Skype 4.0 Beta 3 for Windows
Hello again! Today we’re launching Beta 3 of Skype 4.0 for Windows.
We’ve spent the last few months analysing your feedback in detail, and I’d like to thank all of you who have contacted us directly as well as the hundreds of discussions on blogs and Twitter, all of which have helped us shape this third Beta version.
So what’s new?
Firstly we’ve included full History features, as promised when we launched Beta 2. You can browse and search past conversations by event type (instant messages, incoming calls, outgoing calls, and so on), making it easy to retrieve information about who was involved and what was said. You’ll find the History button at the bottom of the Conversation tab.
But that’s not all. We’ve added a few new ingredients to the mix to make using Skype just that little bit smoother:
We’ve made numerous improvements to call and video quality with a new Bandwidth Manager. You’ll notice that Skype will adapt a lot faster to varying changes in your network condition now.
You’ll notice a new look that’s more reflective of our brand which we’ve achieved by customising the Windows chrome. You can turn this off from Options if you don’t like it.
We’ve also introduced Abuse Reporting when you block a user. This will help us address unwanted authorisation requests which a small number of our users are experiencing.
Additionally, we’ve improved the readability of instant messages and the usability of the Call Toolbar. Outlook Contacts are back and we’ve also made some adjustments to the way Group Conversations are viewed.
So, yup, we’ve been pretty busy – all thanks to the feedback you’ve been given us. This has been a fantastic experience for us really engaging our community and building a product with all of you.
What next?
Please download it and try it out. Your feedback is still important to us as our Windows team continue to work on priming 4.0 Beta for the next release. Stay tuned 
Note: I’ve fixed the link above, so it should work properly now – thanks for pointing it out
The URL listed above ( http://www.skype.com/go/downloadbeta ) redirects me to the production version of Skype- http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/windows/
How do I get the Skype 4, Beta 3 version?
Give this one a try….
http://www.skype.com/go/download-beta
Why I can’t close conversation windows with key ESC in Default view? I found the only way to close window – ALT+F4 but it’s closing conversation window and removes it from list of today’s conversation. I’m upset This problem was reported in Beta 2 and it’s not fixed yet
Still got the same problem on Vista SP1
Every time I launched Skype 4 Beta, it created a new inbound rule (same as it had created before) in Windows Firewall.
Hi there, nice work. I wish I were as young and smart as you and have an eagle eye
like you so I won’t have to lean toward the screen to see names on the list of my contacts in this new version. Perhaps there’s a way to increase the size of the letters, but I couldn’t find it yet.
Also – in preceeding version I was able to move contacts from one group to another using mouse. Now since my list is too long, there’s no room for another group on the screen to do that. Perhaps there is, but I didn’t discover it yet as well. Thanks for your answer. Fredseee
Great work guys!!! Now it’s more like it Keep up the excellent work!!!
i really like the new skype beta
What happened to the DTMF feature? I could use it in Beta 1 but now it seems to have disappeared.
Hi,
still missing the SkypeMe Mode… will it be available in the final?
I have been using Beta 3 for a few days now. On multiple occasions (not every time) when I try to shutdown my computer Skype stops the shutdown process and will not let it proceed until I click on the button to forcefully shut down Skype. This did not happen to me in Beta 2. Any thoughts?
WHY NO MAC BETA IN ALMOST A YEAR?!?!?!? COME ON GUYS SORT IT OUT.
First of all, I would like the Windows Dev Team for their continues improvements on the client. A lot of great work have been done and the new beta works great.
Sadly the Mac version is falling behind.
I have one feature request that I see that my scientific staff are longing for, and that is the possibility to do remote Powerpoint presentations. Often the video conference is in the form of a lecture, so adding support for various presentation formats: Powerpoint, OpenOffice (*shrug*) and Keynote (for Mac) would be great. Adding support for presenting HTML files or showing presentations as Flash are also options.
Hi!
I want to test Skype Beta but my headset – Logitech Cordless Headset for PC & Mobile Phones – doesn’t seem to be working with it. Am I doing something wrong? It works fine with the latest Skype version though.
Hi,
Its really great to know that we have a Beta version for windows. But i think its time to move ahead with all such things coming out for MAC as well. Now there are around 10 % of the people owning MAC across the world. I don’t think you would like to deprive MAC users for all features that Windows users have.
