Introducing the new Skype for Mac, now available in Beta
It’s out of beta – read about the latest version!
It was worth the wait – the new Skype 5.0 is now available for Mac today in beta, introducing a revamped look and feel that simplifies navigation and provides a more Mac-like experience. For example, the Skype app has been brought together in one window for ease-of-use, and the Mac address book has been integrated, making it possible for you to call, IM and SMS your contacts when they are online or offline.
The new Skype for Mac also offers our popular new feature – group video calling – which allows you to make video calls with more than two people at a time as long as all participants are on the new Mac beta or Skype for Windows 5.0. Group video calling brings people together like never before, allowing you to do more things together with your friends, family and colleagues whenever you are apart.
The new Skype for Mac also includes the following new features:
- New call control bar — Hang up, mute and more from a mini Skype toolbar that sits on top of any web pages, documents or photos you’ve got open
- Search chat content to easily navigate past conversations
- Offline IM so that you can send and receive instant messages even if the recipient is offline
- Personalise contacts via user profiles
- Quickly rejoin calls if your Internet connection fails momentarily
- Floating Contacts Monitor to see your online contacts and contact groups
Try out the new Skype for Mac in beta and tell us what you think using the Skype > Provide Skype Feedback menu item. And stay posted as we roll out the official version soon.
While the features are good… the new GUI is awesomely BAD… reverting back to 2.8
Skype team I hope this is really a beta… and will be corrected in the final version..
I’ve tried to like this, but I find it too bulky and I lose functionality when I call folks… the chat turns to the call window and I cannot share text or links with the person I talking to! WTF?????? Going to go back to 2.8 until you fix this lemon…..
“It’s so big!!!!” …aaaand that’s what she said.
I’ve always loved Skype, and still do… BUT… this new version, although still a beta, is a HUGE FAIL and BIG MISTAKE. I feel like I’m using a really unstable and very ugly application that is just trying to catch-up to where Apple’s “ichat” has already been for years. Mac users like sleek applications, with the ability to change the application size to our own likings. And where is the Facebook Contact integration? And why was the Mac Version so delayed on release date? And what about those who use more than one Operating System and want their experience to feel seamless (or when trying to navigate our parents when explaining how to use it)? And why is it so big? I’m sorry, I’m going back to the old version and deleting this Beta… its too horrible!! Keep at it though, you’ll get it.
What was the point of this re-design? Video conferencing is obviously very useful. Spell check STILL MISSING – big disappointment. Allow skin customization and revert to “classic”, at least for the chat window.
Add me to the people who HATE this. First, it’s a GIANT window. All the things that people say they hate about that holds for me.
But what really has me annoyed is that I was on a video call, sent a chat, and have not managed to find my way back to the video window. Too many secret controls. Honestly: Ctrl + Opt + Cmd + UPArrow is a easy key combination! Not in my book.
Make the easy stuff easy – like it used to be!
Just wanted to add a “+1″ to the complaints that running Skype causes the new MacBook Pro i7 to kick into Nvidia graphics instead of Intel. Not good when running on battery. Any thoughts about fixing this?
Oh I am SOOOOOOO disappointed too!!!!
I downloaded the new Mac Beta version for the Group Video feature… and was horrified by what appeared on the screen. I am a huge Skype user and generally rave about it to all. I have been reading all the posts here as I was hoping to find the way to shrink the new contact window and find the lovely old compact one I generally keep in a wee corner… and am now feeling quite deflated… it seems from other users that all my concerns are well founded.
You have waaaaay missed the mark and it seems I am not alone in how I use Skype. I like the separate windows for Contacts (small as possible, can see instantly who’s on, and can change my status in one weeny wee box in the corner of my screen), for chats (again compact and resizeable and for video (again can adjust size to what else I am doing at the time… totally flexible). Smart and simple.
I am not blind. The scale of the window is stupid, the font size is ridiculous and white space/waste is just crazy.
I am putting 2.8 on again immediately.
Please, please, please… listen to the feedback here and go back to something minimal, flexible and functional.
I wish they would just use the old UI and add the new features (or have a “use old UI” option). I tried the beta for a while (couple weeks) but I could not get used to it. Now back to 2.8…
This is really an awful design. So I have skype in the background. I can’t just right-click on the top menu icon and get a list of contacts or pull up the chat window from there. I’ve given it a try for 3 weeks now, but give up. Didn’t you try user testing?
