Skype 3.8 for Windows goes public with audio improvements, other tweaks
Beta-friendly users have been running Skype 3.8 for Windows since April 2. But with the usual beta imperfections now sanded off, this audio-focused iteration of Skype is ready for public release. If you’re a Windows user, head to the download page to get it.
]]>The main improvements can be found under the hood of the audio engine. In the real world, this translates to significantly reduced background noise, less delay, fewer call drops, and fewer cut-outs. And if you change your headset, headphones or microphone, there’s no need to mess around with sound settings. 3.8 takes care of it behind the scenes.
One technologically minor but user-friendly change is this: by default, we’ve hidden the user’s profile image in incoming authorization requests. Some people have been using offensive images, so we decided to put them behind a veil. You can still see the hidden avatar if you click on it.
The release also includes a number of video-related bug fixes, our own UPnP implementation and other tweaks. And even if you’re happy with an older version of Skype, we recommend upgrading to the latest. If only it’d come with that new-car smell…
I’ve lost all audio out….No one can hear me as of today….
I’ve downloaded the ‘new’ 3.8 and installed it and it still says I have v.3.6.0.248….
This has just killed my business. I use skype EveryDay to call clients around the world and basically….I’m out of business.
Update to 3.8 seems to work only from Explorer not Firefox. do not know what happens with other browsers.
Works fine for me on Firefox.
Thanks guys for another iteration.
Keep’em coming.
It promising to me, but when is the Mac edition coming out? That would be more promising
Peace,
Gene Steinberg
http://www.theparacast.com
This is an awful release. Not only is this buggy, as stated above, the promised fix for Skype in Windows Server 2008 is not in this! It still crashes on start-up.
It’s almost as if you have just ONE guy doing all the coding and testing. Pathetic.
Still crashes on Windows 2008 for me too.
I’ll start using skype regularly again when it supports true video conferencing…does this release fix that?
I mean I like being able to do video chat with one other person, fine, but I’ve got a group of friends I want to hook up with all at once. Why can’t skype accomodate that need? Fix that issue, and I’m back. In the meantime, I’ve moved to ooVoo, and I’m not really that happy about it since it kills my processor. All I want is light-weight video conferencing between me and five or six of my closest friends. Please.
Indicates an older version when you attempt to upgrade, even a manual update ends up with a version identifying itself as v.3.6.0.248 not 3.8…
I would also like to have some multi-point video conferencing capabilities instead of just point-to-point. That would be a major feature!!
Hooks in place to call a H.323 video conferencing system would be great to have.
Hooks in place to call SAP systems.
my modem kept on crashing and i reported it to my ISP to replace it. i just discovered that for some reason, 3.8 was the one causing my modem to restart every time i log-in on skype. good thing i had a back-up installer of 3.6 on another PC to downgrade.
I want the 3.6 version again!!!!
The new version is giving me many problems of disturbnces!
Every time my contact speaks I hear horrible noices.
It’s a pain really!
where can I download the old versions of skype? pls help!
IVE DOWNLOADED THE NEW 3.8 AND IT TELLS ME,TO COMPLETE INSTALLATION YOU NEED TO LOG IN AS ADMINISTRATOR??IM THE ONLY ONE ON THIS PC.IM RUNNING VISTA HOME AND CANT GET IT TO WORK.ANY HELP WOULD BE NICE.THANKS!!
IVE DOWNLOADED THE NEW 3.8 AND IT TELLS ME,TO COMPLETE INSTALLATION YOU NEED TO LOG IN AS ADMINISTRATOR??IM THE ONLY ONE ON THIS PC.IM RUNNING VISTA HOME AND CANT GET IT TO WORK.ANY HELP WOULD BE NICE.THANKS!!AKADUNMOVIN@YAHOO I CAN BE REACHED
old versions of skype can be downloaded from http://www.filehippo.com
skype has been nothing but problems for me. im lucky if one in 30 calls actually connect properly
I see a thick yellow bar across the incoming video. It’s annoying. But when I snap the picture the yellowline is gone.
