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Sep 08

Skype for Linux Now with Video Calling

Posted in: Linux, Software, Today's Chili, Web Sites

This article was written on November 08, 2007 by CyberNet.

Back in October when we wrote about Skype introducing high quality video calling for Windows and Mac users, Richard pointed out in the comments that the Linux version didn’t even have basic video support yet. I’m sure he wasn’t the only one feeling like Skype was ignoring Linux users, and perhaps that’s why Skype got to work to on a new version. Recently Skype launched Skype 2.0 beta for Linux with the major change in this version being the addition of support for video calls. Finally, Linux users have a feature that Windows users have had for quite some time now!

After reading through forum posts from those who have tried the video calling on Linux, it sounds like they’re pretty satisfied with comments like “I love it” or “woo hoo!”. People have had no problems using it, although some have said that the camera won’t turn on by itself when you open Skype, so you’ll have to manually turn it on. If that is the biggest inconvenience with this version, I’d say it’s not so bad. And of course this video calling feature is completely free which makes it even better. The addition brings the Linux version just a bit closer to what is currently offered for Windows and Mac users.

Before you go and give it a try, just make a note of some of the hardware and software requirements:

Hardware