And the single window design? What was wrong with multiple chat windows, or at least having the online contacts monitor showing me a number for the unseen chats, being able to rightclick and open a call or chat with the person there.
Having to click on the dock to bring up the “big window” bites totally. Switching between chats is worse. OK, so make this an option.
I’m not sure why this design is more mac-like…
Back to 2.8 for me, this is awful…
Completely useless UI, huge step back. Will need to install my old 2.8 again.
Aside from the HUGE window being VERY difficult to work with, here is a specific problem that is driving me up the walli
There is no single list of all contacts with easy to see notifications of who is messaging me! – the popup window with online contacts does NOT show who messaged me. So ONLY place I see a notification is onscreen for a second (which do not link to the actual message) and then in the TODAY list (which at that point may have a lot of other people in it so I completely miss received chat messages.) AND i CANNOT delete a single entry from today/yesterday to use it more like a regular chat window where I have multiple tabs for multiple chats – so new messages GET COMPLETELY LOST!
Please guys, is this really the best you can do? Did someone actually really test this UI in real-world environment?
I am VERY disappointed.
Why not allow chat notifications in the pop-out “Online Contacts” window? whats the matter with that?
“a more Mac-like experience”??? Are you SERIOUS? To give just a few examples – the cursor changes into a resize COLUMN cursor when I resize the WINDOW. You use non-standard controls to reveal the chat, etc. Your text input field looked like a solid grey part of the clunky UI – I actually had to ask where it was!
Not only that, the one-window UI is AWFUL. In the same space it shows a FRACTION of the info 2.8 did. WTF is with the GIANT fonts and avatars and whitespace everywhere??????
In short – whoever designed this abomination needs to be fired and blacklisted from the industry. It looks like it was designed by an iPad dev who’s never even seen decent iPad apps, who also spends their entire day in Skype. HELLO!!! I’m on a MAC. NOT an iPad. I want to use more than one app at once! Do you KNOW what unobtrusive means? (Not to mention words like intuitive, design, elegance…)
Here’s a little hint for you: If your going to design something for an OS your not using on a daily basis, hire some people who do. This is obviously a Windows “program” masquerading as a Mac OS X “App” and it was ported by Windows lovers looking to play a joke on us. Get some Mac people working on this and keep the Windows people in their own cubicles!
It hardly seems necessary to say again what has so loudly and clearly been said by just about every commenter already, but it’s still worth to reinforce the point that the UI is too big, wasting space. This Beta is not intuitive at all and certain important features (like the ability to pre-select contacts for a conference call before starting the call) seem to be missing entirely. I add my voice to those who are asking for a serious rethink on this before the software moves out of Beta territory.
This really is a convoluted clustf*ck. Somehow you took up more real estate and improved nothing. In fact usabilty is much worse than before. How hard would it have been to make a good client? How can you still do such a bad job after all these years iterating? This is your bread and butter and nothing is intuitive. Pay some american UI designers.
Hi, I just reverted back to 2.8. Skype is important to my life. The new UI isn’t helpful. How can I dial an stranger by his screen name without adding him? Why do I need to flip thru different groups? It should just show on my list like it was before! Why can’t I chat at the same time as I talk? Why is there so much wasted space on the contact list. I want to see my entire contact list…. What happens to the dropdown keypad shortcut when I dial numbers with dial tone?
If you guys need to release this, please at least make it so that people who prefer 2.8 can stick with the original UI and functionality. Thank you! I love skype!
Like the fact that you’re developing and adding features. Dislike the new Window. Where are all the Skype contacts who are online, that’s all that matters, not 5,000 people who are not on Skype.
But seriously, some of the vitriol on here is ridiculous. I guess it may show they care, but it borders on the sociopathic.
I don’t care about the UI, I need functionality. You didn’t give us Hi-Def and you took away screen sharing and other features that have been mentioned above. I can’t use this for my work. I want to upgrade but have to stick with the older version.
Reverted to 2.8. Specific issues:
-excessive use of screen real-estate
-no full-screen video?
