Welcome Skype for Windows 8: It's Fast, Easy and Beautiful
Skype for Windows 8 is almost here and we are incredibly excited by this important new version of Skype. This is our big step forward together with Microsoft to introduce a completely new Skype experience, which is designed to be always on, immersive, effortless and fun to use.
The team at Skype has been building on the Windows platform since the first release of Skype. With Skype for Windows 8 we’ve focused on how people are using Skype today, and re-imagined Skype for everyday communications across our global community.
Skype for Windows 8 is simple, fast and beautiful. View the video below to see a sneak peek of the experience:
Focused on the people you care about
Skype puts the people and messages that matter most to you at the heart of our new experience.
Recent chat messages and calls are right there as you launch Skype alongside the people that you contact most often. We’ve made it simple and easy to add your favorite contacts so that they are only one tap or click away.
Skype has also made it even easier for you to call landlines or mobile phones directly, with a new modern dial pad. You can easily see how much Skype Credit you have along with active subscriptions and your recent calls all in one easy view.
Always Reachable
On Windows 8, you can be always available and reachable whether you are using a desktop, laptop, tablet or convertible PC with Skype running seamlessly in the background without draining your battery.
You’ll be able to receive voice and video calls and chats even if you’ve navigated away to another app or to the desktop, enabling you to stay more connected with your contacts whatever you’re doing. Skype for Windows 8 will notify you about new calls and instant messages so you’ll always know when someone is contacting you.
Modern design
Skype for Windows 8 is fast, fluid and easy to use. In designing Skype for Windows 8 we wanted to build a truly modern Skype, as comfortable and easy to use with touch as it is with a keyboard and a mouse.
With Windows 8 we have built a new full-screen immersive and uncluttered Skype experience, but also bought other great new Windows features to Skype.
Once you’ve downloaded Skype from the Windows Store, Skype appears on the new Start screen as a live tile. As well as being the launching point for the Skype experience on Windows 8, the Skype live tile provides a window into the app, showing you if you have missed a call or have a new message waiting for you inside.
Another beautiful way to use Skype with Windows 8 is to snap Skype side-by-side with other Windows 8 apps. Snapping Skype allows you to browse the web, photos or use maps while chatting with friends or family.
With Windows 8 Skype is alive with your most important calls and conversations, whether on the start screen, snapped alongside your browser or full screen immersing you in a video call sharing an experience with someone you love.
Skype and the People app
Skype brings your contacts front-and-center and makes it easier to connect with them regardless of whether they are using a desktop PC, a laptop, mobile devices or even a plain old landline. We’ve extended Skype across your whole Windows 8 experience by also bringing Skype to the People app. We think the People app is one of the coolest new features of Windows 8, and have focused on making it work hand in hand with Skype.
The People app is a modern take on the contact lists and address books of the past – but built for the way we all communicate today. The easiest way to think of the People app is like your cloud-connected address book. By simply logging into the Skype app with your Microsoft account, all your Skype contacts will show up in the People app.
The People app brings all your personal and work contacts together, alive with their social activities and photos. Simply logging in to Skype and connecting your Skype account to the People app, will automatically add the Skype details of everyone you want to keep in touch with. You can even reach your contacts who aren’t yet on Skype through calling their mobile or landline number if you have a phone number stored for them and a little Skype credit or a subscription.
You can pin the most important people to the home screen so that a conversation is only ever a tap or a click away.
The People app tells you what your contacts are doing whether on Twitter and Facebook or other social networks, so you can instantly engage and react to their latest photo or post by reaching out to send them a message or to give them a call.
We’ve designed Skype for Windows 8 to focus on the way you use Skype. Your conversations are more accessible to you than ever, and you can switch fluidly from chat to video or audio calls.
Join us as we venture into the future
We are very excited about our first release of Skype for Windows 8 – and we hope you are too.
Bringing Skype to a new platform is always both an opportunity and an adventure. We believe that Windows 8 is a leap into the future of easy and intuitive computing – we’ve built Skype to be with you on that journey and hope you will bring Skype along with you to share the experiences you care about with your friends and family.
As with any new app we build, we welcome your comments and ideas and we will be listening to feedback from our community and learning. This release is only the beginning, and we will continue to update the Skype app over the coming months through the Windows Store, improving the experience adding new features and capabilities.
Skype for Windows 8 will be available on October 26. You can find it on your new Windows 8 device and or download it from the Windows Store. To learn more details and to get tips about how to make your experience with Skype better than ever, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, or join us and other Skype for Windows 8 users on the Skype Support Network.
Thank god there is Trillian, Pigdin and so on…
Looks fantastic. Can’t wait to get my hands on this app!!!. One day, not too distant, it will be all IP based communications, audio, video, text…
I use Skype on my W7 PC, and I am super impressed with the quality of the experience (video and audio) even when the broadband speeds are dismal and vary widely. Superb work and all the best to you bringing all those greatness to the great ’8′.
I love metro version of Skype!
I’m waiting for release final version of windows 8 and Skype on 26 October.
Can I sign into Skype using a Microsoft account on the desktop Skype client?
