Skype 4.0 Beta 3 for Windows
It’s my pleasure to say – Skype 4.0 Beta 3 for Windows is here.
If you have been using previous betas then you’ll want to start downloading Beta 3 instantly. Although it’s a big step up from beta 2, please remember it’s still a beta version.
You’ve given to us great feedback so far which has triggered many of the changes you see in this new version.
Please continue to tell us what you think about it or leave a message on our forum. You can also report any issues you may come across on our public issue tracker Jira.
With this version, you’ll see a new abuse reporting feature, which will give you the option to report any users you are blocking to us . We have also introduced a custom windows toolbar design with a more Skype-like feel. You will also notice the new version of account view in Skype. It helps you to get your services and payments sorted out more easily. Under the hood we have also added a bandwidth manager which will enable better call quality.
We have also brought back the Call Quality feedback area, Outlook Contacts and full History. All of the things you have been missing most in Skype. In addition there have been many usability improvements related to instant messaging and the profile area layout.
You can read more about features on Mike‘s blog post.
We have also worked hard to iron out many of the bugs . The most important ones to highlight are the crash bug which affected some Windows XP SP1 users and some cases where new event notifications did not work well.]]>Full release notes for the build 4.0.0.176 are:
* feature: Abuse reporting - allow users to report unwanted contact requests and Spam
* feature: Call Quality Feedback button
* feature: Skype Prime payments support
* feature: Outlook Contacts
* feature: Custom Chrome
* feature: History
* feature: My Account in Client 2
* improvement: Options panel updated
* improvement: improved layout of profile area in group conversations
* improvement: Instant Messaging display
* improvement: Call Toolbar
* improvement: More visible button to switch between default and classic view
* improvement: Improved bandwidth allocation methods
* improvement: Changes to file sending design
* change: Getting Started Wizard improvements
* change: Extras Manager updated to version 2.0.0.65
* change: Removed AMR-WB audio codec
* bugfix: Skype occasionally crashed on login on Windows XP SP1
* bugfix: When entering the symbol & into your mood message then it changed to &
* bugfix: Call cost for calls to phones was not displayed
* bugfix: When resuming download wrong estimate was shown
* bugfix: The confirmation page for Adding a phone number contact showed html code
* bugfix: Light Installer did not show plugin installing options on re-install
* bugfix: Right hand blue canvas placement fixes
* bugfix: Instant message sound notifications did not always play
* bugfix: The duration of your voicemail recording was displayed incorrectly
* bugfix: Jpeg error was shown when viewing profile
* bugfix: First character in Cyrillic was displayed incorrectly in quickfilter
* bugfix: Instant message windows in compact view were not always in focus
* bugfix: High Quality Video call logo overlapped some call controls
* bugfix: Webcam not available message not displayed
* bugfix: Links to webpages which contained @ were not clickable
* bugfix: Incoming message notifications did not always clear
* bugfix: In compact view, instant message windows sometimes popped up when they shouldn't
* bugfix: In compact view, new incoming instant messages did not pop up
* bugfix: Local network contacts online status showed incorrectly on occasion
* bugfix: Japanese language input was problematic
* bugfix: Web links caused "unable to launch web browser" error for people who have AOL broswer installed
* bugfix: Group conversations did not act consistently with contact categories
* bugfix: Occasionally Skype crashed on login
* All localizations updates
it’s great? but how about skype for linux? development is still in progress? or no more new versions for linux?
sorry for my English? my own language is Russian.
The installation file(2.1MB) can not successful to install. Please make sure the line is correct.
Raul, I’m finally starting to feel better about the future of Skype. I installed 4.0 B3 4 hours ago and have been testing. Still a ton of things I want to see improved, but compared to how I felt about Beta 1 & 2, I think you guys are making some good progress. I was shocked you added the Spam abuse reporter. I hope you guys make good use of it and make an effort to clean up the Skype network. I know Skype benefits from publicly stating they have 300.x million accounts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype#Usage_and_traffic), but I think it’s pretty obvious that (at least to my knowledge) you guys don’t clean off dead/unused/spammer/hacker accounts. I encourage you to take the opportunity with 4.0 to make a fresh start and start eliminating the massive amounts of unused accounts out there. …. and of course, start heavy blocking/banning of the people who are abusing your network.
According to the numbers on Wiki, your user account # seems to go up at a higher ratio than users online…
Date User accounts users online
Q1 2007 195m 9m
Q2 2007 219m 10m
Q3-Q4 2007 245m 10.5m?
Q1 2008 309m 12m
I started a thread here on my review, thoughts. I’ll be adding to it as I continue to play with, and develop for Skype 4.
http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=254591
Hi,
I’m new to Skype, so I’m in a little bit of trouble!
