Skype 2.5.0.63 Beta Update

A fairly large update to the Skype 2.5 beta was released on December 14, 2006. The most notable and well-received update is the increase of video resolution for 1.25 GHz+ G4s. They are now at the same resolution as G5s and Intel-based macs. This is great news for me as I never experienced video issues in the past on my 1.33 GHz iBook G4.

14.12.2006: Skype for Mac version 2.6.0.63

*known issue: A data file gets written to the hard disk when in a call. This file grows bigger whilst in the video call and is reset to 0 each video call
*known issue: Fullscreen video calls on G4's can cause your computer to appear to have 'hung'. Once the call is hung up, system is responsive again.
*new feature: links in mood messages
*new feature: 8 new emoticons
*improvement: video resolution on G4 1.25ghz+ and any Dual G4 is now the same as G5, Intel. (Increased)
*improvement: updated localizations
*improvement: sometimes adding an event to history list took too long time and caused Skype to freeze for a couple of seconds
*improvement: resizing of conference call window improved
*improvement: number of Skype contacts shown in the Edit Profile window
*improvement: in the Create Account window, limited the length of Skype Name field to 32 characters
*improvement: improved handling of errors during Entourage, Palm contacts import
*improvement: country flags in the SkypeOut dialler window
*improvement: compact mode of conference call participants
*improvement: better error messages instead of some misc error numbers
*improvement: added "Create Account" menu item to the Account menu for novice users
*improvement: SkypeIn number displayed in the services area of the My Skype panel
*changed: "Calls Forwarded" icon updated
*change: remember advanced search settings
*change: disabled editing Call Forwarding settings when offline
*change: chat timestamp for today shows only time now
*bugfix: API: GET AUDIO_OUT generated an error
*bugfix: API: some commands were not handled if the command string was lowercase
*bugfix: API: Applescript API didn't answer to PING
*bugfix: API: no notification was posted when audio in or out devices were manually changed in the preferences
*bugfix: Voicemail prefs are now disabled when no voicemail capability
*bugfix: using the IPEVO phone to redial and hang up quickly caused call window to malfunction
*bugfix: unable to send sms/ft/sc etc from chat drawer
*bugfix: top menu item in the SkypeOut dialler window disappeared
*bugfix: tooltip of the "Show History" button was sometimes incorrect
*bugfix: tooltip of mute button in full screen video was "Start Chat..."
*bugfix: title of the header was "History by Date" when only missed events were shown
*bugfix: two warnings when deleting a voicemail
*bugfix: some old calls showed up as missed calls after upgrading from 2.0 to 2.5
*bugfix: Sign In as Another User menu didn't contain previously used usernames
*bugfix: sometimes clicking magnify glass in address bar displayed the options for history list when in fact contact list was shown in main window
*bugfix: SMS Address Book plugin didn't handle phone numbers without country code
*bugfix: Skype Test Service (echo123) didn't talk in correct language in localized versions
*bugfix: 'Show Skype' button did not work in a SkypeCast Safari Window
*bugfix: selecting emoticon roster and then deselecting it opened the roster again
*bugfix: selecting "Edit Mood Message" from the "Account" menu didn't open the mood message area if services area was open previously
*bugfix: Poland and Portugal flag emoticons were not shown
*bugfix: marking all missed events as viewed in main window didn't remove red badges from chat drawer
*bugfix: it was not possible to add a contact that ended with a hyphen (-)
*bugfix: in rare cases call window disappeared but call was not hung up properly
*bugfix: improved cursor tracking in emoticon roster
*bugfix: honour user settings for SMS window notifications
*bugfix: full screen video didn't appear on secondary monitor
*bugfix: font size problems in prefs and chat window
*bugfix: flags in the SkypeOut dialler were cut off 1 pixel from the bottom
*bugfix: file sent notification not showing up in chat window
*bugfix: editing voicemail greeting didn't work sometimes
*bugfix: drawing of SMS message was messed up when creating really long SMS messages
*bugfix: crash when resizing the main column of history list
*bugfix: country flag disappeared from SkypeOut dialer under certain circumstances
*bugfix: copy-pasting an URL to a chat became something completely different when viewed
*bugfix: context menus of conference call participants didn't work in compact mode
*bugfix: chats were not opened automatically after login with other version and other username
*bugfix: sometimes chats dissappeared from chat drawer after quitting Skype
*bugfix: chat didn't handle emoticons that were not separated by whitespace
*bugfix: Buy Credit instead of price of the SMS was in status bar
*bugfix: avatars set from Pocket PC Skype were not shown properly
*bugfix: after signing in as another user, some missed events of previous user were displayed
*bugfix: advanced option "Enable Animations" didn't take effect immediately
*bugfix: error message for wrong SMS verification code was incorrect

Skype 2.5.0.63 (23 MB)

Skype 2.5 Beta for Mac Released

The new beta build is 2.5.0.38.