I refuse to download skype from you’re Chinese partner (Tom Com) you should give us the possibility to download the original one not the one with Chinese malware , i hope you know you’re local parner still continue to spy all the conversation.
Chinese cannot be trust, if you want we still continue to use Skype you have to take action , not force us to continue to download from this compagny
Hi,
Great release! However I have a problem personally, about the call quality little pop up showing up on the down right side of the screen whenever there is some big noise close to the microphone. In theory, it’s a good thing but I think there should be an option to disable it for people that watch movies or play games and the pop up keeps showing up.
Thanks! Skype FTW
I like the new adds to the Skype. You have brought back some things from 3.8 and previous versions. Now I can close a chat window and when a new message arrives it opens a new window even when the skype user is already in my “Conversations”. Good work Like the new look and I’m using it.
But now I have one-two major bugs. I don’t know if this is from the upgrades that I do with every new beta release but still… When I quit Skype and run the program again, my profile picture and my mood disappears, and my skype status(invisible,away, dnd… etc.) changes always to “Online”. Today I’ve done this five six times and the last time it didn’t change but I think it will happen again.
And another thing from almost the beginning of the Beta release… sometimes the Skype Extras Manager pops up and searching for upgrades or something. It don’t bothers me too much but when I’m playing a game it exits the game and this is very annoying.
OS using:
Windows XP SP2+SP3 patch upgrade.
Skype: 4.0.61.176
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.
I have downloaded the new version of Skype but every time I log in to Skype it disables my internet access. Does anyone know why this might be occurring?
I got some problems when someone is writting to me i see that i have missed chat. But when i click on the persons name the notification doesnt disappear. You can see for what im talking about on this link —- http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww142/pr0gi/g.jpg —-
it seems that the problem disappear. Don’t know how but now everythink is working perfect.
Just installed Skype 4.0 Beta 3, and I think that the blue line on the bottom of Skype si kind of ugly/annoying.. xD you can see what I mean on this image:
It only is on the bottom, not on either sides..
And the same with the x, minimize and maximize-buttons on the upper right side of the Skype window are kind of different, of how Windows Vista looks.. (the x isn’t red, also)
If I press the “Compact View” button on the upper right corner of the Skype window, It gets to the older kind of Skype, but it changes size, even if I have fullscreen(as I always have Skype in). And if I press it again to Default View, it doesn’t go full size again.. clearly some issues with with of chatting/calling area and cotacts/conversation area space.. they change everytime I shift between the compact view and Default view..
BTW, I have Windows Vista Home Premium SP1
That bottom line should either be all way around, or no where.. I think that it would be better, if it was no where.. xD
3 comments to Beta 3
1. “Not available” status was a useful inbetween “away” and “do not disturb”
2. Sorting in Categories not quite right: when i sorted my “Skype Contacts” category list by status, Away and Online are all mixed together and sorted by Name. I would expect Online first, then Away, then offline with forwarding, etc
3. I could not find how to send contacts to another skype user. This was a useful tool to send details (or a group of them) to another skype user.
Many thanks for your good work!
Version: 4.0.0.176
Platform: WinXP SP3
Apart from the importance of the graphics, I, as a blind screenreader user, would like to ask on this blog whether you are going to make version 4 at least as accessible with assistive technology as version 3? An example of a method of doing this is to use the accessibility framework in XP and VISTA (MSAA and UI Automation respectively). Apple did this with Itunes 8, and the result has been a stunning breakthrough in accessibility to this application.
I have not yet dared to download the beta of Skype for fear of not being able to use the program at all. There are rumors in the community of blind and visually impaired users saying that the beta is not at all accessible with assistive technology. Well, I hope to be contradicted here, but nevertheless, I would like to stress the importance of this issue. Please, please don’t overlook this issue by treating it as a minor point. But enough rambling from me (smile).
This is better than Beta 2, BUT there are 2 very big problems for me. The first one is that I want to know when my girlfriend has left Skype AND in Beta 2 I can do that when I keep mu mouse pointer on her Account … there is no such thing in Beta 3 … I want it back . So u know that the Skype window holds the chat window and the contacts window at the same time .. most people like to keep them 50 : 50 BUT I usually make the chat part 30 % of the whole window. Now in beta 3 I can’t do that … and if I make it 50 : 50 after I look at the desktop or somewhere else the window is self resizing and it’s in start position … and the start position is 30 % contacts part and 70 % chat part … I don’t like that and I want to change it and keep it like I like it .