-(adium issue) contact groups didn’t seem to “stick”
good to see skype are still not listening to the users and adding a classic view that doesn’t take over the entire display.
Unfortunately not Mac friendly at all
I suspect the same team works on Skype for iPhone, they have similar problems.
Slow updates, CPU and Memory hogging etc.
Windows version is much more stable
Now the UI of Mac version is even worst than it was. Really disappointed!
Unbelievably awful; the worst GUI I have ever seen. Like many other users, I have gone straight back to 2.8, and if this is the best you can do I will ditch Skype and go over entirely to Adium.
I love it. I think this is a significant improvement over the previous version and I like the UI.
I’m surprised at the strong reactions from many maybe caused by having gotten used to the previous version. There is probably room to build in some UI options so you can switch modes to work more like the previous version and I’m sure this will come in subsequent releases (remember this is a BETA!).
One of the things I miss which is in the Windows version is the ability to see the time of the person you are calling in the same window that you’re chatting in or about to call from. In the Mac version I need to go to the users profile to see if it’s a good time to call them.
I too am not happy with the beta. I think developers should study how people use skype or most communication tools. You don’t put your telephone prominently in the middle of your desk do you? It’s off in the corner until you need it or it rings. Likewise the new window size just clogs up your desktop, and if you do choose the smaller Contacts ‘window’ it persists in the top layer of the desktop. Who wants your Contacts showing if there is a movie playing. I also don’t understand all the white space, even with the lifehacker.com Panamerica Mini font update it’s like staring into the star-lit sky, all space and a handful of stars. I routinely use the Mac and Windows Skype versions and the 2.X versions of Skype are far superior to either the Windows or this new beta. Scrap this one guys.
I’ve been using Skype for a long time now and love it. I use it skype to skype, to skypeout, and have online number and multiple accounts that I use for different businesses. I’m your star application user and this beta should not go to retail.
I can only say that I’m thankful I didn’t waste time trying this monstrosity. katie-whitcomb nailed it, saying “..This is obviously a Windows “program” masquerading as a Mac OS X “App” and it was ported by Windows lovers looking to play a joke on us. Get some Mac people working on this and keep the Windows people in their own cubicles!”
I am a PC person that converted to a Mac. I loved this minimal interface. Less is more. It was simple and easy to use. But the features that I loved about the Windows version of Skype are still not here. I want to be able to find new friends via Gmail, Hotmail, etc. Don’t you think Mac users have those type of accounts as well? In addition, since I use Entourage and not the Mac Mail program, my contacts did not appear, nor was I given an option to upload them.
While the group video feature is fabulous and long overdue, why doesn’t the Mac 5 version interface with Facebook like the Windows version?
WAY TOO BIG!
If this is going to be the new standard then you guys have just made me start looking for less intrusive and obnoxious competitors to Skype.
Guys. Please call it a miss and revert the design.
I’ve just gotten back to the 2.8 version after 3 days of the beta version 5. Such a relief to see all small, tidy and on the way people really use it!
Please don’t take this as bad approach to novelty. I’m a great fan of skype designs over time The new one just doesn’t work at all for me.
I’m not upgrading until is made compulsory or skype decides to change the design…
At the risk of sounding ungrateful, 5.0 is simply too large, so I’ve gone back to 2.8. Keep up the good work!
I have to agree with most of the people here. The new interface is ugly and not easy to use. Welcome the new functions but death to the new interface. Plus my messages some time dont get send out. I have to restart skype to get my message to appear.
As many people have observed it really is far too big. Cannot get rid of the avatar photos, I already know what my contacts actually look like. The text is far too widely spaced vertically. The font sizes cannot be adjusted (I actually need to make the writing bigger but more tightly spaced owing to my imperfect eyesight.
The real problem is that it displays who I have been chatting to anyone who looks over my shoulder. Whether that is in my office or home it invites questions such as “You called them yesterday?! Why was that?! And who is this person?” that may be very unwelcome. There is no way I could use the application as it stands. This is a complete show stopper for me (sorry!).
Although the one window approach is tidier and the appearance is an improvement, it is actually more confusing. I think this is because of the lack of visual theming. I really don’t understand what is being shown in the sidebar or how to control it. I could not hide/show the sidebar, which I found very annoying.
