Mac users: Who likes the new Skype?

[FFH Thü]

This seems like off-topic, but read on and you will see, what happens with Skype is not completely different to what happened to FH.

Hunderts of Skype users are complaining about the new version 5 which has been forced unto them. Yet again we see what happens if a company gets too dominant on the market and ceases to listen to the customers - whos voice was strong against it already during beta testing.
http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=756073

There seems to be no one who would not agree that the new version 5 is a bad overhaul - an all new interface which brings the Mac version close to the look and feel of the windows version. Instead of the sleek and functional interface that was the Mac version until 2.8, they made it into a bulky big single window, with a confusing mix of functions and informations.

[FFH Mark]

I don't. I tried it for a week or two and deleted it yesterday. What a disaster it is; huge windows and non-intuitive in every way. For any Mac Skype users, I highly suggest sticking with Skype 2.8.0.866 (the last version available.)

[cyclopsdx]

Well, after my third attempt at downloading it yesterday (the other two times, it crashed when downloading), I must agree that it's way too complex. I do wonder what these development teams are thinking and who is in charge of interface design - certainly not experienced graphic designers in information graphics.

Adding extra features doesn't mean it's better (cough-Adobe-cough).

On a similar note - did you see that Twitter have buckled under user pressure and removed part of the GUI on their iPhone app after negative feedback? If only all developers were like that.

[bishopdante]

Hehehe, yea, creeping featuritis.

TBH Skype has always sucked. I had the opportunity to meet the guy who set it up, and I bailed out of the dinner because I disapprove of it to that extent. I knew that if I met him, I'd just end up being really rude about it. It's lock-in closed technology, it's got a remarkably badly designed interface, it spies on all of us, it's a resource hog, it takes money out of your bank without asking you, and it crashes a lot. Needless to say, the guy made a killing when he sold out.

I didn't install the update. As I did 15 years ago as trained by a veteran studio manager from the system 6 days... I don't install updates if there isn't a feature or compatibility issue that I need. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Skype's UX is really poor.

[bishopdante]

Haha, I just checked. I'm running 2.8!

[bishopdante]

NB: if you think 2.8 is good, I dread to think what 5 is all about!

[fereous]

I never have found a compelling reason to go from 2.8 to 5.x. As has already been remarked in this and other forums (forae?), the interface in v. 5 is bloated, oversized and difficult to comprehend. Some things under the hood may have changed for the better, but apart from the gui issues a few things that have gotten worse keep me from switching over.

Also: My first post on this forum!