Hi jader3rd, this should answer your question: http://bit.ly/TzZNmi Thanks for getting in touch! -Shana from Skype
I’m installing Windows 8 on my laptop, and i’ll give it a go. If I don’t like it, don’t expect me using it Skype 5.11 is very nice though.
will chat history sync with Microsoft Account?
Looks amazing!
this seems very bloaty and intrusive, no thanks…
Hey peschmae , Trillian, Pigdin and so on do not support “connected standby” yet.
They will drain more battery than neccessary !
I do not see the Skype App in the Windows Store. I’m using Skype 5.10.0.116 (the desktop version)…. when I search the Store for “Skype” it comes up with a few hits, but NONE of them are Skype.
Hi hugh.wolfgang, Skype for Windows 8 is populating starting today in the Windows Store and will be fully available on Oct. 26. Thanks! – Shana from Skype
Hello guys, just installed your app i have some feedback.
When i messaging someone in metro app everything is ok, and then i switch to desktop but in notifications i’m getting messages that i have already seen and read during conversation
I actually have a question about this. In Windows 8 a lot of applications come in two versions, one for the desktop and one for the Windows 8 UI, and you’d probably install both – to have one for touch and one for mouse/desktop use. Does this work with Skype? Can you install/use both versions on the same machine?
Hi,
Just installed this on Windows 8. Very nice app except for one thing. I can find out how to share my screen during a call. Is this feature not carried forward into this version of Skype?
5 out of 10. It’s nice if all you want to do is talk to someone on Skype, but if you want to use your PC at the same time it’s just plain intrusive (which pretty much goes for Windows 8 itself really). 2 options (you’re either online or invisible) for status and a mood setting (annoyed), and the snap function takes up so much screen real estate that it’s easier to just switch the thing off and only use it when you want to contact someone. Not good when half the reason to use it is so people can contact you.
In short; nice idea, but needs to go back to an app that you can minimise and customise as you wish, not something that takes up large parts of the screen and only works in the way the developers decide you will want to work. Same goes for Windows 8 on an albeit brief experience so far today.
Skype for windows 8 dont run in background!! when i switch to other apps like desktop or IE, I dont receive any incoming message alerts or incoming call alerts. only when I switch back to skype for windows 8 then messages begin to pour in. Is that a BUG or its natural behavior?
Not showing up in the Windows Store for me. Is it temporarily down or something?
Is there a gradual roll out? I don’t find it when I search the Windows Store.
hi I just got windows 8 and there Is no share screens button, I can’t show my cousin’s and co-workers what im working on and please add the share button icon on the next update, I will really imprecate that, Thank you for reading this.
Hi, new Windows 8 app looks great. I have a problem though.
How do I remove the Skype account from the People App in Windows 8. I only see the link to “Manage This Account Online” there is no remove option (I linked to the wrong one of my 2 Skype accounts).
Any ideas?
I am wondering the same thing as max.
Do i download both apps?
Its kind of disappointing that you did not do a all in one app, i think Firefox is doing that.
seems prety weak that i cant check out Skype in the desktop windows UI when i only have the metro version installed.
Does click to call support Windows 8 version of Skype?
Hope do I block contacts on the new system it is so confusing.
I would also like to know how I remove the Skype account from the people app. I do not have any options.
Please help as I linked the wrong Skype account.
Any way to run this app on startup?
The lack of file transfer is pretty annoying but overall I’m liking it, very slick! The people complaining about it being intrusive obviously haven’t quite come to terms with the Metro interface in general tbh.
It may be just me but I found this version horrible. I can’t edit, remove posts, see who’s in a group call etc. I went and installed the earlier version and feel more comfortable The people I usually Skype with are not people I email or work with so I don’t need all the connections. I just want the power tools we had in the older versions. Function over slick and beautiful anyday! (Using it on a PC not a tablet)
Hello, I just tried the new app for win8 but I couldn’t find the share button to show my work and win8 to my friend would you happen to know when I could find it ?
My dad just got a new laptop that came with Windows 8 pre-installed. He absolutely hates “Metro” interface, and lives in “desktop” all the time (and frankly, I can understand why). Anyway, is there a way to run Skype in “classic” mode? If not, he wants me to reinstall Windows 7…
Skype for Win8 is promising with functions still to be implemented most of all the AUTOSTART.
yes to flashy and fancy but no file or photo sharing? it really sucks!… all this new cool stuff are useless I don’t like have to switch screens for everything, it make things more difficult and really annoying I don’t need to be connected with people at work or other places, I like the old one better, is there a way I can go back to it? I just got this new lap acer and it had the windows 8 already ? =(
Extremely unhappy with Skype on Windows 8. Really terrible.
No tutorial to figure anything out. No help. Really not intuitive.
Lots of features of previous version of Skype are not there anymore and it does not say anywhere where we should keep looking for them (see above) or whether they simply do not exist.
I tried to install earlier version of skype but that is not possible apparently.
Also, skype somehow runs outside of the applications that you might have on your desktop, like on a parallel system. So when I receive messages from people, i simply can not see them anymore — unless I open skype to look them up…
Fancy graphics are good but remember that skype succeeded when it did the basic stuff really well.
