Skype is owned by Microsoft, so it was no
surprise that the app made it into the Windows Store in time for the launch of
Windows 8. We gave the Skype app a spin on a Samsung Series 7 tablet and our
primary desktop PC, both running Windows 8 Pro.
One of the oddities of Windows 8 apps is
that they exist only in the glossy tiled land that is the Modern UI. When using
a tablet this is less of an issue, as you’ll spend most of your time in that
environment. On a desktop or laptop it means you really need to have the
desktop version as well as installing the app, or use Skype only in the Modern
UI.
Skype
for Windows 8
If you install Skype for Windows 8 and the
original Skype you’ll have two separate apps: search for ‘Skype’ and two
identical icons will appear. If you’re using a desktop or laptop PC, mainly in
the desktop environment, we’d suggest that you don’t bother with the Windows 8
Skype app. Unless the following is of interest…
Big
square panes and flat-design tiles dominate
The potential killer aspect of this app is
the Windows 8 split screen functionality called ‘snap screen’, which is the
ability to snap in windows to a portion of your screen. With Skype for Windows
8 you can continue a Skype call with the right hand panel of your display, and
get on with something else in the remaining space. You could, for instance,
watch a program on OnDemand while chatting about it with a friend, or work
collaboratively on a document.
Importantly, apart from giving the interface
a Modern UI facelift, the core video and audio calling functions have been left
largely alone. By default video calls take up the full screen. You can select
to have text chat on the right, too.
In our tests on all devices audio and
visual quality was good exactly as it is in the existing Windows version of
Skype.
But that facelift is worthwhile for tablet
users and Modern UI fans. The new-look Skype is great. The design is typically
Windows 8: big square panes of simple tones. Chunky icons are plonked just
where you’d expect so that the Skype app is – like much of Windows 8
comfortable to work with regardless of whether you’re using a touchscreen,
touchpad or mouse.
Windows Live Messenger is integrated into
this Skype app, which is a nice touch. And the app is coded in such a way that
if it is running, but not actually doing anything, it doesn’t take any of your
processing power. That’s right: zero draw on your CPU. It should be the
standard.
Chat
with your Windows Live Messenger friends on Skype
There are some minor niggles: the
notifications can be annoying. If you aren’t using Skype, getting a message
from the app can be useful. If you have just finished a conversation you
probably don’t need to be notified about it all over again, but that’s what happens
as soon as you leave the app.
Also, presumably in an effort to prevent
power and CPU draw, the app doesn’t run in the background when you are doing
other things. Switch back to Skype and the messages come pouring in.
Frustratingly, we couldn’t work out how to
use two different logins for Skype without logging out of the OS. You can, of
course, have multiple Windows accounts, each with their own Skype accounts.
Skype for Windows 8 puts a nice, Windows 8 style
sheen on to Skype’s already great functionality. Being able to snap Skype to
one half of your screen and use the other for a different task is a boon, but
desktop users may find that sticking with their existing Skype software is the
way forward
