Skype for Mac took a turn for the worse in the eyes of many users after its interface was completely redesigned, and the company purchased by Microsoft a few months later. Fortunately, Microsoft is now promising to bring back more of the features from Skype 2.8 (the last version before the big change), and has released a new version of their Mac client to help bring it up to par with its Windows counterpart.
Skype 5.8 for Mac features full support for Apple’s upcoming OS X Mountain Lion, and brings a number of improvements, including a refined contact list, which offeres simplified view of your contacts in a separate, resizable window. The new contacts system also allows users to group their contacts into categories, separating your work contacts from your family and friends, or set up groups for frequently called contacts.
The update also brings the welcome addition of group screen sharing, allowing users to stream their screen to up to 10 users simultaneously. The feature does require a premium subscription, but only one member of a group needs to be a premium subscriber fot the screen sharing to work.
Further updates include the ability to double click to enable full screen viewing, the ability to disable automatic updates, full compatibility with all versions of OS X going back to Leopard (and, as mentioned, the upcoming OS X Mountain Lion release).
The update is available now from the Skype website, or by updating within the app. For more information on the new features and changes, head on over to the official Skype blog. Microsoft also continues to offer Skype 2.8.