Some other little problem is I want the old 256 x 256 avatars ! With this resolution U can show SO much to the others and for ME this is VERY important ! Amm make the View Profile window bigger . U will ask ” why ? ” ammm because I usually write so much things in the balloon thing aaand when someone click on ” View Profile ” he only sees 1/3 from it … ! Aaand U can make GIF avatars already … it’s cool ! Ammm add new emoticons is good too. I think that is for now … PLEASE take a look at my ideas … I know SO MUCH people that want this extras on skype and I know that it isnt that hard to u to make it .
Great work so far. The things I would like to see work better are:
1) Option to always show the dial pad when calling a contact. For touch tone / DTMF dialing for conference lines having to remember to click the tiny dial pad icon is annoying (plus it disappears when you toggle back to Outlook to look at the second set of digits to dial – I can only remember three at a time!)
2) Hotkeys do not seem to work for me. I use them all the time for focus and mute.
3) Adding a new contact in Outlook does not show up in Skype contacts list. Changing a current contact shows almost immediately. I have to go to the properties of the Outlook contacts folder and ‘Clear Offline Items’ for it to sync. This unfortunately requires a complete download of all my items from the Exchange server.
4) I would prefer to click the contacts tab for the contacts list to gain focus. From a usability standpoint this seems consistent with clicking the other lines like Call Phones, Directory, etc. Once I’ve clicked the contacts tab, typing a name should automatically filter the list of contacts. This would be inline with the usability of the classic UI, and would make adoption easier.
5) I don’t really like the current calls in progress appearing under the Contacts tab. It is not obvious to me without staring hard that this is where my calls in progress are accessed from (visually they blend in too much when highlighted in blue). Could the calls in progress be moved above the contacts and search, since when I’m on a call and want to mute it, drop it, or put it on hold, I don’t want to be panicking to find where it is on the busy UI (especially if I have more than one call in progress). It was easy with multiple windows in the classic UI (even if a little less ‘connected’ visually).
6) Showing the call / discussion history for a contact in the right pane, when I just select the contact to call (I use SkypeOut a lot), is really confusing visually. Too much information. Could this be optional? I guess all I want to do is quickly and easily identify who I want to call, call them, mute them, hang up, move onto the next.
7) When renaming a contact (right click on it and rename), hitting return after entering the new name should change the name, not call the contact (I have double click to call option set).
Great work so far. I hope you can incorporate these thoughts to make Skype really usable.
Phil
Oh I see that the avatars now are 160×160 … O M G ! They were 256×256 m after that 196×196 … now 160×160 … !!! If u want u can remove avatars already !!!
And when I click a link on someone profile it didn’t open in my I-Net browser … if i click right button/Copy it copies the whole things in his profile … W T F ? And if someone writes me some link in chat session I have to selected all and then right button/Copy Link Location , then entered in new tab in my I-Net browser … that’s ugly ! Please make something about these things and the things in my upper comment ! I know u cant satisfied all users, but PLEASE … these are little bugs and things that I want to be changed ( okey … most of them are little ) !
Forgive me if this has been brought up before…but, has Skype ever thought about adding a Video Chat function? Video Call is great, but what about the times you’re sitting in a cafe or the airport and don’t want everyone in the world to hear a conversation you’re having?! “You’re smoopy” “No, you’re smoopy” Ok, kidding but you get my point…it would be great to have video capability while chatting in those situations! Seems like it’d be an easy add to test out in Beta 4.0!
Something else I forgot to mention…in compact mode, it would be nice if you kept similiar funtionality at Skype 3.8 in the following way:
If a person wants to use compact mode, they want to keep it compact! So, instead of having a different window open for everything (calling, cliking the call phones, directory, shop tabs at the bottom) keep everything in the same small compact window as before, except for chatting. When someone clicks one of the three tabs at the bottom, bring up the corresponding window in the small compact window…same for calls etc! The only additional window you need is for chatting.
