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Skype 8.0 Launches on Desktop With Full-HD Video; To Soon Get Encryption and Call Recording Features (techcrunch.com)

Posted by msmash on from the never-gonna-give-you-up dept.

Skype's redesign launched last year was met with mixed reviews, but the company is forging ahead by rolling out a number of its new features to other platforms, including the desktop. From a report: Microsoft today is launching Skype version 8.0 that will replace version 7.0 (aka Skype classic), the latter which will no longer function after September 1, 2018. The new release introduces a variety of features, including HD video and screen-sharing in calls, support for @mentions in chats, a chat media gallery, file and media sharing up to 300 MB, and more. It will also add several more features this summer, including most notably, supported for encrypted audio calls, texts, and file sharing as well as built-in call recording. The 8.0 release follows on the update to Skype desktop that rolled out last fall, largely focusing on upgrading the visual elements of new design, like the color-coding in chat messages and "reaction" emojis. This release also included the chat media gallery and file sharing support, which are touted as new today, but may have already hit your desktop.

41 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. plus data collection, telemetry and courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Love it!

    1. Re:plus data collection, telemetry and courage by Jamu · · Score: 2

      Wait. Microsoft are adding features to Skype? I thought they just removed them.

      --
      Who ordered that?
    2. Re:plus data collection, telemetry and courage by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      You can block all those things by running Linux.

      OK, it means Shyte won't work at all, but them's the breaks.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    3. Re:plus data collection, telemetry and courage by johanw · · Score: 2

      I can already do that for gsm calls so what's the difference?

    4. Re:plus data collection, telemetry and courage by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      Nice try grandad, but:

      Skype for Linux

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    5. Re: plus data collection, telemetry and courage by dadman · · Score: 1

      No difference and thatâ(TM)s the point. NSA got your back and there is no chance that you will lost any important conversation, now including Skype.

    6. Re: plus data collection, telemetry and courage by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Yes, running a hispter distro that supports snap apps.

      I never had much luck with it on RH type systems. IIRC it worked on 5 but then an update borked it.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  2. Replacements? by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

    Skype jumped the sharked when they started forcing updates and moving encryption from peer-to-peer to server-side. /sarcasm Thanks NSA

    For multi-chat our guild has moved off of TeamSpeak over to Discord / Mumble, but I'm not sure what people are using for 1-1 VOIP. What are people using as replacements for Skype?

    What's the best way to "move" contacts off an old version, such as 6.x ?

    1. Re: Replacements? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Discord can import Skype contacts and supports 1-1 calls.

    2. Re:Replacements? by Tukz · · Score: 2

      Discord has 1-1 calls, but I doubt it's anymore secure than Skype.

      --
      - Don't do what I do, it's probably not healthy nor safe. -
    3. Re:Replacements? by tepples · · Score: 1

      Phone has monthly fees and per-minute fees on top of what you already pay for Internet.

    4. Re:Replacements? by Tailhook · · Score: 2

      There's this thing, its called 'phone'.

      Phones sound like shit and the poor audio quality is fatiguing during hours working with remote people. There are several factors involved, so don't claim "but this or that can be fixed herp derp." Phones can't match good headsets with high quality audio codecs over reliable, low latency broadband.

      --
      Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
  3. Skype and privacy by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

    Do the recent versions ensure an encrypted skype to skype call is a peer to peer communication without transiting through MS servers?

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    1. Re:Skype and privacy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      No, and it will never be like that of course. Skype exists to profile people and their communications, to generate profit on Microsoft's part, and intelligence on the U.S. government's part.

      Private and secure from other users? Absolutely. Private and secure from Microsoft and the government it answers to? Definitely not. That's not how it works in the 21st century.

    2. Re:Skype and privacy by surfdaddy · · Score: 1

      I believe that the pre-Microsoft Skype was encrypted peer-to-peer. WIth the Microsoft takeover and subsequent mess-ups, they have made it client-server (hence MS servers) and they can intercept all calls, including for the government. Isn't Big Brother a wonderful thing?

    3. Re:Skype and privacy by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      NSA and GCHQ are happy.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  4. They do not have encryption? by gweihir · · Score: 2

    How utterly pathetic is that? It is 2018, people, wake up!

    Sure, I know that they are listening in (and probably recording) everything anyways. Bit no encryption opens this up to any somewhat capable attacker as well and that is just not acceptable. Even if I am fine with the GeStaPo (i.e. NSA, GCHQ and their like) getting all my Skype voice recordings, I am not fine with JRandomCriminal being able to do the same.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    1. Re: They do not have encryption? by mSparks43 · · Score: 1

      that seems to imply you believe the nsa and Micro$oft hasn't been pwned by every major cybercrime group in the world?

      newsflash, this is 2018 and former us republics cyber security is a total joke.

    2. Re:They do not have encryption? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Lol, sit down sonny. Time for a history lesson.

      Skype was a good, solid, encrypted, peer-to-peer application. Then Microsoft bought them. Then this happened: https://www.cnet.com/news/nsa-docs-boast-now-we-can-wiretap-skype-video-calls/

    3. Re:They do not have encryption? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      How utterly pathetic is that? It is 2018, people, wake up!

