
The Skype for Linux Beta version 5.0 is now available for download - Garbage
https://blogs.skype.com/news/2017/03/01/the-skype-for-linux-beta-version-5-0-is-now-available-for-download/
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manuelmagic
Do people still use Skype?

There was a time in the past, I used it _daily_ for getting in touch with
friends, using chats and (video) calls. It worked very well, I used to love
the offline messages feature.

Today I only use Skype once or twice a week to call a _single_ friend that
lives in another country, or when I'm in holiday. Most of the people use
WhatsApp calls, Google Hangout or FaceTime. I tried the first but usually
calls quality is awful (i.e. communication is not possible, especially on
cellular networks), I don't have an account for the second and FaceTime is
limited to Mac and iPhones. Still, there are plenty of alternatives to Skype,
and most of the people are using them.

Skype was a nice software. Then they started to change the Mac interface
making it worse. On Linux, it was abandoned for years. On Windows, they made
it confusing with 2 Apps: the standard one and the Metro one that had just a
few of the standard features. The worse was on Windows Phone: just a basic and
rarely updated App. Now there is Skype Preview, that it's nice, but I don't
know anyone except me that is using it.

Also, in the (far) past it was working perfectly, even on more devices. Until
last year (if I remember correctly) sync became a nightmare between PCs and
phones with ghost messages, delays (sometimes you would get chat hours-old on
one of the devices!), calls ringing only on some devices, or others devices
that kept ringing even if you answered on one of them etc.

Oh, and I hated that Skype address book kept syncing with my phone address
book, copying all my contacts on Skype. Finally now you can disable this
feature.