I have gone back to version 2.8 after 30 mins of experimentation. Good luck getting it right – avoid displaying private history by default, make it themeable so you personalise it, make it more compact, and make it much easier to understand what you are looking at.
The current version is quite a long way from being an improvement, so please get it right and don’t rush it. I like Skype.
P.S. I second the recommendation that the designers take a look at Adium. This is the best chat client I have used on any platform. It is incredibly neat, unobtrusive and intuitive. I love Adium and use it every day. Skype gives a great service, and thank you very much for that, but can be much better from a design viewpoint.
So…2 months of pretty much nothing but negative comments.
No response? Why hasn’t there at least been a 2nd beta to address some of these issues?
It can’t get worse…how about a little feedback to let us know what you’re doing to make it better?
Don’t be Apple…communicate openly with your Mac users. Thanks!
Ok, so the video features are nice. But unfortunately that is about it. Everything else that has changed, from a GUI perspective, is simply not usable. If the only application i was using was skype, then yes, al almost full screen, super large version of of the app would be ok. but it’s not. It’s a companion application which should be getting out of the way of everything else. Maybe it would be good to take some OS X design queues from Adium. They’re getting it right.
I do have to apologise for what seems to be a negative tone, but unfortunately i feel strongly that the current direction of the application for Mac is simply not the right direction.
Keep up the good work though. The service is still solid and the call quality good.
I am disappointed by the new user interface. I think it takes too much space. In general I use skype on a 13″ macbook and would like to have a smaller interface. Would it be possible to implement a choice between the “old” and “new” looks? It is also taking quite a bit of CPU nearly constantly ~15%. Perhaps I should be patient and wait for all the fixes. Minimalist approach to GUI would be great!
The new UI is friggin’ huge, what a terrible design and unnecessary waste of screen real estate! Thank God for Spaces. Skype should take the person who designed the iPhone interface and have him/her redo the desktop version. I wish version 2.8 is still up for download.
well i must say this is the biggest, fattest ugliest thing i have ever seen. the features are nice but way to big guys come on, you are better than this
Sorry guys…I really love supporting new builds and such, but I tried the beta, and couldn’t stand it. Went back to good ol’ 2.8; nice, tidy, and well designed.
I have to agree with everyone else here in the comments that this design is first not Mac at all (And the guy in the video says they made it more “Mac native”, I wonder what would have they do if it wasn’t Mac native), and second a BIG step back for skype.
I like the new features, and I like to see skype growing, is one of my best applications, but I hate this interface that takes so much space in my screen. It looks like a windows app, and the reason I’m not running windows is exactly because I don’t want their apps.
I staying one version behind this one, even if I lose some features.
I’m a busy guy, use skype often for intra-org. conference calls, and I joined this forum to echo all the comments here:
The new version is brutal, ugly, inefficient, confusing and irritating.
Someone, or a group of people, should be held accountable for this monstrous ‘downgrade’.
I’ll now be putting in the time to revert to previous version.
- Michael Maser
@DevTeam
Guys, are you kidding? The new design of skype 5 is ok as for me but not all I think the main problem is very big chatroom! I mean very big fonts and UI inside You should redesign this part and make more flexible design for all. I believe in you that you can implement it at its best! I keep silent about application stability but first the problem is design of the app!!!
Guys, come on! Let’s do this!
Wow, I’ll be honest and thought people were just way over-reacting to the redesign in Skype 5.0 – but that’s not the case. I’ve used Skype on different platforms for many years, and while I think I see some things they are trying to do with 5.0 for the Mac I think they missed the mark on many key elements and usability features. I have high hopes they will take all this feedback to heart and work on making the actual release version of 5.0 something that people can readily use like 2.8. If you actually USE Skype in any practical way then steer far clear of this and stick with 2.8 – I’m “upgrading” from the beta to 2.8 now and couldn’t be happier – guess I didn’t know what I was missing til it was all gone.
So there is no Facebook integration?
so retarded! seriously, who do you think we are????? i run many apps on my screen at once, why the hell would yours be entitled to more than 50% of the display, without even a real “online contacts” pane? skype was ALREADY such a great app the way it was, why did you make it WORSE????? thanks for adding mutli-person video calling, but would it be so hard to just add that feature without sabotaging the entire app along with it???
