Microsoft redesigns chat and calling features

Oct 10, 2014 09:18 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft was very excited to release Skype 7.0 for Mac users yesterday. So much so that they issued not one, but two blog posts on the subject.

The Redmond company has commissioned a design refresh, added new file transfer capabilities, support for large emoticons, roaming Favorites conversations, 64-bit support, and more.

A new look and feel

The Skype team has been working around the clock to give the app a new look without changing too much how the software works and how various people rely on it.

The team explains in a lengthy post over at the Skype Garage blog that “For the last year we’ve dedicated a lot of time to refresh the chat experience in Skype.”

“We’ve brought more improvements to the desktop. Photos in your new Skype for Windows and Mac apps show up as you’d expect, beautifully displayed for your instant viewing,” says the team.

File sharing done right

Skype 7.0 brings improvements to file sharing by adding support for extra file types and visualizing the process in a way that makes the experience more intuitive. The Skype team explains:

“We’ve made improvements to other types of file sharing, too. When you share file types like Office documents and PDFs, you’ll see file icons displayed to make it easier to visually scan for and find different files in your chat history.”

Multi-tasking

Users can chat and call simultaneously thanks to new multi-tasking features built right into Skype. Microsoft has learned that a great deal of users do both messaging and live chats simultaneously, so they decided to emphasize this in Skype by offering a way to do both without compromising one activity or the other.

“Many of you already exchange IMs while on a live call today. With the new side-by-side design, you can effortlessly multi-task on a voice or video call. On Mac, it only takes one click. Share messages, photos or files for a more active conversation together, without ever leaving your call,” reads the announcement.

Group chatting just got better

As far as group chats are concerned, there’s a number of improvements on this front as well. Microsoft says that the newly-implemented free group video calls now “work better than ever.” This extends to both Mac and Windows users, according to the blog post.

“The journey of delivering the best communication experience doesn’t end here. We’re still working relentlessly on several exciting improvements and new features. Stay tuned for more great stuff,” the Skype team concludes.