Mac users, rejoice: your Skype experience is about to get a whole lot chattier. The new Skype 2.5 Beta for Mac lets you send SMS text messages to SkypeOut contacts, and includes 10-way conference calling.

So it’s an ideal Christmas treat for those of us whose family and friends are scattered around the world. My mum lives in Spain, my best college mate lives in San Francisco, my dad has a habit of jetting to New Zealand for the winter… is it something I said?

Among other new features, Mac users will now be able to choose which audio device to use during incoming and outbound calling. So if you prefer to listen through headphones but make outgoing calls with a speakerphone, here’s your answer.

To find out more and to give the new beta a spin, nip over to the Skype Mac blog.