POST HERE TO GET SKYPE TO GET RID OF THE HORRIBLE SKYPE 5 INTERFACE

[dregev4]

Get back to the 2.8 interface. C'mon Skype! Thousands have been asking you for MONTHS now. Your new iteration SUCKS and the complaints have been specific and obvious.

[shiauca]

It's not just users who are complaining, it's the people who are experienced and connected as well, such as the podcasters on This Week in Technology, MacBreak Weekly, TechNews Today, and the list goes on and on.

They're probably thinking it will eventually catch on, like pork flavored yogurt. "Just give it time... the complaints will die down" they're probably saying in dev team meetings.

The complaints will die down once another competitor comes along and woos away their customers.

Man I wish Apple would do a calling service. Now that MS bought Skype it makes me feel unclean inside each time I use it.

[wildph]

The complaints aren't just dying down...  

Skype are losing customers through their refusal to fix the 5.x interface.   v2.8 needs to be updated for osx lion, and maintained into the future.

I know, in my case...  I am now avoiding skype as often as possible.

[oleglukyanov]

Absolutely agree.

5x UI is total crap.

Looks like they are trying to make it second iTunes instead of light&handy app for calling.

[kutty]

Hey guys, I'm a newbie and after reading this thread youtube'd some skype 2.8 interface vids- it def looks more like AIM and better for messaging and stuff. Are you saying that if I'm running Mac Lion 2.8 is not available for download? 

[mkichaa]

2.8 will indeed work on your Lion confuser. Go to Get Skype at the bottom of this forum page. Select Mac, then scroll down near the bottom until you find the link to download 2.8.

[revof11]

The best bet right now is to download an old version of Skype.

If you hit Google you will be able to easily find a lot of articles critiquing the interface. The reviews are mostly negative (I would say at bout 70% against, 30% for).  It definitely seems like a loss on their end.  I think the loss is not necessarily the new interface but the inability to set your preference to use a simple, compact interface instead.

I find the new interface mostly unusable and painful to navigate (especially since I generally hate using my mouse).  However, I have yet to hear anyone give it really good reviews.  Most of the positive reviews I found were basically just "it's OK," not "it's fantastic and so mucn more intuitive."

[EtherealMind]

Have been a big fan of Skype but using GotoMeeting more and more because as least it is usable. And that's not saying much. 

[ebryant]

I'm glad to see and hear that so many people aside myself are unhappy with Skype 5.x's UI. It's not inline with other Mac apps and it's not inline with Skype on other platforms... so why replace a design that is familier with something that no one has seen before and makes the product harder to use?

I just upgraded to 5.4 beta this morning and I like that you can now chat directly with Facebook friends without having FB open in a browser but beyond that the improvements aren't enough.

I'd like to see the following:

1) Ability to customize the order and visability of columns on the Contacts list view

2) Ability to only see online Contacts, sorted by first or last name

3) Reduced overall window size, there is a lot of wasted space now

4) Ability to have video chat available in a seperate window from the contact list

Perhaps Skype's vision is that by unifying the window it'll be simpler to basic users but in my experience people are confused because it doesn't follow any normal Mac software UI guidlines... at all.

Almost daily I need to be able to have multiple text conversations open as well as a video window with someone else. In older versions of Skype this was possible and worked very well. In 5.x it's not.

I hope someone in Skype dev is listening

[evansca11]

As everyone said... the new UI is just horrible...

1) The window is huuuuuuge and useless ! I use skype to stay in touch with my family and friends. What's the point of having a view with huge square contact icons, and a detailed list view ! I want to have a small window that i put on the top left corner of the screen... Small, discreet, just to see my online contacts, that's all !

2) The last versions are gettier buggier and buggier... When someone sends me a message in the middle of a video chat, I just can't read it ! I try to click on the icon to make the conversation appear, but the icon is blocked on "Hide conversation". For more than two months now, I'm wating for an update to correct the problem. I suppose devs are too busy to implement new very important functionnalities in Skype 5.4, like ads, or dial pads that show up all the time, or Facebook crap.

3) Last two updates : What the **bleep** is going on with the dial pad ? Every time i log on or i start a conversation, the dial pad shows up !

4) Tried Skype 5.4 beta this morning... Oh my god, what a mess... There is no way to hide the "Skype Home" tab...

Every time I start skype, the skype home shows up with my contact statuses, and an AD !!!! Seriously guys ? Ads in skype ?

And it's not over... You have to go to the preferences panel to discover that your private data is sent to display custom Ads !!!

Sorry Skype, that's too much crap for me... you lost a customer today. Congratulations ! ...