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Comment by TeMPOraL | Hacker News Reader

Skype client should be axed instead. It's a pile of ugly looking mess and eats half of computer's resources. I dread to turn it on anywhere else than on my overpowered home PC. And don't even get me started on the Android client. It's completely useless on a high-powered tablet, and equally useless on a low-powered phone.

I remember the times when official IM clients were lightweight and pleasant to use. Now you either have to go to third party / open source stuff (WTW, Pidgin, you name it), or just keep that GMail and Facebook tabs open.

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I don't disagree with you. Skype is ugly, bloated and has been crashing frequently since the last couple of updates on my computers.

The problem is: it works.

I tried to do a Google Hangout last night, and the plugin couldn't find my mic. Logged into Skype, it worked perfectly.

It'll be a while yet before someone really takes Skype's business. For now it's my #1 goto communication line as a remote freelancer.

This was the point I was going to make too. Skype is terrible, but yet it is still the best compared the competition.

Let's consider the competition:

- Live Messenger: It was the next best, now discontinued, but before that it was poorly supported, rarely updated, and had a ton of bugs. No external connectors (e.g. telephone networks).

- Google Hangouts: Browser only. No external connectors.

- Facetime: Apple ecosystem only. No external connectors.

- AIM: No video/voice chat. No external connectors.

- Cisco WebEx: Expensive.

I'm sure there are others. But in general this is a very unhealthy market with not a lot of competition. It has always been that way. We desperately need an explosion of innovation here.

The problem with Google Hangouts is that it's fragmented. The GMail client does have external connectors, in fact they're still free for Canada/US calling. But calling another person for a hangout still requires they have Google+, IIRC.

Google has a chance to destroy Skype with GTalk and hangouts, but instead they're suffocating it by trying to bundle it with Google+. I don't mind signing up for Google+, but I've given up with using Hangouts with my parents because they don't want to sign up for a social network.

If/when WebRTC hits mainstream, it's conceivable that built-in video chat won't matter anyway. If I can generate a URL and send it to anybody with a browser and start a video conversation, I don't need a heavy client like skype any more.

Google Voice is a thing, but as of today it is essentially a US and Canada only product. They really haven't improved it in what seems like years.

Google Hangouts works with apps too, not just a computer browser. I've been using it with my work team for about a year since we're often spread across the country and it's been amazing. We tried Skype, but it often didn't load the video feed.

It doesn't have a dedicated PC or Mac application like Skype does. Which is a big downside. Trying to keep a chat session open in a browser window or tab all day is surprisingly annoying as it is too easy to close the window/tab without realizing what it is.

There was a Google application called like Google Talk but that never supported video as far as I know.

Have you tried Jitsi with a XMPP account? Worked perfectly for me in the past when I needed video chat.

edit: Oh, missed your external phones requirement. You'd need SIP for that with Jitsi.

Skype is also the only reliable option for VOIP calling on Android, which is unfortunate since the Android Skype client is buggy and missing some obviously needed features. The alternatives (groove ip, sipdroid, csipsimple) are even flakier and/or require you to have an account with a reliable sip provider.

linphone works just fine.

umm.. Skype certainly has some usability problems, but "half of computer's resources"? Are you trying to use it on a raspberry pi?

Rhetorics. Of course I didn't eat half the resources, but was a noticable drain on the overall performance of some computers I was working on, and the UI of Skype itself was very unresponsive and freezed for seconds quite often.

The way they seem to be recruiting in the UK, I would speculate that they are going to re-write it.

I'm running Windows 7 and the Skype client is using 132mb of ram, that's with 18 chats open (of which 3 are group chats). Not sure if my usage pattern is typical, but I don't think 132mb ram is much, it's using less than about 6 other programs I have running.

I have never noticed any slowness with it on my Nexus.

Most of the Nexus devices and phone are power-houses. Skype app has improved a little but on cheap phones it is difficult to use (or at least that was my experience on a ZTE Android device).

I think you need to update your skype.

did you try skype on Windows 8? there's no way to use it as an IM client on a Window (unless you install an older version)

Microsoft is on a roll of dementia.

You can dock the app to the side and it will occupy about 1/3 of the screen or so. Shortcut - win + ..

The Windows 8 multitasking experience is way better than any other tablet OS. And if you are on desktop, maybe you will ve to stick with the desktop skype. Btw, it is not old version, it is the desktop version.

I think the Messenger client for Android launch as late as August this year, and to very little fanfare. At least Skype has established mobile clients. It's strange how Microsoft let the strong MSN Messenger brand slip.

iOS one was out in the first few months of the App Store.

So they do support major platforms quite well

Yes, but the MS Messenger Service loses money with no sign of an actual workable business model, Skype at least generates revenue.

"Merging" the two gives Microsoft a way out of Messenger without losing too much face.

MS Messenger is actually the foundation for their Enterprise level Unified Communications offering.

It will be interesting if that client also gets the axe in favour of Skype, or if they intend to keep it as a separate product.

It may have been, but it's not any more. You'll never see them replace Lync with Skype.

    Skype client should be axed instead.

I'm guessing they're doing this because it'd be much harder to bolt Skype's VoIP engine to Messenger.

Skype has a Win8 App

It does indeed. But have you used it? It is missing most of Skype's features and requires you to sign in using a Live Account.

Merging Live and Skype Accounts is a problem for me personally since I want to use Skype on insecure WiFi (and obviously my Live account is also an e-mail account).

What's the problem? As long as your terminal is secure, the channel should be safe even over insecure Wifi, since the Skype client has a copy of the certificate of the server and can therefore authenticate it.

and you cannot use it on desktop mode. So, IMing and working on something else at the same time? impossible.

Microsoft trying to shove the tablet experience on the desktop is going to hurt them big time. Now they kill MSN messenger, all latin america will be very sad, they still use that software down there.

Have you tried Win + .?

It docks the windows 8 app to side. You can chat away with skype by doing so.

I always seem to forget about this feature. I just installed the Skype Win8 App last night and spent the whole time switching screens. I just tried Win + . and it made the experience a lot better.

I don't have a Surface (yet) but I bet that feature alone makes it worth it for multi-taskers.

PSA: you accomplish the same on a Surface (or other Win8/RT tablet) by either

a) swiping from the top edge to the left or right (current app)

b) drag an app out of the switcher to an edge

[These also technically work with a mouse; but far more convenient with touch]

Skype also doesn't work on windows on 16 core PCs with hyperthreading enabled.

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