Is MS mad? I can’t see Skype surviving Windows 8. Huge waste of money to buy a company, then destroy their product.
Why can’t I log on with my Skype ID(s)? Why would I want to run it full screen? I suspect that there’s no immediate alternative, but it looks like MS have just created a gap in the market, so hopefully something sensible will be along shortly.
PLEASE UPDATE IT! you can’t send or recive any kind of file with that.
Hello, I posted a couple of days ago but my comment is still pending. If it is declined, just let me know please through my skype name.
Here it is for your easy reference:
Extremely unhappy with Skype on Windows 8. Really terrible.
No tutorial to figure anything out. No help. Really not intuitive.
Lots of features of previous version of Skype are not there anymore and it does not say anywhere where we should keep looking for them (see above) or whether they simply do not exist.
I tried to install earlier version of skype but that is not possible apparently.
Also, skype somehow runs outside of the applications that you might have on your desktop, like on a parallel system. So when I receive messages from people, i simply can not see them anymore — unless I open skype to look them up…
Fancy graphics are good but remember that skype succeeded when it did the basic stuff really well.
I am having the same problems as xiaopai89 posted on October 26. I use Desktop and always open Skype via Start (even though it apparently runs in the background). I rarely get messages in real time. I’ve just received a message that was posted to me yesterday, almost twenty four hours late! Not good enough!!! I use Skype for my work a lot, so can anyone please help me!!!???
Big problems on Windows 8. How does one test their new skype install? Searching on usernames like ‘echo123′ and the other test names returns many many users with that name.
Searching is more difficult too. For some reason you are supposed to automajically know to right click first, even when there is loads of space on the screen to put up a search bar.
Uggh.
Also, it doesn’t seem possible to actually uninstall it as the program isn’t shown in the windows 8 program listing at all.
Uggh, uggh. Stay away.
Only positive is I was able to download v4.2 and use it on windows 8.
Skype for Windows 8 may be great for tablets, but for the PC it is a nightmare. Nothing seems to fit on the screen anymore, it is too big and dominating. Please bring out the next edition soon.
Skype Guys.
Please, remove this version from the store while you still can save Skype. I was one of the biggest fans of Skype when it was launched many years ago, but unfortunatelly it has been getting worse every day both on the interface, being heavy and quality of calls getting worse and this Windows 8 version is the worst thing I ever seen in a software upgrade. As a matter of fact it is really a BIG DOWNGRADE since it’s confusing (ok maybe I’m got used to it, but a good interface shal be something intuitive) and even worse by removing most features I loved like screen sharing, file transfer, etc.
Please, SAVE SKYPE; go back to early version (2.0 and 3.0) and forget this terrible windows 8 version!!!
It might be easy and fast but this Skype is not beautiful or useful. This Skype APP (and Windows 8 in general is) NOT for productive people…people who actually use their computer to create or produce things. If you want to use your computer for mindless consumption of funny videos or tell your friends that you just watched some mindless funny video, Windows 8 and this new Skype APP are great.
it forces me to have a microsoft account?
for that ill give 1 *.
uninstalling
It really is pitty that Microsoft has forgotten the basics……. It bought hotmail and is now utilizing after a very long time, it may to certain extent worked out but in the case of skype if it fiddles then people will definitely look out for Android Platform and WIndows have to open their windows.
Really the windows 8 version is bizzare, i just cannot use it for my business purpose, i cannot even know how to use this properly…. And integrating with Hotmail is really ridiculous, i dont understand their ideas……………..
They need to update for the windows 8 at the earliest lest we are helpless.
its alright… at first i liked it but then i realized there is no option for taking pictures or video. and though the snap feature is cool i would prefer a 50/50 split option rather than “so small you cant see the person your talking to “and your whole screen is gone”
How stupid, sometimes developers go backwards, just realized now I can’t send files via Skype when using the windows 8 version. Seriously retarded!!,
Any idea when this will be “fixed”. Why take an already functional product and completely make turn it upside down by doing away with the features one is accustomed to…
I feel that this version of Skype is a giant step backwards and that Microsoft has taken a once great application and turned it into junk by removing features such as the ability to edit or even delete previous posts, file sharing, creating groups, and just plain old logging out.
In addition the forced merge of my skype and MSN Messenger accounts means that all the SPAM messages I got in MSN now show up in my skype, This was never a problem with MSN because I just never used MSN. This brings up the problem of blocking people which is another feature they seem to have removed.
And on top of all that you have to use it in full screen and when using a program like classic shell (the only way to make Windows 8 usable) skype does not show in the task bar or the notification area so you can not see when you have messages pending.
What a piece of trash this is, but it will be good for programs like google talk as people will get fed up with Skype and move over
I found you can still download the old version of Skype by downloading Skype for Desktops NOT Skype for Windows 8 and install this on your Windows 8 computer and get a functional version of Skype again.
THIS SUCKS
i cannot exit the app on a call without exiting the CALL!!
for this terrible bug i give this *