I have posted my comments in the forum: http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=129201
Basically I am a podcaster and this version of Skype thinking it knows best stuffs my audio every time I make or receive a call. I have told it not to alter my audio setting and yet it still does. I have to manually reset every time.
One of the worst releases of Skype yet. The forum post says it all.
How do I get rid of the VIDEO SELECTOR ? Does anyone know?…I got a page there with videos and I can’t find the way to replace it or delete it all together…..I’d appreciate some help…BTW I have skype version 3.8
We use skype in the office .Most of the time skype shows my contacts offline even them they are online . what would be the problem .We all (about 4 users) have the same problem . we have upgraded from 3.6 to 3.8 version also
Garbage… Update Firefox extension is broken. It breaks displaying jpg images by themselves such as…. http://test.com/image.jpg
Also, audio is garbled on some calls. This never happened with 3.6
Lastly, I lost speaker sound when making a simple phone call.
Reinstalling cleanly doesnt help. It’s just the software.
Recently, from Sunday 25/05 until Monday 26/05 I have been experiencing extremely long delays on my Skype (about 7 second, with and without video) throughout the conversation. On Monday 26/05, the other party and I both downloaded and use the latest version of Skype (3.8) and the problem didn’t improve. Both of us have been using Skype for alomost 2 years and with our current internet speed, we have never experienced a delay as bad as this.
Anyone experiencing this same problem or anyone with any suggestions?
Recently, from Sunday 25/05 until Monday 26/05 I have been experiencing extremely long delays on my Skype (about 7 second, with and without video) throughout the conversation. On Monday 26/05, the other party and I both downloaded and use the latest version of Skype (3.8) and the problem didn’t improve. Both of us have been using Skype for alomost 2 years and with our current internet speed, we have never experienced a delay as bad as this.
Anyone experiencing this same problem or anyone with any suggestions?
Downloaded 3.8 a couple of days ago 05/31 & no problems to date. I haven’t noticed any improvements over the 3.6 version but maybe time will tell on the rate of dropouts, echo, etc. For the record I’m running XP Pro & Internet Explorer 7.
There appears to be a problem with the Firefox extension in Skype v.3.8. I downloaded 3.8 last week and have had problems with Firefox ever since – links not working, hangs etc. I disabled the Firefox extension … NO PROBLEM!!
This isn’t really part of Skype v3.8 (at least I don’t think so) but what I like is the current ability of Skype to display a real phone number (currently limited to mobile numbers and Skype-In numbers) when making an outgoing call.
What I would like to see is this increased to include regular land line phones. I know that there has to be a way of authenticating the phone number (which is why mobiles are used because of the SMS ability) but with a regular landline phone, you can have something similar to PayPal Mobile where a call is made to the landline phone and an automated PIN is read out by the system. The user can just key in the PIN from within the Skype webpage which authenticates that the phone number actually belongs to the user.
Good news – OK , first of all Skype in the past and in this latest version so far is very good. I do get some people telling me they hear an echo
(sometimes not all the time )when I am called from Skype to a regular telephone. How can I adjust this ???
I use two kinds of mics , one is a table mic which normally works quite well ( hey it’s 3 bucks ) the other I use is a Heil Pro Headset , and I usually it fine on all accounts including using the Pro version of Pamela Recorder.
ONE THING I’D LIKE : Can you fabulous people at the technical end please consider including a VU meter in the Skype program. This seems like a no brainer but you forgot it , and any audio professional would tell you that’s important …and not hard to include.
Meanwhile I am quite happy with the product I’d give it a (7.5 out of 10 ) , but keep the improvements coming …and keep thinking of inventive marketing ideas. Then you’ll stay where you are – the best !
The Muse
Please release a fix for Win2k8.
Since I downloaded 3.8 version, I can barely hear the people on the call. There is plenty of static, interruptions and overlap. The quality is bad even simply offline the ringtones are also staticky and discontinuous. What can I do? With the 2 version I was using sound quality was excellent!
F.
Skype version 4.1 is not working on my webcam…where I could download again 3.8 version?