My only contact was caygeebee in Scotland.
When I downloaded Skype Beta, I lost caygeebee’s contact.
As I was silly enough not to have written down his contact information, could you please show me how I go about getting his contact info back.
I know I could go to program restore but I don;t want to loose anything I have.
Maurice Isaac.
Capricinema.
@capricinema: make sure you are signed in with the correct Skype name. if you have started using a new username, send caygeebee a new contact request.
I have a problem with plugins/extras. I use the RemoteX plugin to help out relatives if they have computer problems, but with Skype 4.0b3 I cannot start this plugin anymore and I do not see invites to use it send from others.
Is the plugin/extras support in Skype 4.0b3 still in the works?
Bad things at 4.0 Beta Version 3:
-All contacts were Green including the SkypeOut contacts and even the offline that had only voice mail and no call forwarding(Very Confusing).
-The Conversation History has too Less information like, Who called ? Me or the Other contact and there are not missing calls at this view.
-The Status get only away after some time and there is no the Not available which was very useful.
-When I make a Video call I have to choose between big enough video size or reasonable enough space at the chat.
-The fact that the Call history is at the chat is annoying because it take even more and plus there is no reason for it to be there. Its chat not History.
Propositions:
-Make different color and icons the SkypeOut contacts from the Skype ones and make Green the ones that when I ll call them I ‘ll possibly get an answer, like Available or with Call forwarding.
-Use only the Classic History (Which includes Everything and shows who called or when and also the missed calls)but it ll be nice just to separate it by days as in the conversation history. Everything else is LESS and USELESS.
-The Video needs to be separated from the Chat like in 3.8 because it’s not useful to share the same window at the same time. It’s not Good to Squeeze the one to stretch the other not mentioning that some people want to hide the Video for a while.
-The call History is Useless to be in the chat History.. Chat is just chat no need to take more space with COLD useless infos. It ll be good just to add a Day Separator Like —-Yesterday—- etc
-I think the Not Available Status needs to get back.
I know that you are really trying Hard but just look at what the users are saying.. I am using the Skype sometime now I have Skype in and spend quite much money on it and I find it Useful. I Won’t talk about the Bad sound problems (Even when I bought the Best of the Best SoundCards or Logitech Cams) not even about the bad Video quality but at least try not to make it any worst. 3.8 is VERY friendly and Useful the way it s now.
I know that you think that it needs a refreshing but Try not to add any Useless or confusing or stressful things or changes because that way I am sure you re going to loose many Users including Me.
I wish you merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of the Skype Group and Users.
Emoticons don’t show up when the other person messages them.
I find a problem with the 4.0 beta–(not sure whether it is Beta 3 or other version). The problem is that when you need to make a choice by pressing 1 or 2 or 3 and so forth on the keypad during a phone call, your choice(1, 2, or 3) does NOT register! I wound up uninstalling the beta version and reinstalled the regular 3.8 version. Hope you guys can fix this problem in the final release.
Also, I don’t like the User Interface of the Skype 4 Beta 3 version. It’s so different from the previous versions that it really takes some getting used to.
I am using the beta 3 verion and this problem has been brought up before – when calling an autoamted answering system and you are given a menu, i.e. press 1 for this, 2 for that, 3 for more… the keypad is dead. It used to work fine with 3.8.
Same problem as al.kaufmann — I can’t press a number during a call. It makes it impossible to use.
I find the new interface much more difficult to use than the previous one. It is cluttered and it’s not clear to me how it adds value.
It IS possible to enter numbers during a call – but not with the normal keyboard! There’s a little icon in the middle of the screen that’s supposed to represent a keyboard – just a series of rows of little square blocks. If you press on this, another keyboard comes up, and you can enter codes with this.
Not sure why they made it so difficult, though…
I have used Skype for many months without major problems. I am running Windows XP Pro. Recently the Skype audio has changed to a “Donald Duck” type distorted sound which is totally unrecognizable. This distortion is heard on and from both sides of the communication link. I installed Skype 4 Beta without any improvement of the sound quality.
Any suggestions?
I am sorry if I am wrong, but did not find reaction to the point:
-Make different color and icons the SkypeOut contacts from the Skype ones and make Green the ones that when I ll call them I ‘ll possibly get an answer, like Available or with Call forwarding.
This issue is really deteriorating the new 4. Betaversion of Skype.
I’m not able to install. I’m using Vista Ultimate 64-bit, and every time I try to install the beta, the installation will not continue past the Google toolbar/Browser highlighter pages. The installation will only go back and forth between those pages. I’ve tried multiple download files, but the same result occurs.
please ubuntu support
I have tried several times to load Skype 4.0 from the download but it keeps failing during installation with the message “The older version of Skype 4.0 cannot be removed”. I don’t understand this as the version I currently have installed is 3.6.0.248. So I tried to uninstall Skype altogether and this failed as well saying it couldn’t find the skype.msi file for this version (I can’t find any skype.msi file on my computer (Windows XP)… I am simply a semi-literate home computer user so all of this is a little confusing, Can anyone out there help me please?
