Updates and Enhancements Make a Great App Even Better!
Reviewed by: Dhruv Kalra, Mon Jan 17 2005
Skype is a wonderfully elegant piece of software for those users wanting to voice chat without iChat AV. Mac users are finally no longer second class citizens as far as Skype is concerned, as the Mac client can cross-network with the Windows versions, and even retains the Skype-to-phone SkypeOut feature. With the recent 0.14.0.4 release, Mac users are now also able to initiate multi-participant conference calls, beating iChat to the market.
Audio quality is generally quite good even when using the internal mic on my PowerBook, and the friends with whom I tested the software had no problem hearing me clearly, which was suprising since my cable connection's limited upload bandwidth has occasionally caused audio chats in iChat AV to drop out. I have even had limited success using Skype on a modem connection, indicating a very efficient compression method.
Skype, Inc. advertises Skype as an improvement over iChat as their product is built from the ground up to be a voice client, even though it still retains niceties such as Instant Messaging and file transfer. Users who prefer not to use iChat because they do not have AIM accounts will find Skype indispensible for voice communications.
Overall, Skype, even in beta form on the Mac, is a very polished piece of software, and one can only expect more good things to come as the product nears final status.
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