Multiple chatting windows could be consolidated into one by adding a button/tab with each individual contact’s name on the left side of one chat window…similar to AIM 6. Have a tab flash when a new message comes through when you’re chatting with a different contact on a different button/tab. If there’s a group conversation, they can have their own button/tab on the left as well. If video chat is added, make a button to select which contact you want to share video with and be able to switch between contacts as desired.
Keep it coming!!
I would like to see if anyone using the windows 7 beta has had problems with SKYPE 4.0 3 Beta. Mine locks up once a phone call is made. The screen freezes. Has anyone in the SKype team tested this product with the BETA? I would like to know before I uninstall the New windows product.
i have a same problem like michael…
I have the same problem as Michael and Neduddgi9 – Mine however freezes the entire system just after signing into Skype. Bad Skype Bad! Older versions don’t work for me either :’(
Is there any way with this new version that we can choose whether or not to receive messages while in “Do not disturb” mode? Our company is trying to switch over from MSN IM to Skype but we need to have the same functionality as provided by the “busy” status in MSN IM. We need this to show others within a Contact Group that one of us is working on a particular application or document or website access, so that if 2 or more other people want to work on the same thing, they can a) see that someone is using it and b) queue up to be next in line. Do you have a solution for this? Thanks!
Great job guys.
I wonder if there will be a possibility (or may be there already is and i missed it) to place the contacts list on the right and the conversation area on the left.
What i still miss in skype is the possibility to fix the compact window to the right end of the monitor, so that other applications autimatically move a bit, to make free space. for example look at ICQ, when you open it other apps move away, so that icq isn’t OVER the app, but beside it.
What I do not like of the new beta version:
- the contact list names are just too little to read; I would like to have the option to increase the size of the fonts
- I like having the possibility of keeping an history of my chats, however, if the history mode is turned on, in chat mode, there is not the possibility of telling the system not to display the last day history
- the notifications of new chat messages for conversations which are already opened appear as little blinking numbers on the system tray which are sometimes difficult to spot; I prefer always to have pop ups
Since above downturns were just too annoying, I ended up uninstalling the beta version and reinstalling the old version, which I much, much preferred
I’m using Skype 4 Beta 3 on Windows 7 and it takes too much RAM. Almost 500MB of physical and virutal, is it only on my PC… And where did the option for the font size go, the letters are so tiny. But anyway Skipe beta 3 is looking better than ever.
I am new to Skype and have read many comments about likes and dislikes. I downloaded for Windows XP 4.0 newest version. After importing my contacts from my Outlook, I realized that 99% of my contacts from my import I do NOT want and wish to delete them altogether. Instead, I want to create new lists for my online communities of friends. Does anyone know how I can delete the contacts and not just block them? thank you in advance.
Mostly lookin good so far guys.
I only currently have 1 problem with the beta 3…I use group conversations rather a lot, but when anyone else changes group conversation name, it’s not reflected in my version, I get the x changed the conversation topic to “y” and when I click on the grey/silver bar and show the conversation picture and participants, it’s changed in there, just not at the top and not in the conversations list, also, If I change the topic, it’s not sent to everyone else…
I am sorry if I multiple comment but I’ve got no time to read all posts.
Skype 4 is great, after little personalization. Main screen is ready to video calls and I think most people still use it for voice calls.
I’ve found it difficult to differentiate my active Skype contact from my Phone contacts. Icons are a bit different but have the same colour and sometimes it is missleading.
Hi! I have tried Skype 4 Beta 3 for Windows.
I found out several minor errors in User Interface implementation:
1) within chat, I can not find an option to edit my sent messages (was in 3.8 version, by right-mouse-click, very useful!)
2) within chat, I can not find an option to change font size nor change chat layout (both was in 3.8 version). Current layout looks nice for short messages (“hello world”:) but no good for larger messages (say 3-5 lines).
– Well, finally found in Tools->Optins->IM & SMS-> IM appearance, but it seems hard to find.
3) in contact list v 3.8, we could find the date the offline contact was last time online by moving the mouse on the contact string, currently not.
4) a couple of dozens of messages are not localized (I change language to Russian) – english words happens among russian words. (This problem can be related to most localizations).
5) in Skype->Account… menu, after logging on, the resulting window is not resized properly for different localizations. Seems OK for English, but Russian words are generally longer so the window width should be expanded manually by mouse. (And “Maximize” button is disabled for some reason).
