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Skype Forcing Mac Users To Upgrade Client

Posted by timothy on from the we-control-the-horizontal dept.

mijkal writes "Nevermind a huge outcry over the iTunes-like behemoth of Skype v5 for Mac. Users with v2.8 are being pushed an update to v5 regardless of update preferences. I even restored v2.8 from TimeMachine only to have it update itself again within minutes, offering only an option to relaunch the app."

7 of 250 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I have no sympathy. by voodoosteve · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's not Apple pushing the update...

  2. Re:anti macroshaft rant... by mr100percent · · Score: 3, Informative

    Because it started before MS took over. Skype jumped from a good 2.8 client on the Mac to a 5.0 Mac client that brought in the awful Windows UI.

  3. Re:5.0 is much better by heypete · · Score: 3, Informative

    Have you seen the interface? No thanks, I'll stay with 2.8.x

    Yes. I changed it to "Compact View" (which has conversations individually windowed and not part of the same window as the contact list) and turned off the display of profile pictures in the contact list (which makes it more compact). It's not any more obtrusive than previous versions.

  4. Not for me by bucky0 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I quit, restarted and even did check for updates. It didn't force me to do upgrade. *shrug*

    --

    -Bucky
  5. Re:No, they won't. by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 3, Informative

    Seriously, Jabber alone is one of the biggest OSS failures we've ever seen, behind maybe only Diaspora. It got a huge amount of hype and attention, but could never make anything of it. Sure, there are a small number of companies that use it internally, but it has never really progressed beyond that. It has never gone mainstream in any measurable way.

    Have you seen this little thing called "Facebook Chat"?

    I wouldn't call Google Talk a failure, either. Especially given that it is the default IM app on all Android phones (and, starting with 2.3.4, also the default voice/video chat app).

  6. Re:I have no sympathy. by macs4all · · Score: 3, Informative

    no but Apple engineered and implemented the mechanism in their OS that allows software 'updates' to be forcibly pushed onto people that don't want it.

    Sorry. You're confusing Apple with Microsoft.

    You can completely turn off Software Updates. And even if you have them enabled, they do not actually install until, and unless, YOU give the go-ahead.

    There simply is no such thing as a "forced update" on OS X.

  7. Re:I have no sympathy. by jcr · · Score: 3, Informative

    What's your next guess?

    Apple's software never installs anything without user permission. It shows you what it wants to update, and you can accept it or reject it.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."