14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft launched the beta version of Skype for Web in the United Kingdom and the United States only recently, but the company today announced that the service can be used by anyone across the world as long as they use a supported browser and platform.
Skype for Web is a service that allows you to get in touch with friends and family without the need for a downloadable client, so you can connect with your user name and password using the web-based version that only requires you to install a small plugin.
Since it's still in beta, some features are only available on a limited number of browsers, and naturally, you'll get the best experience in Internet Explorer and Windows.
Limited features for Chromebooks and Linux
If you're planning to use Skype for Web on a Chromebook, it's worth knowing that only instant messaging is available for now, so calling is not yet supported. The same applies to Linux as well, but Microsoft says that it's working hard to add such features as soon as possible.
As far as the supported browsers are concerned, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari all work with Skype for Web, but remember that a plugin is required in order to start voice calls.
The supported languages are the following: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, English, German, Greek, Spanish, Estonian, Finnish, French, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional.
Needless to say, a Microsoft account is required, but in case you've already used Skype, the same credentials can be used for the web service too. Your conversations and contacts will all be there, so you'll get almost the same experience as on the desktop right in your browser.
If the web-based service isn't quite your cup of tea, you can always download Skype for Windows here.