We’re working on a new version of Skype for Windows which will be released soon, including a new audio libary. To help us fully test this new audio libary we would like to encourage you to download it and call your friends on Skype and call far flung people on ordinary phones to make sure that it’s working with your sound card.

Once you’ve finished testing the new audio library in this release please provide us with as much feedback as you can on any problems you found and also details on your sound card and hardware used. This will be of great help to us. Thanks.

There will be other features in this release as well, some of which you may see in this early alpha version. These aren’t ready for prime time but we’ll give you more information on these in the coming weeks.

For more information please visit https://developer.skype.com/WindowsSkype

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16th August - We have released a preview update. Everyone please update your clients.
30th August - Skype for Windows 2.6 Beta launched.

Skypecast Links not open in the Default Browser(Firefox),its open in IE!
All other open normal in Firefox.
Sound and Video works ok!

Hi,

trying to open links about "My Pictures" (f.e. Personalise Skype) doesn't work.

Here the screen:

DMTF tones seem testy. Like some numbers they work on, some they don't.

SOME audio files I had saved to my PC for skype noises seem corrupted, but others are completely fine.

Video calls now work on Win2000!!!

How about the 2.5 video problem that 70% experience - is it solved in 2.6? Have to try I guess........ Hey, at least for me the Video works in 2.6.0.44 when it never did in 2.5.xx

Good job guys !!

Denver, you should correct this: it is 2.6.0.44 :wink:

Good job, yes ... but it took them a lot of time to release it ... and it is not "really public" yet, so a lot of people will continue to suffer!

Thanks corrected !

By the way, Dave is your first name i guess (now), so me too

just thought i'd let you know that I'm back on 2.0.0.107 having tried the preview, but experiencing the same video problems as 2.5 - my camera is a Philips SPC 300NC, and works fine in 2.0.0.107, but no dice in 2.6 or 2.6 - only available camera is 'Default Video Device' and 'Test Webcam' is greyed out permamently... sorry : - (

Well isn't that interesting. How about starting a new thread similar to this one:
http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?t=57349

about video in version 2.6.xx and see how wide spread the issue is. Might be better in the Skype Video forum section to get the largest participation.

Before installing, make sure you close skype. And then after loading it up, do help / about and make sure you are on 2.6.

2.6 solved the video for me and a couple of others, but without a survey - hard do get a feel of the distribution.

Good luck.

Video and W2k already worked with version 2.5... Didn't it?

Can't download the 2.6, says File is corrupted, please download again. FOr the 4th time now...

Tested with Polycom Communicator and echo123. Sound quality is excellent, mic volume was a bit low. I switched automatic sound adjustment on and that helped. Not sure if this is wise as a permanent solution, but for now it seems to work. I'll report back after having done some calls with SkypeOut.

Thank you for reporting maverick1411.

If you other have some specific issue then please go to https://developer.skype.com/WindowsSkype and see how to report a issue. If you report there then it is easier for us to manage this feedback.

...moved my post on the firefox extension problems here:
http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?p=285...ef64532d#285324

I don't know if this is related to 2.6 but ...

Yesterday my son called me on my fixed line because he saw me offline (i WAS ONLINE :!: ) ...

and today my brother "tried" to call me altough he saw me offline, and i was ONLINE :!:

Then i switched on my spare laptop (which runs another Skype account) with Skype 2.5 on it, and it saw "me" online!

More on call quality: Did some SkypeOut calls this afternoon and the quality is pretty good. Jitter is low, roundtrip around 500ms and from what I hear it is good. However, some of the couterparts reported that I'm breaking up every now and then.

Well, it's been busy time on the net, so it's hard to tell if it's the platform or the application.

Hi RaulLiive,



ok, I will consider this next time. Other issues will posted there.

I tried V2.6.0.44 with Linksys CIT-200 with XP SP2.
SkypeOut Quality will be fine little bit than V2.5.
But Riger sound turned noisy. It seemd playback on double-speed.
prepaired sound ( as ringer-classic)is ok. but my customised sound file
can not playback incollect.

So far, SMS message functuion works fine with Japanese DoCoMo FOMA Networks.
It's great!

If there was an option to trade off video quality against audio quality, that would be great.