Glen New Zealand
The keypad on 4.0 does not respond after making a call. Does anyone know how to revert back to version 3.8 where it worked fine?
I too am getting the error message “The older version of Skype 4.0 cannot be removed” when trying to upgrade from 3.8 to 4.0. It upgraded fine on my home PC, but on my laptop (running Windows XP Professional, Version 2002, Service Pack 3) it isn’t working. I use Skype quite extensively for work and this error has literally shut me down. Like Glen from New Zealand, I also tried to uninstall Skype altogether and this failed as well saying it couldn’t find the skype.msi file for this version and I tried, but can’t find any skype.msi file on my computer either. Is there a solution for this problem?
I am having the same problem as kendal.roderick: “I’m not able to install. I’m using Vista Ultimate 64-bit, and every time I try to install the beta, the installation will not continue past the Google toolbar/Browser highlighter pages. The installation will only go back and forth between those pages. I’ve tried multiple download files, but the same result occurs.” How to resolve?
I am having an installation error “EOleSysError in Module Skype.exe at 0008963. Access is Denied” on a 64 bit clean install of windows 7. Anyone who has seen this and has a potential solution – I would love to hear from you!
Thanks
DRE
I have installed the new 4.0 skype.I have a prime beta service that I offer.With this new version,when I get calls I no longer see the “charge button” on the template.What gives!How do I charge for my sevice?
I have installed the new 4.0 skype.I have a prime beta service that I offer.With this new version,when I get calls I no longer see the “charge button” on the template.What gives!How do I charge for my sevice?
I’m having problems accessing Skype. It seems to download the file fine, however, when it tries to open the window to create a screen name and password I get this application error.
“Exception EOleSysError in module Skype.exe at 00089129. Acess is denied.”
Can you please help? I’m trying to create an account for my wife that is getting deployed and we hope to be able to communicate through skype.
I have Windows Vista Home Premium.
Thanks!
MarcD
I’m having problems with skype version 4.0.0.224 since I downloaded it and installed it on my notebook. I am currently using window XP SP3. The point is, if I call someone to have a video (most of the time), the conversation starts, but after few minutes it happens: 1-the call hang up itself, or 2-the call stops and skype does not recognize the camera on usb port anymore (it shows unknown), if I unplug and plug it back, it is still unknown. Then, the skype does not work anymore, a ring sound is kept till I disconnect the camera, and only after restarting the computer it can run skype again. One time, when it happened, the other computer shut down itself. The camera (vx1000) has been updated on driver already but it is still the same issue. Is anyone who can help me out one this issue? Tks
I`ve started to use Skpe 2 years ago. Now I have the latest version 4.0 beta.
I was surprised when had not found an Unavailable Status – it seems that developers removed it from beta release. Please enable this feature (+1 status). Thanks in advance.
I’m happy with the new version, but I do have some suggestions.
When you have started a call, to view the IM section you have to click a small button in the bottom right corner. I think it woul be better to be shown automatically. My parents had a bit a problem to find the button during a video call so we could transfer a file.
I have set up a Business panel with 6 members for the office. I would like to create a company contact list and share it with the other member of the business panel. I think this is an important feature we all should have.
Perhaps an option to organise the contacts by alphabetical order would be useful also.
Thanks
Matthew
Conversation Spam, is what I’m getting. I just started using Skype and I’m already getting unwanted conversation contacts, including ‘sexy’ ones. I’m set to block unwanted callers but can I block conversation contacts not on my contact list? Yes, I know how to block them after they arrive. But is this what everybody has to deal with who uses Skype?
I strongly agree with andrei.skypeuser. The “unavailable” status is different from “away” or “do not disturb.” Each has its use, and each should be preserved. I accidentally allowed Skype to upgrade to 4.1 tonight, having forgotten that when I did that before, it lacked the “unavailable” status, which is totally unacceptable. I’m going back to the 3.x version I was using before.
I have just reinstalled 4.3 Beta to resolve “Voicemail recording error”, but no joy. I am wanting to personalise the voicemail.
Knowledgebase solution (Sign out and sign in using lowercase does not resolve the issue.)
Am running Win7 Ultimate 64bit.
I cannot find any resolution on Jira.
All settings seem fine. New version runs like a dream otherwise.
Any clues?
I cannot read Japanese characters. They only appear as squares. How do I solve this problem?
Is there a Japanese font support for skype while using its English version?