bugfix: Fix for menus appearing below the mouse cursor on buttons.
• bugfix: Fix for tooltips disappearing elsewhere in the client during a call with technical call info enabled.
• bugfix: Fix for topic editing bar remaining open after window switch.
• bugfix: Fix minimum size being invalid in Invite users to chat dialog.
• bugfix: Fix mute button and tooltip in fullscreen video widget.
• bugfix: Fix some memory leaks and crashes related to historical calls.
• bugfix: Fix stray selection area visible after clearing selection in chat.
• bugfix: Hide Video button during a conference call.
• bugfix: If you hangup on a conference call participant whilst sending them a voicemail, they couldn’t be invited again.
• bugfix: Invite user to chat dialog should be centred on the chat.
• bugfix: Listboxes in Options Dialog should stretch.
• bugfix: Maintain avatar background colour during a sending-only video call.
• bugfix: Make Ctrl-Space toggle the selection of the current contact on the contact list.
• bugfix: Make Ctrl-V work when opening Call Ordinary Phones dialog.
• bugfix: Make Speaking indicator a bit more reliable during status changes.
• bugfix: Mouse cursor needs to be updated after moving over a link in chat and using the mouse wheel to scroll.
• bugfix: Numbers in Skype chats open in user’s browser instead of calling in Skype.
• bugfix: Open file paths in file browser, not Web browser.
• bugfix: Pasting a new mood message with the middle mouse button wouldn’t save.
• bugfix: Prevent empty new events panel bug to do with Calls/Birthdays.
• bugfix: Ringing sound may not stop if inviting an incoming call to a conference call fails.
• bugfix: Remember file transfer window location and size.
• bugfix: Remove 25fps video send limit due to uvc driver fix.
• bugfix: Remove over-complicated contact menu call actions.
• bugfix: Removed b) emoticon definitions.
• bugfix: Scrollbar shouldn’t be scrollable when the chat window is empty.
• bugfix: Search dialog could be resized below valid minimum size.
• bugfix: Select previous name in Rename Contact when opening dialog.
• bugfix: Sending an empty message to the API could crash the client.
• bugfix: Show contact’s name instead of ellipses when shortening chat history.
• bugfix: Show if a 1:1 call is held in the window title.
• bugfix: Turning Auto-Away/NA option off would not save correctly. (#SCL-308)
• bugfix: Update chat window when message is delivered/undelivered to correctly redraw layout.
• bugfix: Update video preview to new device if applying changes in options dialog.
• bugfix: Wrap words correctly in chat input box.

Today Skype has released a updated version of Skype 3.6 for Windows.

This hotfix release addresses many issues found in the previous version, including the cross-zone vulnerability and API programs intended to fool users.

It’s recommended for everyone to upgrade to the newly released build.

Download it from straight here while reading what’s good in it.

3.6.0.248 changes in comparison with previous release are:

• feature: Public API access whitelist/blacklist
• improvement: Improved connection speed to Skype network from restrictive network environment
• bugfix: Skype cross-zone scripting vulnerability
• bugfix: Skype crashed sometimes when leaving groupchat
• bugfix: Skype crashed when current Skypename field was empty
• bugfix: Contacts were occasionally lost when synchronisation failed
• bugfix: MySpace tab was not reachable via keyoard navigation
• bugfix: Editing avatar resulted “Cannot focus a disabled or invisible window” error
• bugfix: It was not possible to answer second incoming call
• bugfix: Dynamic Content message overlaying contact list toolbar and group controls on reduced Skype window
• bugfix: Check update web link was incorrect
• bugfix: Call on hold image was wrongly displayed
• bugfix: USB webcam plugged in while on call did not allow to start video
• bugfix: It was not possible to open video settings panel while on video call
• bugfix: Skype crashed sometimes when expanding chat history
• bugfix: Presence were shown wrongly to conference call participants sometimes
• bugfix: Incorrect message was shown when when sender cancelled file transfer
• bugfix: Voice Mail greeting playes again when viewing profile
• bugfix: Wrong flag was displayes for Democratic Republic of the Congo
• bugfix: File Transfer relayed message was displayed after File Transfer had finished
• bugfix: Language name for Belarusian was wrong
• change: Language files updated

I would like to thank everyone who have been reporting to us their finds and feelings on Skype for Windows. Please continue to keep us posted with your comments and discussions on Skype forums and report hiccups on our public issue tracker Jira.

Skype Toolbar 1.1 for Outlook released

We’d like to /bow/ to everyone who’s pinged us about the occasional wrinkles, bumps, spots, and hiccups in the public beta product. We’re very grateful for the information and heaps of feature requests which helped us improve the thing, so you could all become happy campers in toolbar-land.

You can share your experience on Skype forums.

The newly-released public version 1.1.0.37 brings the following changes:

• feature: Support for Outlook 2007
• feature: Skype language settings are used for Toolbar
• bugfix: Uninstall from Toolbar did not work
• bugfix: Journal items were not created
• bugfix: Mailto links were misfunctioning on some rare cases
• bugfix: Outgoing calls sometimes created double Journal entries

There have been numerous questions about Skype and Windows Vista relations.

They used to have some occasional hiccups, but for a while now they’ve lived together in peace and harmony. In other words, Skype 3.6 for Windows is now certified to run on Windows Vista.

We’d like to remind to you that to get the best-possible experience, you should be running latest Windows updates and driver versions.