      It may surprise you to know that at one point a phone conversation was connected by an operator using two wires and they could and frequently did listen in on calls. The world didn't implode.

      It's 2018. People should risk assess their conversations. If you're going to come up with a plot to assassinate the president don't:
      a) discuss it at the bus station in front of the police station.
      b) email it
      c) mail it
      d) phone call it
      e) skype it

      The end user can decide the importance of their conversation. Personally I'm thankful they don't encrypt. I'm secretly hoping that some NSA drone who's not quite as resistant as I am listens to me conversing with my mother and then dies of boredom.

    4. Re:They do not have encryption? by antdude · · Score: 1

      MS always ruin everything. :(

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  5. In other words - feature parity with 2.0 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Really. We had these features in skype in 2010. Why are they redoing it for the umptheenth time?

  6. HD Video Streaming? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Thats like mad future shit, I don't even know if my ISDN can handle it....

    1. Re:HD Video Streaming? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      You jest but have you seen most people's upload bandwidth combined with the quality of their webcams?

  7. 8.0? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    8.0? 8.19 was available back in April, the current version is 8.25, what is this nonsense?

  8. UI quirks by eminencja · · Score: 2

    I still do not know how to send a text message to a contact's mobile phone via Skype. I figured it once or twice and it was totally unintuitive and I don't remember anymore (push a button in the upper left corner and then at the bottom right or something like that). And sometimes it is not possible to answer a Skype call. (I push all available buttons and then end-up returning the call myself). So, pretty please - rather than annoy customers with upgraded colour schemes and having to re-login after each update, fix the simple things first.

  9. Will it break pidgin? by Gavagai80 · · Score: 1

    The Skype client (at least on Linux) has been torturous for ages, so I use the pidgin plugin. When Microsoft cuts off Skype 7.0, is that going to break things for pidgin as well?

    --
    This space intentionally left blank
    1. Re:Will it break pidgin? by alexo · · Score: 1

      The Pidgin plug-in is based on Skype Web.
      You are welcome to post your concern on the Pidgin users mailing list. Eion Robb is active on it.

  10. Re:Encryption, or "Encryption?" by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    I'm surprised there isn't [sic] in front of it.

    Putting [sic] is all the rage now lomography is totally mainstream and McDonalds are selling artisan toast. #culturalappropriation.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  11. Signal FTW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    End-to-end encryption, open-source for verifiability, support for every platform that matters, periodic updates. Text, voice, and video. What more does anyone need?

  12. Still looks like shit by DarkRookie · · Score: 1

    Still looks like shit
    Also still runs like shit.

    --
    The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
  13. ..sharing up to 300 MB? by tirnacopu · · Score: 1

    Talk about rewriting history - Skype v1 could do 2GB and also had that smart relay feature (speed limited at 4k/s) so transfers always worked, even on firewalled/proxied links.

  14. The "... and more"? by Jerry · · Score: 1

    Includes servers that run "Legal Intercept" spyware accessible to Microsoft and anyone they give license to, including police without valid search warrants and our deep state friends in Washington who control the IRS, EPA and the BLM, among other agencies. Encryption is meaningless when Microsoft controls access to your voice and picture before encryption is applied.

    --

    Running with Linux for over 20 years!

  15. Why is anyone still using Microsoft stuff? by dbreeze · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I see all Microsoft customers as the victims of an abusive relationship who believe their abuser when told they couldn't function in another relationship. It's sad....

    --
    When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law he tore his robes.2Kings22:11
    1. Re:Why is anyone still using Microsoft stuff? by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      Just so we're clear, how are we being absued in this context? Because a bunch of features were added to software provided for free? The fact that my Surface Pro broke and MS had a replacement sent to me within 2 days? Or maybe its because despite all the complaints their OS actually works for most people and their Office suite has features that are unmatched by competitors?

      Is there one of those microagressions I'm missing which I should get upset about?

  16. That's not Linux software. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    As usual, like with Steam, it's just Windows software with tightly integrated Wine and some hacks that make it look like a Linux program on first look, and like a horrible nasty grafted-on monstrosity on every other look.

    Not a single thing inside the package is done in a Linux way.

  17. Appears to now be impossible to turn off emoticons by tdelaney · · Score: 2

    It now appears to now be impossible to turn off emoticons.

    This makes Skype almost useless for many of my business needs e.g. sending a code snippet to a coworker.

  18. firejail skypeforlinux , please by Herve5 · · Score: 1

    please not that the ', please' part in the title above is not an instruction ;-)
    Firejail, is.
    https://sourceforge.net/projec...
    It works perfectly here on U16.04, and also with Signal...

    --
    Herve S.
  19. WebRTC by Kludge · · Score: 1

    Works in many browsers.
    You can host it yourself if you want to.

  20. Re:Elon musk by pnutjam · · Score: 1

    Musk is basically a modern day PT Barnum, he's an attention whore of the highest caliber who incidentally does some good stuff.

    --
    Cheap storage VM.
  21. Re:Version number mismatch by pnutjam · · Score: 1

    Wait until you see "teams".

    --
    Cheap storage VM.