And SkypeOut calls have to be as near as perfect quality as possible. The application with the best PC 2 Phone, takes it for business purposes.

[quote=Denver Dave]If there was an option to trade off video quality against audio quality ...[/quote]This is indeed a great idea! i also care more about audio then video, but i love video too!

Some conference applications allow selected still pictures when audio quality is an issue. I'd do that, but then I'd send stills of what is being discussed, maybe not just me. Split Camera let's us do that, but it is a 2nd application and Skype may be sending the same picture many times per second - not sure.

[quote=Denver Dave]... Skype may be sending the same picture many times per second - not sure.[/quote]Not sure either, but (having done some programming when i was younger) i guess: NO, they don't send the same information the whole time. That is (part of) the quality of sending movies: how much can it be compressed and how fast can it be decompressed! So they sure exploit the "still parts of the images" and send those parts only once.

If it is a complete still image, they only send it once!
But they scan for changes the whole time!

Well, as i said: not sure either.

Some people should be able to answer this ...

Hi,

Just downloaded, installed and tested the 2.6 beta and my video now works fine. The relevant details of my system are as follows:

AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core 4800
Windows x64
NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT Graphices Card with latest drivers
Creative Webcam Live (ugly as hell but supported in Windows x64!)
Skype 2.6.0.44 Preview

Well done Skype for producing a solution so quickly - despite what others may think!

AlanC

2.6 video works on my geriatric laptop!
ATI Mobility Radeon 8MB.
Audio quality fine so far.

Happy Skypeing :lol:
Jim

[quote=Jean Mercier]

Good job, yes ... but it took them a lot of time to release it ... and it is not "really public" yet, so a lot of people will continue to suffer![/quote]

Jean,
I agree with this comment 100%! However, on the positive side, I have never seen a Skype 'Preview' release before! This allows the technically competent to try out the release in many different environments, which, combined with a bug reporting and tracking system, (also never seen before) should help prevent a repeat of the 2.5.xxx fiasco.
Seems to me that Skype learned some important lessons from 2.5!

Happy Skypeing :lol:
Jim

[quote=Jean Mercier][quote=Denver Dave]If there was an option to trade off video quality against audio quality ...[/quote]This is indeed a great idea! i also care more about audio then video, but i love video too![/quote]
...second that! Such a feature would be much appreciated!

[quote=Jean Mercier]I don't know if this is related to 2.6 but ...

Yesterday my son called me on my fixed line because he saw me offline (i WAS ONLINE :!: ) ...

and today my brother "tried" to call me altough he saw me offline, and i was ONLINE :!:

Then i switched on my spare laptop (which runs another Skype account) with Skype 2.5 on it, and it saw "me" online![/quote]

It is 2.6 related since I experienced the same

[quote=Nafcom][quote=Jean Mercier]I don't know if this is related to 2.6 but ...

Yesterday my son called me on my fixed line because he saw me offline (i WAS ONLINE :!: ) ...

and today my brother "tried" to call me altough he saw me offline, and i was ONLINE :!:

Then i switched on my spare laptop (which runs another Skype account) with Skype 2.5 on it, and it saw "me" online![/quote]

It is 2.6 related since I experienced the same[/quote]

In my experience this is not specifically v2.6 related. I, as well as some others I know, have had this happen quite regularly, and with previous versions of skype. Often when I sign in I sent a short chat message to some contacts who I believe should be online although they seem offline. This usually does the trick and makes skype "realise" that the other person is in fact online.
I have always thought that it may have to do with firewalls etc. especially when one contact is behind a company firewall... I don't know, though. Never investigated in in depth.

[quote=optiplex][quote=Nafcom][quote=Jean Mercier]I don't know if this is related to 2.6 but ...

Yesterday my son called me on my fixed line because he saw me offline (i WAS ONLINE :!: ) ...

and today my brother "tried" to call me altough he saw me offline, and i was ONLINE :!:

Then i switched on my spare laptop (which runs another Skype account) with Skype 2.5 on it, and it saw "me" online![/quote]

It is 2.6 related since I experienced the same[/quote]

In my experience this is not specifically v2.6 related. I, as well as some others I know, have had this happen quite regularly, and with previous versions of skype. Often when I sign in I sent a short chat message to some contacts who I believe should be online although they seem offline. This usually does the trick and makes skype "realise" that the other person is in fact online.
I have always thought that it may have to do with firewalls etc. especially when one contact is behind a company firewall... I don't know, though. Never investigated in in depth.[/quote]

Strange!
Well, I can promise you, I have this problem just since 2.6.

