Skype for Mac

CNET Editors' Review

by: CNET staff on August 29, 2012

If you're looking to make free voice or video calls worldwide, Skype is a great start. Its clean and user-friendly interface makes interaction effortless, so you are ready to go as soon as you launch the app.

During our testing, we were impressed by the video and voice quality of Skype, which uses VoIP (Voice over IP) technology to enable communication worldwide without paying a cent. One of its best features is the chat and mood messages: if you are in the middle of something, you can inform your contacts about it or just type a text message instead of having a voice call. This is a nice feature on its own, but it's also handy if you don't have a microphone.

But this isn't the only feature you'll love: we also enjoyed Skype's ability to handle conference calling, group video calling, and screen sharing. In other words, if you have a reliable Internet connection, Skype can easily replace your phone and lower your communication bills.

To make calls, all you have to do is create a contact list of friends, family, and colleagues, but they must also have Skype, as only Skype-to-Skype calls are free. However, a great addition to the app is its ability to call landlines or mobile phones, but you'll need to purchase Skype credits to take advantage of this feature.

Its chatlike user interface makes Skype very easy to use, yet the key to optimum performance is a reliable Internet connection. As soon as you launch the app and start using it, you will surely place Skype among your favorite apps, just like we did after our test. Skype's useful features and intuitive user interface make the app appropriate for users of all levels.

Publisher's Description

From Skype:

Skype is a little piece of software that lets you make free calls to anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world. And even though the calls are free, they are really excellent quality. If you and your friends, family or business contacts are using webcams, you can also make free video calls. You can even call landlines and mobile phones at really cheap per minute rates.

What's new in this version: The release mainly focuses on improving stability and reducing crashes - whether you're using instant messaging, on an audio call, or on a video call. We've also improved performance at launch time and made low-level changes which will reduce random crashes.

Following the search improvement in the last release, we also further expanded its functionality so you can search for text in status messages. Lastly, we have optimized the Video Messages flow to make it more intuitive.

We... See all new features

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Full Specifications

What's new in version 6.12.59.431

The release mainly focuses on improving stability and reducing crashes - whether you're using instant messaging, on an audio call, or on a video call. We've also improved performance at launch time and made low-level changes which will reduce random crashes.

Following the search improvement in the last release, we also further expanded its functionality so you can search for text in status messages. Lastly, we have optimized the Video Messages flow to make it more intuitive.

Well, not really "lastly," because there are also improvements to the Dial Pad's suggestion menu, flag tooltips in the conversation view, and several other bug fixes and performance improvements.