I was very optimistic for this new version when i heard it existed, and let down right away. + this crashed my OSX on a brand new Macbook Pro…. donwgrading immediately!! back to 2.8
way too large.
i always loved to have a small contact list which immediatelly shows who’s online, and a chat window that only takes up space when used.
too large, contact list not detachable, to get through contact list i have to scroll, too much whitespace, can’t change font size, takes up a huge amount of space even when I’m not chatting.
i’d rather keep the 2.8 design and just get the new features.
What I like: group video is awesome, and the “curved screen” effect is a nice touch. Unfortunately everything else is a disaster.
Today in a call I switched to chat (the other party was struggling to get her audio working) and I could not work out how to get back to the video. I literally went through every menu looking for a clue, and found nothing. I was left and right-clicking on everything. I now know what it’s like to be my 78-year-old father trying to figure things out on a computer. I felt really, really confused. I still have no idea how I actually got back to the video.
Then I tried to find full screen. There’s a mention of it in your FAQ, but I could find no way to access full screen.
The contact list is clunkily huge and unmanageable. It takes forever to scroll down the list because the icons are massive. The coverflow is useless eye-candy. I don’t have all day to scroll through a horizontal list a mile long. Sure, I can search. Maybe that’s the point: make the contact list unusable so that we eventually notice and use the search feature. Bu I’d rather avoid typing, and would prefer to scroll (quickly) to the person I want to find.
Looking at the contact list I frankly have no idea any more which are purely phone contacts and which are Skype contacts. When I mouse over any contact I see a camera icon, suggesting that I can have a video call with them. The icon isn’t even grayed-out. Skype can now do video calls with land-lines? Somehow I doubt it. Again, I feel confused, and stupid, and have to work harder to use your program..
I don’t want to have my history in the left column. I want to have my contact list there, in a compact form. At least on the old version of Skype I could toggle between the two, although I’d hardly ever look at my history, which is completely useless to me. Let me tell you why. I use Skype for my retail business, and people call all the time with quick questions (and often they with wrong numbers looking for another business). What used to be a useful column of contacts is now a list of random numbers with no names attached. I have no idea whatsoever who any of those numbers belong to.
I’m staggered that this update is so badly thought out. It’s all style and no (usability) substance.
I gave this a good solid try since November thinking I’d get used to it. I’m finally giving up and reverting to 2.8.
- The feel is big and bloated: a throwback to the days when applications vied for desktop real-estate.
- Fullscreen video isn’t. You have to minimize all sorts of other sidebars and you still end up with distracting window decorations.
- It takes two clicks and a mouse trip across the desktop in order to initiate a new chat:
1) Click “Everyone”
2) Click your contact
3) Head on over to the right side and look for the chat button.
- It takes two clicks on a menu to “close” a conversation in the sidebar.
Good effort, but I need unobtrusive functionality. I thought 2.8 was great and got hoodwinked into this for the multiway video calling.
i first download the 2.8 yesterday and then downloaded the 5.0 beta and i ended up switching back to the 2.8 i dont like how the 5.0 is so big it just looks ugly i like how small things were on the 2.8. Also i’m having trouble doing things that my friends can do on their skypes but i just figure that because i have a mac that it is not able to do the things that they can since they are probably using windows or hp or something. I like how my one friend can make her video picture all funny and weird and have little cartoons fly by or something. Also she can take a photo of me as were doing video n i cant. As well as i wanted to convert contacts from facebook but it doesnt allow me to do that on any of the two versions. Its actually been frustrating trying to figure it out.
Interesting: 429 comments between Nov 4 and Dec 29 and not one response. I thought the point of blogs etc., was to interact, rather than merely giving customers the impression they are being listened to. In any event, thank you all for your feedback. I’m glad I checked this before wasting time installing this version.
Group actions are not available anymore!
You don’t seem to be able to easily start a group chat or group conf call by a quick click on the group in the contacts list => Please put this back in.
I agree with most of the others that this new version is too wasteful of screen space and much more cumbersome to use in terms of clicks.
I liked the minimalist feel to the older version and really appreciate being able to do everything really quickly without having to use the mouse at all.
I use skype a lot at work and at home and encourage others to do likewise, I won’t be recommending this version however