I used every Skype for Windows version in my life. I didn't miss a single one!

[quote=Nafcom][quote=optiplex][quote=Nafcom][quote=Jean Mercier]I don't know if this is related to 2.6 but ...

Yesterday my son called me on my fixed line because he saw me offline (i WAS ONLINE :!: ) ...

and today my brother "tried" to call me altough he saw me offline, and i was ONLINE :!:

Then i switched on my spare laptop (which runs another Skype account) with Skype 2.5 on it, and it saw "me" online![/quote]

It is 2.6 related since I experienced the same[/quote]

In my experience this is not specifically v2.6 related. I, as well as some others I know, have had this happen quite regularly, and with previous versions of skype. Often when I sign in I sent a short chat message to some contacts who I believe should be online although they seem offline. This usually does the trick and makes skype "realise" that the other person is in fact online.
I have always thought that it may have to do with firewalls etc. especially when one contact is behind a company firewall... I don't know, though. Never investigated in in depth.[/quote]

Strange!
Well, I can promise you, I have this problem just since 2.6.

I used every Skype for Windows version in my life. I didn't miss a single one! [/quote]

This problem has been present before 2.6 has arrived. I've had this issue in 2.0 and in 2.5 aswell

[quote=omega][quote=Nafcom][quote=optiplex][quote=Nafcom][quote=Jean Mercier]I don't know if this is related to 2.6 but ...

Yesterday my son called me on my fixed line because he saw me offline (i WAS ONLINE :!: ) ...

and today my brother "tried" to call me altough he saw me offline, and i was ONLINE :!:

Then i switched on my spare laptop (which runs another Skype account) with Skype 2.5 on it, and it saw "me" online![/quote]

It is 2.6 related since I experienced the same[/quote]

In my experience this is not specifically v2.6 related. I, as well as some others I know, have had this happen quite regularly, and with previous versions of skype. Often when I sign in I sent a short chat message to some contacts who I believe should be online although they seem offline. This usually does the trick and makes skype "realise" that the other person is in fact online.
I have always thought that it may have to do with firewalls etc. especially when one contact is behind a company firewall... I don't know, though. Never investigated in in depth.[/quote]

Strange!
Well, I can promise you, I have this problem just since 2.6.

I used every Skype for Windows version in my life. I didn't miss a single one! [/quote]

This problem has been present before 2.6 has arrived. I've had this issue in 2.0 and in 2.5 aswell [/quote]

My point: For some, but not for all. I use my Skype regularly

Well, maybe we can shed a little more light on this. Nafcom, the problem is new for you. Omega and I have had it before. So, nafcom and omega, do you or your contacts or both have firewalls installed or are behind a firewall (e.g. company)?

In my case I have a firewall installed, and I believe that most of my contacts have that, too.

[quote=optiplex]Well, maybe we can shed a little more light on this. Nafcom, the problem is new for you. Omega and I have had it before. So, nafcom and omega, do you or your contacts or both have firewalls installed or are behind a firewall (e.g. company)?

In my case I have a firewall installed, and I believe that most of my contacts have that, too.[/quote]

All traffic for Skype is allowed in my firewall and no actions are blocked by it (checked it in my logs). Heh.

However, they are currently working on it:

https://developer.skype.com/jira/browse/SCW-6

Yup,
same here!
A few of my contacts disappear as being offline and then after a couple of minutes they are back online .... and so it continues.
If any of these contacts has a video symbol next to his/her name then it's gone when they re-appear as being online.

This bug exists (at least for my knowledge) since the 2.5 versions.
Haven't tried the 2.6 yet but there was nothing about it in the changelog so I will not upgrade to this preview version because apart from that the latest 2.5 works just fine for me :!: (no problems with the video mode or whatsoever)

We have updated our preview release.