6) in Tools -> Options, “Video Settings” happens to be twice (within “General” and “Call” sections).
Hey folks,
to talk to multiple groups in parallel without having to juggle windows around too much, it would be very useful to be able to group conversations as tab pages into one single chat window. That way I could coordinate my team and simultaneously talk to my customers without having to constantly search for and switch windows. Blinking tab headers would notify me of events / messages in a tab. Being able to dock and undock tabs from chat windows would help tremendously.
Also, being able to place the contact list on the right hand side of skype for standard view is necessary when you place skype on the far right screen edge (which seems to be the natural way to do it, especially in a multi-display setup). Having skype auto-collapse to a screen border would be sugar on top of that.
For users working with skype’s IM functionality every option to customize chat windows is a good thing. Especially the huge whitespace in the current IM implementation hurts a lot (line spacing is far too big and can be reduced, f.ex.). Also, an option to show lines after individual messages would be good to be able to discern them more quickly. With the way the chat window looks with a dozen people hacking at it at the same time, it’s paramount to have messages use as little screen real estate as possible and be clearly distinguishable.
Thanks for the good work, keep going!
I am definitely not a fan of the new Skype version, i use skype for very limited things: chatting and calling 4-5 people. However i find the new history function awkward, i don’t like that there is no Wallpaper option, and the main menu is confusing because the Skypeout contacts color is too similar to the color of my skype contacts who are online. I would like to go back to the old version!!
I have a computer with Windows XP operating system and have just downloaded I just downloaded Skypes Version 4.0.0.206 to my computer.
Now I find that when I am web surfing and download webpages that contain telephone numbers, the Skypes software has modified all the telephone numbers on the page. Now on any page I download, there is a gray area where the telephone number used to be on the page. Inside the gray area appears a US flag followed by the telephone number, preceeded by a 1. The alt code box reads, “Call this number in the United States of America with Skype: +areacode&Number.”
Does anyone know how to turn off this feature?
I am a webmaster and when I view my pages online, the Skype software is changing the appearance of my content. I really like the calling features of Skype and don’t want to be forced to uninstall it because of this very negative feature that has appeared without notice.
Thanks in advance.
I have a computer with Windows XP operating system and have just downloaded I just downloaded Skypes Version 4.0.0.206 to my computer.
Now I find that when I am web surfing and download webpages that contain telephone numbers, the Skypes software has modified all the telephone numbers on the page. Now on any page I download, there is a gray area where the telephone number used to be on the page. Inside the gray area appears a US flag followed by the telephone number, preceeded by a 1. The alt code box reads, “Call this number in the United States of America with Skype: +areacode&Number.”
Does anyone know how to turn off this feature?
I am a webmaster and when I view my pages online, the Skype software is changing the appearance of my content. I really like the calling features of Skype and don’t want to be forced to uninstall it because of this very negative feature that has appeared without notice.
Thanks in advance.
Since I downloaded the new version, there are constantly IM from unknown persons popping up in my skype! This is very annoying! “my friends only” is checked in the privacy options – so how come?
Also – why aren’t there the seconds in the timestamp of IM chats anymore? also very annyoing…
Just downloaded the new version. Haven’t had a chance to check out all the features. Did a search on “multiple windows” and found this forum.
My question is does this new version allow for multiple video calls? I previously used Yahoo Messenger so that I could video chat with my brother in TX and my brother in CA and my daughter in AZ. We could all see and talk with each other at the same time.
I was hoping this new version of Skype would give us that opportunity. If it’s not on this version, I hope others will send feedback to Skype to get this feature on the next release.
Love the program, and it’s come a long way since my dial up video calls!
Cheryl
I use Skype on all our Linux computers at home and while the penguin version is still miles behind, I was curious to see v4 on Windows since it is the software I usually install for people right after FF3 and VLC.
Its nice.
Better than the last one with still room for more improvement.
One problem and this is a big one which has already been mentioned here:
the size of the contact list names.
They are just too small to read confortably.
It cant be too hard to add a font size option. Please look into for the next update.
This small little ‘annoyance’ will make it unusable for many people.
well i only have one thing to say i wanna make the words that i type or i read bigger, but i couldnt find the botton as the one on the previous versions.