The other day I wrote about how disappointed I was with Skype and how ineffective it was getting for me. Hurray, Skype released a 2.0 client in beta a few hours later (coincidence). Now I’ve installed it and here are my conclusions:
- my chats now tend to appear again at the same time on my Mac (running skype) and on my windows box (I used to have a linux box and windows running the same account).
- it’s not freezing my computer for the time being. Gooooood!
- they have AGAIN changed the interface: I’m getting tired of these UI modifications. Can you please guys create skins for guys like me (call it “classic”), and others for the others (called the “we’re experimenting with watercolor today” skin)
- I tested sound quality: huh huh not better. Can’t really say it’s worse, but really not better. Still latency, big backround echos, etc. (hey, i’m on a 16Mbps broadband connection with a 1Mbps upload. More than enough for voice)
- and I tested the novelty, Skype for video. Quality of the frame is quite good actually, competes nicely with dialcom (still good quality for me) and festoon (I like their full screen mode). They are actually using the codec used in the latest version of Flash 8 from ON2 (check their press release; by the way, they have great downloadable programs)! Hence our choice at vpod.tv to use Flash seems a good one
Reminder: their audio codec is from Global IP Sound, which makes Skype basically a great MARKETING company. => verdict: the frames tend to freeze every now and then, then accelerate, then back. Not totally optimized yet (this had never happened to me with Dialcom or Festoon) - a big no no: my skype client for my Mac is still in version 1.3. Guys you need to cater for everyone, not just the 90% or so (what’s the latest number?) on PCs !
So conclusion: Skype has improved somewhat the stability of its software, but hasn’t enhanced the quality of audio, which is the #1 reason I use it evceryday. So still looking to use the other stuff, that I will be testing shortly: wemba, Gizmo, etc.
By the way check Om’s review of Skype 2b and also what Andy has to say. It’s in the same line as my stuff.