New version released is 2.6.0.53.
You can download it from - https://developer.skype.com/WindowsSkype

After celebrating the awakening of the video facility I updated to MSN Messenger 7.0 and there it was, no more Skype video. Video plays well with Messenger, but shows only a grey screen with Skype. This is with Win2000. I'll try to re-install Skype to see if that's the cure.


Edit:

Updating to 2.6.0.53 didn't solve the video issue. There might be some conflict with Messenger (which I closed before testing)?

No problem with the latest preview release v2.6.0.53 since I have updated my previous release v2.5.0.137 to this version.

I've tried version 2.6 to rectify a video problem ( though my webcam on its own is perfect, the image is totally broken up when I Test Webcam). It didn't fix this problem at all AND now there is NO AUDIO at all.
So I am going back to version 2.5.0.137.
Still looking for a solution to my video problem. Tried everything. I'm running windows 2000 (already installed Directx v9) - I have no problems with the video on a laptop running Windows XP.
Any further advice?

I have been running 2.5 on my computer with Windows XP Pro. Everything runs fine except the video. Test webcam comes up with a great picture, all sining all dancing bits on the options that all work. Save any changes in 'options' and return to main contacts screen - no start/stop video buttons. Some contacts come up with the video symbol next to their names, on other occasions it doesn't.

Tried 2.6 to see if this improved the situation - didn't make any difference at all, still all the same old problems..... is it me or is there a bug in the system somewhere?

Webcam = Philips SPC 900NC

Have checked with Philips and they state that it is compatable with Skype, and all the OTHER video messenger services......

Would like to be able to chat to the daughter when she goes away to University, by way of video and audio. Bought one of the better quality webcams 'cause I thought it would take longer to go out of date, however, it's not even working with the one application I bought it for

Regards
Gideon

Hi guys,

good work.
It is first time I manage to get video in Skype with my old computer running Windows 2000, Intel Celeron 900MHz and 256MB RAM.


THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

Tested 2.6.0.53
Windows XP Pro SP2
Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz
512MB RAM
ADSL 512kbps downstream / 256kbps upstream

In my case,
1. Skypecast GUI (with the list of participants) is sometimes not displayed in call tab
2. If Skypecast GUI is shown in call tab, Skype reaches 99% CPU usage and freezes the system
3. Moving Skype's windows seem to be taking up more CPU usage than necessary (40-60%)
4. Sounds playback in Skype seems to be laggy at times - e.g. the dial tone is only heard 2 seconds after the call was initiated
5. Skypecast title shown in call tab looks like "this+is+a+test" when it is supposed to be "this is a test" (unescaped text passed from the Skypecast directory I presume)

IMHO, the new audio library seems to be a little laggy on older machines, and for some reason the GUI in 2.6 is CPU intensive too.

Issue 1. I have already supported here:
https://developer.skype.com/jira/browse/SCW-4

this was for 2.6.44 now it changed to the way as you described in 2.6.53

I am sure Raul would be glad if you file bug reports in the bug tracking thingie for your other issues, too

No nafcom, I was referring to something else. I was referring to the list of participants in a Skypecast which you see in the calltab after the call is connected, NOT the list of current Skypecasts in the Live tab.

The corresponding bug report for my case is here: https://developer.skype.com/jira/browse/SCW-35

See these which I submitted too:
Skypecast GUI freezes system: https://developer.skype.com/jira/browse/SCW-34
Option to send SMS to Skypecast number should be disabled: https://developer.skype.com/jira/browse/SCW-36

Ah ok, didn't know! Thanks!

Today we released Skype for Windows 2.6 public Beta.

You can download it from here - http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/skype26beta.html

We still wait for all your comments and feedback on it to make it even better.

Thanks! The homepage it links to when you click "download" still says "Download the new, shiny Skype 2.5 BETA"

Sigh! Still no picture with 2.6.0.67 (Win2000). I had the video for a while with 2.6, but then unfortunately installed Messenger Live, after which it's gone, even with the older 2.0.0.43, which always has worked. Removing Messenger doesn't help either. Any suggestions?

Tried reinstaling DirectX9C?

I hoped they had fixed this issue in 2.6... Some users have this problem including me which is very sad: http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=58046

I hope skype figure out a solution soon so people don't have to go back to older versions. I have always used and liked skype and this is the first time I think, they have been too long to fix the issue, even without notifying the users... please skype.