14 DAY TRIAL // The French Linux distributor Mandriva has announced the recent partnership with the leader of VoIP communications, Skype, which was taken over by online eCommerce giant eBay. Based on this agreement, Mandriva will include Skype in the next release of their Linux distribution.
Mandriva has announced that a customized version of Skype's voice over IP product will be included in the Mandriva Linux 2006. This means that Linux will now offer one of the best and most secure VoIP solutions available and is also gaining access to a great number of users which appreciate the VoIP application, and over 70 million people is quite a crowd. Skype allows users to place PC-to-PC, PC-to-landline and PC-to-mobile phone calling.
These services aside, Skype enables users to access features like voice mail, call forwarding, conference calling and file transfers. The software has been added to Mandriva Linux at no extra charge, which comes as no surprise since Skype is trying to ensure its leading position of this market and leave in the dust competitors which are just releasing their services. The biggest threat comes from IM networks such as Yahoo and MSN, which have recently launched services similar to VoIP.