Jamie's Random Musings
Various thoughts and adventures, including but not limited to Linux, Windows XP and Widows Vista, and assorted bits of hardware new and old.
Wednesday 18 June 2008, 8:49 PM
Early Verdict On Skype 4.0 Beta - IT STINKS!!!!
The comments in the Skype Community are typical, and so far I don't see one single positive word there. I know such forums are used for reporting bugs and problems, but don't you generally get at least a few who say "wow, I love it" when a new release comes out? Not this time, it seems... But my current favorite is Jan Geirnaert's blog. He has a lot of experience with Skype, and it's interesting to see how his posts grew increasingly negative, after the initial post of the beta release, as he investigated and tested it.
The "Reader's Digest" version of the complaints is, it consumes far too much screen space (it even starts in full-screen mode!), the design of the buttons and such are awful (unless you happen to be visually impaired), the new arrangement of the contacts is confusing and illogical, and it has all of the normal Skype bugs we have come to know and hate - video crashing, installation problems, and such.
I expect that Skype will try to shrug this off by once again saying it is all of us "over fifties" who are unable to adjust to this "wave of the future", but I suspect (and hope) the only "wave" to come out of this will be the users waving as they leave Skype in droves.
jw 18/6/2008
PreviousComments on this post
Honestly, take your hatred somewhere else man. The ZDNet community is way too good for you. Loser.
Thanks for the good advice, "skyperules", I'll try to keep it in mind. Thanks also for taking the time to read my blog.
You are more than welcome to post FACTS and specific references to rebut anything that I say in my blog, and I will be happy to read them. I think it is clear that a blog, here or anywhere else, is a personal opinion, and yes, I think Skype stinks, but I would assume, based on the name that you chose, that you don't share that opinion. However, the facts as I posted them are correct - the response to the new beta has been universally negative in the "Skype Community", and Jan Geirnaert did make some very good, and very scathing, comments about it.
It is interesting to note that based on what he said in his blog today, someone from Skype has contacted him and told him that they don't like him saying negative things about the beta release. Gee whiz. I hope that he said the same to them that I am saying to you - all you have to do is prove that the facts I am posting are wrong.