New to this version:
Send SMS messages to your friends from Skype.
Reach your friends instantly whether they are offline or on the move.
Talk with up to ten people for free with Skype conference calls.

Skype 2.5 for Mac with SMS and ten-way conference calling is currently a beta version.

System requirements
Mac computer with G4 800 Mhz processor or faster
Mac OS X v10.3.9 Panther or newer
512 MB RAM
40 MB free disk space on your hard drive
Microphone
Webcam: Suggested webcams include Apple iSight, Philips SPC900NC, or Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000. Drivers for the Philips and Logitech webcams can be downloaded from http://webcam-osx.sourceforge.net/.
Internet connection (broadband is best, GPRS is not supported for voice calls, and results may vary on a satellite connection).

HUGE Changelog:
15.11.2006: Skype 2.5.0.38 for Mac Beta
new feature: SMS :)
new feature: improved history list in main window
new feature: ripple animation effects (Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) only)
new feature: ringing device selection to audio preferences
change: video resolution for G5 machines is now the same as Intel machines (increased)
change: view chat history with links for 1day, 1week, 1month...
change: upgraded Growl framework to 0.7.4
change: SkypeOut contacts and contacts with call forwarding are placed in front of offline contacts in the contact list (sorting)
change: removed Insert Emoticon submenu from Edit menu of main menu
change: quickfilter is cleared when toolbar is hidden
change: quickfilter is cleared when switching between history and contact list
change: picture-in-picture view is always fully visible
change: full screen video controls are always fully visible
change: improved error message when user tries to make a call while offline
change: improved error message in case of misc error #8401 (when user is signed out of Skype and tries to make a call)
change: contact will not be added to the contact list if user presses "cancel" button in the send auth request window
improvement: screensaver disabled when in full screen video mode
improvement: pressing ESC key in contact list will return focus to address bar
improvement: other call related sounds like busy, outgoing call etc are now sent to Skype output device (instead of system output device)
improvement: incoming call and incoming call waiting sounds are now sent to ringing device
improvement: new multichat leave icon
improvement: all other notifications sounds are now sent to system alert device instead of system output device
improvement: "Start Conference" window improved
improvement: "Leave Chat" dialog includes chat topic
bugfix: voice level indicator of self was not working on Panther
bugfix: sometimes two Skype items appeared on the system status bar
bugfix: sometimes icon for "mute" was shown instead of icon for "hold", while call was both held and muted
bugfix: SkypeOut calls were not hung up when user went offline
bugfix: setting front chat of chat window did not work if main chat win was closed before (grey blank chat window bug)
bugfix: Send File and Send Contacts menu items were sometimes disabled in conference call windows
bugfix: Send Contacts now accepts space (instead of comma) as separator for multiple recipients
bugfix: placeholder text on default avatar image was not localizable
bugfix: picture-in-picture view in video calls disappeared under certain circumstances
bugfix: number of missed events in the red badge was not updated when in "Do Not Disturb" mode
bugfix: number field of the SkypeOut Caller window was messed up on Panther
bugfix: it is not possible to accidentally reject an incoming call by pressing space-key when Full Keyboard Access is turned on for all controls
bugfix: invalid handling of "Incoming connections port" setting.
bugfix: incorrect display name shown in conference call window if there is a SkypeOut contact in the contact list and another Skype contact has the same phone number in her profile
bugfix: incoming conference calls crashed when the host hung up the call quickly
bugfix: incoming conference call was often shown as 1-on-1 call
bugfix: if you set an image with high dpi as your avatar then it was not resized properly
bugfix: if URL was followed with a comma or period, it was considered as part of the link
bugfix: icon was missing from send auth request sheet
bugfix: fixed a crash on sign in as another user with same username as already being logged in
bugfix: file transfer window labels were not clickable
bugfix: editable chat topic didn’t blur on mouse clicks elsewhere
bugfix: default ringtone of incoming calls was wrong (it was "call waiting" ringtone instead)
bugfix: crashes on plug-unplug headset
bugfix: crash when changing ringing device in preferences while incoming call is ringing
bugfix: contacts dragged into chat window drawer went to message centre not to the window they were dragged into
bugfix: contact list was messed up in certain cases when switching between compact and extended contact view
bugfix: chat window toolbar was hidden by default
bugfix: busy tone was played when an incoming call was declined
bugfix: bookmarked chat was not removed from Chat > Bookmarked Chats after leaving the chat
bugfix: after resuming a held full screen video call, background was green
bugfix: 1-on-1 chats were sometimes shown as multichats
API change: sendSkypeCommand returns info synchronously whenever possible (previously all info was returned by asynchronous callback skypeNotificationReceived)
API bugfix: quickfiltering was not performed after BTN_RELEASED commands
API bugfix: MUTE commands were not working
API bugfix: BTN_RELEASED NO didn't end voicemail recording